A message from The Knowlton Career Center
For many Denison students, the summer after their first year means getting a “job,” typically something like what they did in high school (i.e., working at a store or restaurant or serving as a lifeguard or camp counselor.)
For others, summer might involve combining a couple of options: a job for 30-40 hours a week and then some volunteer work or job shadowing to gain exposure to a potential future career field.
The first year of college is a huge adjustment, and we encourage students not to stress out about what they do this first summer, but rather just to do something that helps them build skills and provides them with an experience in a work environment of any type.
For the spring semester, we hope you’ll encourage your student to:
- Schedule a 1:1 appointment with a Knowlton career coach. A student does not have to have a career plan all figured out before doing so — in fact, that’s the point of career coaching appointment the first couple of years — it’s a place to start the discussion about possible career fields, potential majors, and what types of experience might be of interest for the upcoming summer.
- Start to build a résumé (or update the one they may have used to apply to college). VMock is a great tool to help students do this! It utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to review and score (and then improve) a résumé.
- Sign up for Wisr, our alumni networking platform. Using Wisr, students can learn more about a field or industry and can ask alumni questions such as “How did you end up in X Industry with a major in Y?” or “What advice would you give me about selecting a major knowing what you know now?”
Finally, we’d appreciate it if you would remind your student to read the Knowlton Note (published every Monday.)
As a reminder, you can get connected to the Knowlton Center as well!
Here’s to a great second semester for both you and your student!
