Career Services Information for Families

As a family member or loved one of a Fisher student, you may have questions about how Fisher supports the success of your student.

What guidance is offered in choosing a major? How will your student choose a career? Who will provide support along the way? While Fisher students are ultimately responsible for their own success—in academics and in their career—the Career Services team is preparing your student from day one with a Career Action Plan.

Students are encouraged to use the Career Action Plan to discover their career objectives and identify next steps to pursue their career goals. This tool helps to discover what majors and careers align with their interests, values, and strengths, as well as identify the tools, resources, and next steps needed to navigate career paths and the search process. Career paths can vary, so it's important to understand transferable skills as they embark on their career journey. 

Why is Career Readiness Important?

Career Readiness Competencies have been identified through extensive research and observations conducted by the National Association of Colleges & Employers (NACE). The eight career competencies encompass the necessary skills that employers, across all industries and functional areas, are seeking in successful college graduates entering the world of work. At Fisher, we weave these outcomes throughout our programs.

The competencies include:

  • Problem Solving and Critical Thinking
  • Written and Verbal Communication
  • Leadership
  • Digital Technology
  • Career Management
  • Teamwork and Collaboration
  • Professionalism and Work Ethic
  • Global and Intercultural Fluency

Experiences at Fisher and beyond offer many opportunities to develop and enhance eight Career Readiness Competencies, including participation in classroom learning, internships, service, research, on-campus involvement, work experience, or other on- or off-campus endeavors. Students should use the Career Action Plan and follow the roadmap for career development during their time at Fisher.

We are a success partner with your student. We support your student through their career journey from exploration to pursuing their future career goals. Your student will have access to developing career readiness skills as Fisher has woven them into our campus learning outcomes.

We welcome and appreciate you connecting with career services at CCAP. Your support can reinforce our services.

Family as Partners

Here’s how you can support throughout the four main pillars:

Explore

Encourage exploration. Choosing a major, and possible career pathways related to it, is a complex and nuanced process. Be open to the process as there are many ways to reach an end goal. There isn’t a rush, and it is best not to skip this step. Sites such as O*Net and Career One-Stop are great starting points to research careers.  Students also have access to Focus 2 Career to take self-assessments, explore majors and careers, and assist with career readiness.

Prepare

Urge early involvement with Career Services. Waiting until senior year means they’ve missed out on years of career preparation and support. 

Encourage your students to seek our services. College is not high school: the stakes are higher and so are the standards. If you think something isn’t working, connect with us. Remember we are a partner in your student’s career journey. Encourage them to find answers and partner with us to chart their course.

Practice

Support strategic involvement. From career assessments to employer site visits to our career fairs, encourage your student to participate. Suggest joining one or two clubs, working a part time job, or volunteering in the community.

Cultivate pre-career learning. Career Services is constantly developing opportunities like internships, job shadowing, site visits, or mentoring programs with our partner employers and with alumni. Encourage your student to seek hands-on opportunities to further their skills.  Our annual Career Fair is held in September, this is an excellent opportunity to start the search for internships/ jobs, practice networking, and make career connections!

Pursue

Model networking and career professionalism. Encourage your student to create and actively use LinkedIn. Did you know that candidates with fully updated LinkedIn profiles have a 71% higher chance of landing a job interview. All Fisher students have access to LinkedIn Learning, an online platform offering video courses taught by industry experts in various fields, including business, technology, creative skills, and personal development. In addition, building their network starting with their supports is vital to growing as a professional in any field. Getting connected to alumni, faculty, friends, family, and others can help them in their career journey.

Interested in helping Fisher Students in their career? Reach out to us if you are interested in recruiting, hiring, or engaging with us.