Career and Professional Development - Information for Parents

Information for Parents and Families

Career development is a process that unfolds throughout college and beyond. Students who engage early and often with career and professional development feel more confident, make informed academic choices, and graduate better prepared for today’s competitive job market.

You play a crucial role in supporting your student’s career development during college, and one of the best ways to do this is by encouraging and helping them engage with the Center for Career and Professional Development.

BRAG A BIT

Landed a great job or internship — or know a Knight who did? Share the success so we can celebrate together!

How You Can Support Your Student:

Encourage Early Engagement

Urge your student to connect with our center during their first year. Connecting with our staff and learning about our services early on enables them to achieve career milestones more efficiently.

Emphasize Career Readiness

We help students develop the eight core competencies identified by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), including communication, critical thinking, professionalism, teamwork, and more—skills employers consistently look for in new graduates.

Promote Career Exploration

We offer tools, career assessments and in-depth coaching sessions to help students clarify their values, strengths, and career goals.

Encourage Use of Online Tools

Our Knight Career Network gives students 24/7 access to jobs, internships, event registration, and self-guided career development tools.

Highlight Our Events

From smaller, industry-focus career fairs and employer networking events, resume workshops, mock interviews, and professional skill-building sessions, our events prepare students to stand out in today’s job market.

First Destination Survey

Each year, our career center participates in the First Destination Survey, a national initiative led by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). This brief survey asks recent graduates to share their post-graduation plans, whether that’s employment, graduate school, service, the military, or other next steps.

The goal

To better understand where our students go after graduation and how we can continue to support their success.

Why it matters:

It helps our university measure outcomes and strengthen career programs.
It provides prospective students and families with real data about where a college education can lead.
It supports institutional planning, academic advising, and student success initiatives.

All data is kept confidential and only reported in summary form. This survey is a powerful tool that helps us tell the story of our Neumann Knights, not just where they have been, but where they are going.

Career Outcomes for Class of 2023

PARENT RESOURCES