Welcome Parents

Why Career Planning?

Many of us, in retrospect when we think about our careers, maybe didn't really plan at all. For some of us we just "fell into our careers" while others, based on needs in our lives, took employment not really giving much thought about our values and the meaning of our work.

We do spend a lot of time at work, more than we do with our families and friends. It would be ideal if we could find in our work a form of self-expression and make a contribution to better our society.

What Is Career Planning?

Career development professionals have developed many theories to answer how one makes choices about work and why some find it fulfilling, while others do not. They examine life experiences, the influence of family and mentors or role models in one's lives. Most theorists agree that self-knowledge and knowledge about work can help one make informed decisions about their careers.

Our students are challenged by all dimensions of the University to continue to discover themselves. Through this process of discovery they can lead fully integrated lives. Examining choices they have made in a discipline to study, extracurricular activities they become involved in, and internships they select may help them find the answers about where they may go in the future. A question students participating in the Ignatian Residential College Program are asked to reflect upon is ... "What am I called to be." We aspire that all our students ask this of themselves.

At Fairfield University, in addition to providing rigorous academic programs, we ask our students to push themselves harder and to place higher expectations on themselves. We are privileged to have your children entrusted to us.

How You Can Help

We invite you to encourage your son or daughter to partner with the Career Planning Center as they consider what he or she wants to do after graduation: Some students may not have an established set of goals, while others want to continue their education in professional schools for advanced degrees, and there are still more that have goals but do not know how to obtain them. No matter where your son or daughter is in this process, we have resources to help.

Please review our website to learn about our services. We welcome you to contact us with any questions, and most importantly, to encourage your son or daughter to visit with us.