Welcome to Georgia Tech! As a parent new to Georgia Tech, we realize you have many concerns as your student begins their academic career at Tech – one of which may be thinking ahead to the job your son or daughter will be able to obtain upon graduation. While graduation is a few years away, it is not too early to encourage your student to take advantage of the plethora of resources on campus that will help your student understand in which careers they could thrive and also how to embark upon the inevitable job search before graduation.

Current predictions state that students graduating in five years will have five or six careers in the course of their professional lives – yes, “careers,” not “jobs.”  Given that technology is quickly transforming the world of work, it is impossible to project what types of careers your student will have in the future. However, the faculty and staff at Tech can help your student learn the process of making career-minded decisions.

As a means for your student to develop their interests, encourage them to learn about all the involvement opportunities available to them on campus. From Jacket Pages they can generate a list of student organizations they would like to explore in the academic year. With more than 400 student organizations on campus there is likely something which will ignite their curiosity.

Students who are most successful at Tech are generally the ones who master planning and scheduling to accommodate various academic pursuits as well as participation in other program offerings. Encourage your student to meet with their academic advisor, as well as with an advisor in the Office of International Education if they wish to study or work abroad. Your student should also meet with an internship or co-op advisor in their first year if they are considering experiential education.  

During the first two years at college, your student will have the opportunity to explore many subjects and broaden their areas of interest. This may even result in changing a major which is very, very normal. This is part of your student’s developing reflective process that informs decision-making, potentially builds leadership skills, and deepens self-awareness – all very necessary skills needed for successful career planning.

In addition, your student will be taking classes specific to their major that will generate reactions, positive or not, to that content, as well as gain experiences that contribute to their decisions about career choices. They will also have the opportunity to work as a member of a team or group and reflect upon to what roles they naturally gravitate. They may even explore research. All of these experiences contribute to decisions about career choices. A career decision represents a culmination of these experiences so please encourage your student to take advantage of the wealth of possibilities that Tech can offer.

The staff at the Center for Career Discovery and Development can help your son or daughter transition from student to professional in the course of their time here at Georgia Tech. For more information, visit www.careerdiscovery.gatech.edu.