The Kevin S. and Sandra E. Delbridge Career Center advises students and provides resources on the types of planning and preparation necessary to help students meet their career goals. This includes internships, job seeking, further education, labor market trends, individual career counseling, workshops, and professional networking contacts via career fairs, informational sessions, career events, and other on-campus events.
RISING TO MEET TOMORROW
The role of the Career Center is to empower students to obtain the tools, resources, and opportunities to find internships, plan for their career, make sound career decisions, and obtain jobs and/or further education. As a parent or family member, you can help your student by encouraging them to utilize the various resources offered by the Career Center to strengthen their qualifications and find gainful employment after graduation. We want to work in tandem with parents to motivate students to engage early and often with the Career Center.
Your student’s Career Coach can work with your student to help him or her explore and pursue an academic major that fits both their goals and abilities. This exploration can be done by assessment testing, elective courses, job shadows, and other means. Visit the Career Exploration page for more information.
Western New England University has a network of more than 1,000 internship sites. Whether your student would like to work with an organization in the Springfield area, or intern at a hometown company, the Career Center will help students through the application and interview process. Internships can be for the experience or for academic credit. Once a student secures an internship site, he or she will continue to work with a Career Advisor in order for the experience to count for credit.
Handshake is a great resource for searching for internships and part-time jobs, but is not the only one. Encourage your student to meet with their Career Coach for more tailored resources to meet their interests.
When your student is ready to start looking for jobs after graduation, the Career Center will help them sharpen their cover letters and résumé, hold mock interviews, discuss professional attire, and share job search resources.
Helpful Articles:
How Parents Can Help with the Job Search
7 Ways to Help Your Child Choose a Career
The Career Center offers students help with writing personal statements, researching graduate programs, informational sessions about testing and admission requirements, and other requirements for graduate schools. The process for preparing for graduate school should start before senior year.
Tips to Support Your Student
- Encourage your student to visit the Career Center, early and often.
- Emphasize the importance of gaining experience through internships, part-time jobs, and other opportunities.
- Encourage extracurricular and community involvement and athletics. These experiences are important in preparing for their future.
- Reinforce the value and importance of networking.
- Support your student through the process, ask questions, and provide encouragement or motivation.
- Connect the Career Center with your company and/or organization by posting open jobs and internships.
First Destination Outcomes
96% of the class of 2023 was employed or enrolled in graduate or professional school within 6 months of graduation!