Parents & Families

Logger grads pursue a wide range of opportunities. Read about the paths of the alumni pictured above: Mushawn Knowles ’20, Megan Mooney ’23, and Henry Loran ’21 in Arches Magazine.


Career and Employment Services (CES) supports students as they align themselves with opportunities leading to creative, productive, and satisfying professional lives. CES engages with students from their first day on campus to help them acquire the skills, experiences, and contacts necessary for building a meaningful career after college.

Career Development is a process…

It’s never too early for your student to assess their interests, explore careers, and build job-search skills. Refer your student to the distinctive resources, partnerships, and opportunities available through CES, including:

…from internships to part-time, summer, work-study, and full-time employment.

…to help perfect resumes, practice interview skills, and devise personalized strategies for career development or a job search. Whether your student knows precisely what they want to do, or they aren’t sure where to start, meeting with a career advisor can help point them in the right direction.

…through e-newsletters, social media, and in-person visits across campus.

…targeted at helping students explore potential career paths, prepare for professional situations, connect with alumni and employers, and more. Here are some featured events.

…designed to advance success in securing best-fit positions. Students can use these systems on their own, or work with a career advisor to target opportunities.

…from a variety of professions who participate in career programs and are available to consult with students about careers and graduate schools.

Promote career awareness by visiting with your student

Help them to filter their experiences with a mind towards eventual career pursuits, as they:

Career development is a process. And each student travels through that process uniquely, coming to a career decision in their own time. Just like their academic journey, their career journey is a cumulative one with each new experience building upon the previous one.

From the moment students arrive at Puget Sound they begin to discover their skills and interests, to find their passions, and contemplate post-graduation opportunities.

Your student will explore options, reflect on what they’ve learned about work environments and career fields, and take advantage of resources that will help them along the way.

CES serves as students’ comprehensive career engagement center during their time in college. We help students engage in self-reflection, explore career options, and develop the job search skills necessary to successfully compete for internships and jobs. We’re here to support students at every stage of their career development, and you can help by encouraging your student to:

• Reflect on their experiences; look for themes (likes, dislikes, etc.)
• Evaluate their interests and personality
• Identify skills and values

Students assess by reflecting on past experiences (part-time jobs, volunteer work, internships) and considering how those experiences align with their values, skills, and interests. CES offers a wide range of resources to support students as they define their interests including individual appointments, drop-in advising, and professionally interpreted or self-directed career assessment tests.

• Gather occupational information in a wide range of fields
• Research possibilities through direct experience
• Consider options and make decisions

Students explore options by using web resources, talking with people working in fields of interest, and testing out options by engaging in part-time work or internships in an area of interest. CES career research resources include: a network of Puget Sound alumni, web resources and guides, social media, along with individual advising appointments to help students process what they’re learning.

• Develop resumes and online profiles (e.g. LinkedIn) that tell the story of their skills and experience
• Identify job prospects/opportunities, research employers, and target application materials to meet their needs
• Make an effective face-to-face impression with employers and connections

Students act by building a portfolio of professional application materials in print and online, seeking out and applying for positions of interest to them. In addition to various web resources, the CES team provides resume reviews and LinkedIn tutorials, along with advising appointments to help students navigate job boards, develop a job search action plan, and prepare for interviews.

Students can assess their interests, explore career fields through PathwayU and What Can I Do With This Major?, take classes that interest them, talk to alumni working in fields of interest, and try out various options through internships, summer jobs, etc.

Student organizations, faculty research, and volunteer activities broaden student’s horizons and provide another opportunity to hone leadership, communication, organizational, and other transferable skills.

Experience in the world of work during college can provide a different sort of classroom for expanding your student’s learning; it can help them explore and test hunches about a career field; it can build their resume and launch their career.

Contact & Location

Phone
253.879.3161
Address

Howarth Hall, Room 101
1500 N. Warner St. #1081
Tacoma, WA 98416-1081

CES Office Hours

Monday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Thursday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.