PARENTS GUIDE TO FIELD AND CAREER SERVICES

Help us facilitate your student's career development journey. You can make a difference!

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Field and Career Services (FACS) do and where are you located?

How do you help make students aware of your services?

When should my student get started with their career planning?

What happens to Beloit students after graduation?

What role do parents play and how can I help?

What does FACS do and where are you located?
FACS is located on the residential end of campus at 703 Emerson Street. We are dedicated to teaching and empowering students to become active participants in their own journey of career exploration so that they can make well-informed decisions now and long into the future. Our services to students generally fall into one of four main categories: career exploration (and major decision), experiential learning (internships, field terms, externships, volunteering), job search assistance and coaching, and graduate school advising. In all of these areas we utilize a number of approaches in an effort to reach as many students as possible including individual counseling, group counseling, workshops, career events, career fairs, on and off-campus recruitment, on-line resources, a computer lab, and career library.

How do you help make students aware of your services?
Like many Beloiters, we believe that in order to get students actively involved in what we're doing, we too must get actively involved in what students are doing. Thus, we take a very community-centered approach in our outreach efforts. At least two of our staff live on campus and take lunch in the student cafeteria every day. It is not unusual to find one of us at athletic events, theater and dance productions, guest lectures, or other student events.

Twice per year (summer and winter break), we send home a newsletter to all students to fill them in on what we're doing and upcoming events for the term as well as what kinds of things they should be thinking about for their given year in school. Beginning their very first year, students have an opportunity to get to know our staff through their FYI seminar who will come as a group to our office for a tour and overview of our services. We follow that up with various classroom visits both for quick announcements and often for one hour presentations on resume writing, job or graduate school searching or some other career issue. During their sophomore year, students again connect with our office when we talk with them at their sophomore dinner, host them at Sophomore Retreat, and again at Major Declaration Fair where they officially declare their major. Of course, we also offer many workshops and campus-wide events throughout the year and do tons of advertising via email, posters, mailbox ads, special gimmicks, and an on-line calendar of events.

When should my son or daughter get started with career planning?
Ideally, your student should begin to visit our office their very first term on campus. This will help make our office seem less intimidating down the road and help them to make a connection with one of our counselors to begin talking about the process of career decision making. All too often, students who would like advising on career choice wait until the second semester of their sophomore year when they have to declare a major and don't really know where to begin. These choices take considerable thought and research and are best done over a period of many months, not days! Beyond the choice of a major (or the larger question of what will I do with this major?), second semester of their freshman year (January/February) is also a good time to begin working with a counselor on finding a summer internship. We strongly recommend that all students secure internships during all three of their summer vacation periods. Did you know that nationally, 86% of all students complete an internship and that 69% complete two or more? Employers and graduate schools alike will look first and foremost at a student's work experience over everything else including major, GPA, etc.

To better understand what your son or daughter may experience each of their four years at Beloit College, take a look at our 4-Year Timeline For Success at Beloit. It provides a set of recommendations for what students should be doing or thinking about each year in terms of their academic, career, and social development.

What happens to Beloit students after they graduate?
We're glad you asked! Clearly what happens to students when they leave is at least as important to what they experience while they're here. It should come as no surprise that Beloit students choose very diverse paths to follow after graduation. Some will go immediately to graduate school (15-20%), while most will move directly into the labor force (75%) with education, business, and social/government service being the top three ranking industry classifications. For a detailed look at what happens to Beloit graduates, take a look at our annual report available on line in the Faculty/Staff section of our site.

What role do parents play and how can I help?
The most important role you can play is to encourage your son or daughter to take advantage of the programs and services we have to offer and to get started EARLY. For example, seniors who wait until the spring term of their senior year to begin thinking about their job search are already several steps behind their peers at other colleges and universities. Many, many employers recruit seniors during the fall term, some in August and September! This is even more true in a weakened economy. Students who get connected with us their first or second year rarely have difficulties their senior year because they have already gained relevant work experience, put together a resume and cover letter, and have already experienced job interviews (or at least mock interviews with one of our counselors).

As a parent, you can also serve as a career mentor to students who are exploring careers by joining the Beloit Career Network. You might also consider investigating the possibility of forwarding job announcements from your company or organization for us to make available to Beloit students, or consider hiring a Beloit intern. Do you have an extra bedroom now that your son or daughter is away? Consider providing housing to a Beloit student who is interning in your city! Lack of housing is one of the primary barriers our students face in getting involved in an internship. Other opportunities for you to get involved include participating in career panels, career fairs, or other career events throughout the year.

Perhaps the best advice comes from parents themselves. Here are a few tips:

• Listen to your student! It is critical for you to be available for them to talk about themselves as they discover their interests, strengths, and set tentative goals.
• Be Supportive!! That is, encourage them to seek out the services in FACS. Remember too that they are adults, responsible for their own lives and their own decisions. You are not responsible for their successes or failures. Give them the freedom to assume this new role while standing by with support when needed.
• Be patient! Career exploration and job/graduate school searching can be a lengthy process and each student will approach it a bit differently. If your son or daughter appears to be struggling, encourage him or her to set up an appointment with one of our career counselors.
• Stay in Touch! They may not admit it, but most students welcome letters, cards, or small gifts from home on a regular basis. Talk to your student and keep up to date on how they're spending their time.