Center for Career Planning

Do you have a conference to attend and don't want to cancel class? Do you supervise student workers and would like to provide some training/professional development? Do you want to build awareness of career readiness competencies and provide tailored career planning information based on students’ major/department? Use the form below to request a presentation.

On Your Syllabus – Optional Career Planning Syllabus Statement

One way you can contribute to the career planning success of our students is to add a statement to your syllabus about the importance of career planning. Below is a sample:

“Your post-CNU success is important and depends on how you use your time in and out of class. The Center for Career Planning (CCP) is a resource to help you identify and pursue activities to connect your academic and career interests. You are encouraged to complete your Handshake at CNU profile; participate in CCP workshops; take advantage of employer events throughout the semester; and schedule at least one individual meeting per year with the CCP staff. Schedule an appointment and find out about CCP events at cnu.joinhandshake.com.”

In Your Classroom or at a Group/Staff Meeting

• Encourage students to research a topic related to career fields or industries of interest to them for papers/projects.
• Ask students what they learned and/or skills they gained/strengthened by completing a particular paper, project or task.
• Request (using our presentation form) for the Center for Career Planning to facilitate a discussion on how the students’ class, student employment or student organization experience connects to the National Association of Colleges & Employers (NACE) Career Readiness Competencies of: Career & Self-Development, Communication, Critical Thinking, Equity & Inclusion, Leadership, Professionalism, Teamwork, and Technology.

Bring Up Careers During Advising or Individual Meetings

• Recommend students do an informational interview with a professional in their career field of interest. The CCP can help them find a contact, but you are welcome to use your own network too!
• Ask students of their plans to pursue experiential learning opportunities like internships, campus involvement, service, study abroad and research. We want students to be intentional in how they use their time at CNU and this includes planning how they will use their summers.
• Have students share about the classes they are taking or activities they are involved in and what their career idea is, then help them make a connection with how the course/activity prepares them for the working world.

Highlight Career Planning

• Handshake for finding campus jobs, internships, and full-time and part-time jobs
• Focus II (they can contact CCP for access) for exploring how their interests connect to majors and careers
• What Can I Do With A Major In LibGuides for exploring career options connected to each major
• Christopher Newport alumni page on LinkedIn (requires a LinkedIn account) for searching alumni in career fields of interest and showing where CNU graduates go from each major

It is the policy of the university to employ qualified CNU students to fill temporary part-time personnel needs within university departments, while pursuing their education. Student employment is intended to be educationally and financially helpful to students, while providing opportunities for work experience. The objective of this policy is to define student employment and to outline the conditions of employment.

Students at Christopher Newport University learn to lead lives of significance through rigorous and rewarding academic programs and co-curricular opportunities. Here the focus is on learning how to think, and graduates put this into practice in a wide range of fields, from business to computer science to foreign languages. An emphasis on leadership, civic engagement and honor across all campus endeavors fosters citizenship in students and prepares them to succeed in the workplace or in graduate or professional school.