There are many ways parents and guardians can influence the sound decision-making of their students.

Insure that your children know what you do for a living! Take them to work. Talk to them objectively about what you like and don't like about what you do and for whom. Connect them with other family members and friends for similar conversations. Doing so will help them develop and articulate their own thoughts on careers, and will help you understand how they are and are not like you.

Love your career field? Share it! The Center for Career Services profiles career fields as part of a publication they call The Connection. They work with colleagues, alumni and others to put together articles on specific careers and would be happy to have you participate. Email Daniel Klamm , Marketing and outreach Coordinator at the Center for Career Services, and he will help you to cover the things students typically like to know.

Promote networking. Introduce them to other professionals -- your co-workers, friends, et al. People you know through professional, community, and social experiences may themselves know a whole different set of people to whom they would be happy to connect your children. Networks are grown this way all the time! Encourage your children to connect with alumni networks in their home colleges or with the Mentor@SU program through the Center for Career Services.

Offer to do some leg work and networking at home while they're here in Syracuse, especially for summer positions. Help them make the most of vacations and breaks.

Encourage them to think ahead, especially about majors and the career opportunities that may result. Considerations about dual majors and minors should be examined carefully since employers may not always value a combination. This is not to diminish the intellectual value of dual focuses. Advising is available along with lots of print and online career information, and it's never too early to start! Make sure they have seen the Six Stage Career Development Model.

Encourage your chilren to get involved at SU. Possibilities span volunteering, faculty research, internships, student organizations, and more. This broadens their horizons, builds valuable skills and traits, contributes to a well-rounded resume, and promotes good decision-making about post-graduate options. Leadership skills are particularly prized by today's employers. Point to the Students button above and then click Testing Choices.

Encourage them to achieve a solid GPA starting in their first year. Employers and graduate schools look at overall GPA in their selection processes. Balancing GPA with involvements will be one of their challenges. Both are important.

Try to insure that they are gaining marketable skills. Building competencies in three or more of the following may be wise: computer skills, quantitative skills, written and oral communications, marketing, scientific skills, foreign language(s), and leadership.

Learn what tomorrow's careers and job markets will be like. Read Emerging Careers to get started. And, feel free to connect with the career services office in your child's home college, the Center for Career Services, and the other all-university offices that comprise the Network. All are willing to help you understand the steps your son or daughter can take to launch a successful career.

Encourage your employer to offer internships, co-ops, summer jobs, and permanent opportunities to SU students, and to consider attending our career fairs. Refer them to this web site and the area devoted to information for employers. We'll take it from there!

Encourage use of the Internet and the World Wide Web for something more than email and entertainment! Much career-related information can be found on the Web, and we provide some web guides above in Web Links that are devoted to help for currrent students and alumni.

Lastly, be patient and supportive through the Syracuse years. Your children are encountering a period during which they will undergo some of the greatest changes in their lives. Take an active role in connecting them to resources and services here at SU.

We're excited about helping them forge great career futures!