PLANNING FOR AFTER GRADUATION

Parents and families can help students as they move from life at St. Olaf by becoming aware of the services the Piper Center offers.  Encourage your student to use Ole Career Central to view job and internships postings and any upcoming job and internship fairs or workshops.

Searching for a job upon graduation can be a daunting task.  Be prepared to support your child through the ups and downs of the search.  Your student will need reassurance that for every door that closes, another opens. 

It is common for liberal arts students to take a transitional year to gain additional experience, identify and prepare application materials to graduate schools, volunteer, travel, or solidify career goals.

Final Thoughts On The World Of Work

The Department of Labor suggests that a person will change careers 7–10 times in a lifetime, and the average time a new graduate is in their first job is 11 months. Today’s job market is all about change and building transferable skill sets.  Researchers have deemed the new employment landscape as “You, Inc.”, and human resource professionals recommend building a “briefcase” of skills to transport from opportunity to opportunity.  Other trends indicate the growing importance of globalization and innovation—being able to foresee and adapt quickly to changes in the global marketplace.  St. Olaf students' broad-based liberal arts background and emphasis on global perspectives should serve them well in life after St. Olaf.

The Job Search Process

1) Explore your VISA (Values, Interests, Skills, and Abilities) and Research Careers
  Here are some tools to get started:

2) Prepare Application Materials
These online resources can help. The Piper Center also has books on these topics available for checkout from our office.

3) Action / Implementation