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Institute for Career Readiness and Lifelong Learning: Parent/Family Resources

Your Gateway to Career and Professional Success

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Partners in your Student's Success

We have a common goal...to prepare your student for life beyond Defiance College. Whether seeking a major or pursuing an internship, employment, or further education, we are here to assist your student on their journey. Students are encouraged to schedule individual career counseling appointments, complete career assessments, attend workshops as well as Career Fairs and other events both on and off campus, and to utilize tools like Optimal Resume and College Central. As a parent or family member, the Institute of Career Readiness and Lifelong Learning staff would encourage you to help your student in the career planning process by listening, being open to ideas, encouraging them to start their career planning early, and helping your student find information. Use the links below to discover more about the Institute of Career Readiness and Lifelong Learning at Defiance College.

Your Defiance College Student has the following services available through the Office of Career Development:

  • Programs & Resources for choosing a major
  • Various career development workshops
  • Resume development
  • Interview and presentation skills 
  • One-on-one Career Counseling
  • Assistance with acquiring internships
  • Assistance with job search
  • Prep for graduate & professional school
  • Connections with alumni
  • Free access to College Central, an interactive tool that links over a million employers with prospective job candidates

Talk with your student and suggest they meet with their favorite professor to generate major ideas leading to a career. Recommend they do some job shadowing over breaks.

In addition, encourage them to meet with a Career Development staff member to complete the Strong Interest Inventory to assist with finding their interests, potential careers, and determine their educational path to the world of work.

Direct them to O*Net to research a variety of career fields to help decide a major.

Click here to see what your student can do with their major, using the online Occupational Outlook Handbook from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Encourage your student to meet regularly with their academic advisor and Career Development staff to develop a clear career plan that includes experiential learning opportunities.

It is never too early to create a resume and when writing cover letter make sure they are specific to the position being sought. We have an Optimal Resume tool that is an excellent resource for resume and cover letter development. Have your student

Your student can search on College Central to find job and internship opportunities at anytime. They have access to over 2 million employers nationwide by using College Central.

You can find a list of all the employers with whom DC has developed internship partnerships under the the Employer Resource tab

Recommend your student develop and reach out to their network to grow career connections. Have your student meet with their academic faculty advisor or Career Development staff to connect with possible employers. Your student will also want to attend Job and Internship Fairs by registering at careers@defiance.edu.The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (OFIC) hosts CareerFest every fall in Cleveland and spring in Columbus. We provide FREE transportation for DC students!

If your student plans to go on to graduate school or professional school, such as law school or medical school, please encourage them to enroll in Defiance College’s GEN300 Preparing for Graduate and Professional School course. This will help them prepare for the application process.

Visit the graduateguide.com and/or gradschools.com websites to learn more about graduate programs and resources available for your student.

Suggest your student connect with their advisor and professors for input and direction in making a decision about furthering their education.

Encourage your student to attend Defiance College’s Fall Graduate and Professional School Fair.

Have your student create a LinkedIn account to network with professionals in their field of study.

Remind your student to "clean-up" their social media accounts, if necessary. Whether we like it or not, employers search social media for information on potential new hires.

Use this link to access salary information by occupation.

Be sure to remind your student to check out all the resources available on College Central, not only is this platform used for the job and internship search process, it is also full of resources, such as podcasts, videos, and help sheets on a wide variety of career development topics. In addition, encourage them to use the online resources available at O*NET.

Encourage your student to attend Career Development Programs and Events.

How a Liberal Arts Based Education Makes Your Student Career Ready

We know the world through words, numbers, sound, and images. Therefore, we need to be able to think critically about them, and to understand the new technologies that bring them to us. Without these tools -- critical thinking and a grasp of technology -- we cannot be competitive in today's workplace. 

With students' needs in mind, the faculty at Defiance College has developed a curriculum that will prepare DC undergraduates for the 21st century by engaging students in a diverse array of coursework in the Liberal Arts & Sciences that complements the major and establishes the importance of a balanced education for making a living and making a life in a constantly changing world.

The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) sees liberal education as "a philosophy of education that empowers individuals with broad knowledge and transferable skills, and a strong sense of value, ethics, and civic engagement."

Defiance College believes that such an education can be transformative and empowering as well as practical. A curriculum based on this philosophy rooted in the college's mission and the four pillars: to know, to understand, to lead, and to serve is our goal.  

Check out these articles:

Though public support for higher education seems to be waning, this skepticism doesn't appear to extend to potential employers, who say they still have faith in colleges and universities, according to a new survey conducted on behalf of the Association of American Colleges & Universities. 

When analyzed in the context of hiring trends and technological change, a new narrative appears. From this view, graduates of liberal arts colleges and universities will have the better return on investment and be better prepared than their counterparts. In fact, there is good reason to believe that a liberal arts education is the foundation for professional success in the 21st century.

This is an article published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that explains a college degree lets employers know that you have learned skills in a specific field. In particular, “liberal arts study helps students develop strong foundational competencies,” says Paul Timmins, director of career services for the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota.

The myth of the unemployed humanities major is just that: a myth, and an easily disproven one at that. Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce has been tracking differences in the employment of graduates from various disciplines for years, demonstrating that all graduates see spikes and troughs in their employment prospects with the changing economy. And AAC&U’s employer surveys confirm, year after year, that the skills employers value most in the new graduates they hire are not technical, job-specific skills, but written and oral communication, problem solving, and critical thinking—exactly the sort of “soft skills” humanities majors tend to excel in.

“It's in Apple's DNA that technology alone is not enough. It's technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields the results that make our hearts sing."
Steve Jobs (1995-2011), former CEO of Apple, Inc.

Follow us on LinkedIn

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Placement Rate:

98.9% of DC's 2020 graduates found full-time employment or are attending graduate/professional school.

Click the logo to the left to go to the "What Can I Do With This Major?" website. Whether you’re exploring majors or searching for information about your chosen field, this website will help. Learn typical career areas and types of employers that hire in these fields, as well as strategies to make you a more marketable candidate. Continue your research through the websites provided. Check out the video below for more information about "What Can I Do With This Major?":

College Central Podcasts

Ranked "New and Noteworthy" by iTunes and reviewed as "outstanding," College Central Podcasts provide clear, concise, expert advice and tips for entry-level job search and career related issues

The Opp Shop

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The Opp Shop, created through Defiance College's Project 701 Program, is a professional student-run clothing store for Defiance College students or community members looking for appropriate attire for job interviews and other professional events. If your student has the need for professional clothing, encourage them to check out this program!

Pilgrim Library:   
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