Hiatt: For Parents and Families of Brandeis Students
The Hiatt Career Center is located on the first floor Usdan Student Center. The mission of the Hiatt Center is to help guide students along towards a career path as a complement to their liberal arts education.
The Hiatt Center is not a placement office and there is no guarantee that your son or daughter will have a job when they graduate from Brandeis. What they will have if they use the services of Hiatt are the tools by which they can launch a job search when they are ready and/or the knowledge of how to go about researching and exploring a variety of careers.
Recent data reveals that about 35% of our students go on to graduate school directly after Brandeis and close to 40% have a job when they graduate.
Parents Can Help
The staff in the Hiatt Center encourage you to read this parents only section to familiarize yourselves with the myriad of programs and services offered to students. Your job is to encourage your student to take advantage of these programs and to be a continuous user of the center
- First read about the four year strategy that the Hiatt Center believes is a pathway to success.
- Ask your student if they have started developing a resume
- Encourage your student to get involved in co-curricular activities on campus and/or through volunteering in the local community. These experiences help develop a complete resume and assist students in creating a focus for their career.
- In the first and second year, urge your student to apply to participate in the Shadowing program.
- During the second semester of the sophomore or junior year encourage your student to start looking for a summer internship.
- Each year the Hiatt Center offers a number of workshops. Check here to see whats coming up in the coming week.
- As a junior it is a good time to attend the Career Fair which is held in the fall. The Career Fair is a great way to learn about Graduate School and the types of skills and experiences that employers are looking for.
- If your son or daughter has expressed an interest in investment banking- check here to see the schedule – Successful students start their quest in the summer after their sophomore year.
Changing “dreams”
Some of our students come to Brandeis with a plan for four years and beyond. Others come with a plan and sometimes after the first semester, first year or even three years later, students will decide that what they thought they wanted to do is really not what they want. The reasons that students change their direction can be many- sometimes it is because the student has been exposed to something new or learned of other possibilities. Other times, students become aware of their own passions, strengths and skills and seek out opportunities to continue their interests after graduating.As parents we hope that you will listen to your student and hear what they are saying.
It is important to remember that but for a few professions students can major in any discipline and then seek out any profession of interest. So an English major may become an investment banker or an economics major may become a secondary math teacher, a biology major might join the peace corps for two years and then return and get a Masters degree in public health.
The Hiatt Career Center along with Academic Support Services can help guide students who are not sure what they want to do.
Suggestions for Parents and Families Who want to Help
Support your student's exploration of new areas of study.
If your student is having trouble deciding on a major or possible career choice, suggest a visit to Hiatt to take TYPEFOCUS or to meet with a counselor to discuss what it means.
Urge your student to seek out opportunities to gain relevant field experience through internships during the summers.
Encourage your student to become involved in a club or organization or other leadership activity.
Friends, family and alumni can be good networking contacts and sources of career information! Suggest that your student make use of these excellent resources.
How parents can help other students
The Hiatt Career Center is always seeking out internship sites, shadow opportunities, and networking opportunities for Brandeis students.
During the summer, many students obtain excellent internships but are unable to take them because they can not find a place to stay for the summer. Families who wish to house a student during the summer are urged to email the Assistant Director for Experiential Learning who works with students on internships.
As families we know that the hardest people to offer advice to is a family member, therefore Hiatt welcomes parents to volunteer to serve as network and shadow opportunities for other Brandeis students. If you are interested in offering students an opportunity to spend a day with you at your workplace please let us know by completing the shadow sponsor applications. Shadowing occurs during the winter break and summer months when students have more time.
Internships and Employment Opportunities: Many families also work for companies who may have internships and employment opportunities for successful Brandeis graduates. If you are able to offer a Brandeis student an internship please let us know or if you would like your company to be invited to recruit at our annual career fair or be part of our on campus recruiting program please contact Caroline O’Shea.
We look forward to partnering with families through your son or daughter’s years at Brandeis and encourage you to encourage your student towards a successful career.
Assisting Students
The Hiatt Center has developed a four year strategy(click for strategy) for students (and parents) .
Attending Workshops: The Hiatt Center runs a series of workshops both general and specific for students all year round. As parents, you are urged to encourage your student to attend these programs. (Schedules are posted under the student section of the website and is updated frequently as programs are added)
Internships
We encourage them to seek out at least two internships during their undergraduate years and take advantage of workshops and programs available throughout the year. Students are encouraged to contact the Career Center to schedule individual appointments as needed.
Freshmen
Self assessment and Type-focus
Sophomores
By the end of their sophomore year, most students have declared a major and have been working with the Undergraduate Academic Services Office. .Sophomore year experience- and career exploration
Participate and develop leadership skills such as A Community Advisor, Orientation Leader etc… The Career center will help students apply for this ‘first job’ by critiquing resumes etc…
Sophomore Year Shadow..
Juniors – Graduate School, Gap Years, Employment
Juniors need to start thinking about life after Brandeis Now that students know their major, obtaining internships related to possible career interests should be the focus. Students should be doing research to explore the variety of options available to them upon graduation. Whether they choose employment or graduate school, juniors need to be aware of the process, application materials, and deadlines associated with each. Our staff offers group workshops as well as individual appointments to assist them with this process.
Juniors in specialized career interests such as investment banking and finance need to start the process in the juinor year - LINK
- Attend workshops and programs (such as Alumni Career Series, networking programs, guest lecturers and the career and internship fair in October where you can meet and gain exposure to people from various career fields.
- Continue to develop your career network: access the Career Consultant Network to target alumni and parents who are in your area of career interest. Contact these people!
- Join a club, organization or professional group related to your possible career field and take an active role in it.
- Develop a resume or resumes targeted to your chosen career field(s).
- Apply for or develop a summer job or internship related to your area of career interest. Use resources in the Career Center and on the Career Center homepage, including InternTrack listings.
- Be aware of programs (such as the Washington Work Study Program and the Whitman Internship Fund) which may help to fund your summer internship experience.
- Attend the Career and Internship Fair in february, Alumni Career Series presentations, FOCUS weeks, and other opportunities to increase your knowledge of careers; begin to focus your career expectations.
- Consider the option of graduate study. If you may attend graduate or professional school, begin researching programs which may be most appropriate for you. Plan to attend the Graduate School Fair.
Seniors
- Take the appropriate graduate exams (GRE, MCAT, GMAT, LSAT, others).
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Senior year can be a very busy time for many students. Seniors need to create or update their resumes, obtain recommendation letters, begin the job search process or apply for graduate school. The Career Center can help them with interview preparation and mock interviews.
- If your student plans to attend graduate or professional school, the fall is the time when they need to request and complete application materials in a timely fashion.
- Take advantage of on-campus interviewing opportunities.
- Attend information sessions presented by employers.
- Work with the Career Center to develop your job search strategy, including targeting employers and creating cover letters.
- Practice your interview skills. Schedule a Mock Interview in the Career Center.
- Identifying their strengths, skills and interests
- Participated in a shadow program, internship or research project
- Continuing or launching an employment search
- Starting or applying to graduate school
- Gap year experience
- Travel, study or volunteer activities
Programs and Services
- Individual Counseling
- Assessment: including personality, skills, values, goals, lifestyle
- Workshops, panel presentations
- Internships (for credit or not for credit)
- Shadow Program (for career exploration)
- Preparing for graduate and professional school
- Career and Graduate School fairs (on and off campus)
- On-campus recruiting program, Off campus winter break consortiums in major US cities
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