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Wheaton College     Norton, Massachusetts

For Parents

The Filene Center for Work & Learning helps students to gain:

  • self-knowledge and personal growth;
  • diverse experiences through off-campus part-time jobs, summer employment and internships;
  • workplace knowledge and skills;
  • awareness about the connections between their learning inside and outside the classroom.

Summers Are Learning Time

What your student does with his/her summers can often lead your student deeper into his/her academic interests and/or engage your student in internships or summer jobs that shape future career goals and pursuits. The Filene Center works with your student to plan summers that provide opportunities to explore academic interests, to test out careers and to enhance skills for work and life beyond Wheaton.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should my student connect with the Filene Center?

In what ways can my student utilize the services of the Filene Center?

In what ways does the staff at the Filene Center work with my student?

What is the value of participating in out-of-class learning?

In what ways can I help my student with the career exploration process?

What competencies will my student acquire while working with the Filene Center?

In what ways does the Filene Center work with seniors?

What services does the Filene Center provide to Wheaton students after graduation?

When is the Filene Center for Work & Learning open?

Helpful links and resources

When should my student connect with the Filene Center?

Your student may connect with an advisor at the Filene Center as early as the summer before his/her arrival at Wheaton. Students often work with one or more advisors during their four years at Wheaton, and begin to benefit from the programs and services provided as early as their first year. Your student may stop in or call our main office at 508-286-8211, to arrange a visit with one of the advisors.

In what ways can my student utilize the services of the Filene Center for Work & Learning?

Your student can utilize the services of the Filene Center in multiple ways. Students can:

  • participate in workshops on self assessment, resume and cover letter development, researching experiential summer opportunities, and communication and interviewing strategies;
  • attend Career Information and Major Connection panels;
  • meet individually with Filene Center advisors;
  • seek advice from Filene Center peer mentors.

In what ways can I help my student?

The main role you can play is to recognize with your student that learning is a process, and it is very common for students to try out many career and academic interests. Elements from many experiences combine to shape ideas about careers and graduate study.

The advisors at the Filene Center guide your student through the career exploration process and they suggest that you can play a key role in the following ways:

  • help your student to think creatively about using summers for internships while still earning money through some sort of summer employment;
  • encourage your student to research opportunities, to make decisions and to periodically reflect on skills and strengths;
  • encourage your student to visit the Filene Center even if they do not know what interests them or what they want to do--the advisors are experts at helping your student to identify emerging interests and hidden strengths;
  • emphasize the importance of your student taking the initiative and connecting with a Filene Center advisor in his/her first year;
  • show patience when your student appears to lack focus;
  • reassure your student that it is "okay" not to know;
  • help a highly focused student to remain curious about other options;
  • share stories about your own career exploration (especially if it was a winding path);
  • reinforce that career exploration is an ongoing process--and that the more you put into it the more you are likely to uncover;
  • listen a lot, suggest far less and create opportunities for your student to share his/her career exploration journey with you.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) also offers suggestions to parents seeking to encourage career exploration.

NACE Links include:

What to expect during the career exploration process

Parents Have Their Say...About Their College-Age Children's Career Decisions

What is the value of participating in out-of-class learning?

Some students tell us it's as important as academic experience in shaping career paths.

What skills and knowledge might my student acquire while working with the Filene Center?

Through work with the Filene Center and other campus interactions, we hope that your student develops or enhances the following competencies:

  • Self Exploration

    • -an understanding of what is important to him/her;
    -an ability and confidence to make independent choices based upon values and interests;
    -increased awareness of goals, strengths, and areas for development.

  • Research

    • -acquires skills and tools to identify resources toward potential internships, community service, and employment;
    -applies classroom research techniques to identifying learning opportunities outside the classroom.

  • Planning and Decision Making

    • -ability to seek out and anticipate opportunities;
    -creates action steps toward achieving goals;
    -establishes priorities and effectively makes decisions on own.

  • Communication

    • -writing skills through crafting resumes, cover letters and proposals;
    -interviewing, presentation and outreach techniques.

  • Reflection

    • -setting realistic expectations for the experience he/she has chosen;
    -defining learning goals, and reflecting on experiences after completion;
    -making connections between academic and out-of-class learning, values and interests leading to ongoing growth and development of self-knowledge and understanding.

In What Ways Does the Filene Center work with seniors?

We help seniors to determine their professional focus and to develop job search strategies.

  • Each student has an initial conversation with an advisor to discuss post-graduate plans.

  • With the advisor, the student develops a customized job search plan that includes market research, informational interviews, a January or term-time internship and development of a network of Wheaton alumnae/i and other potential employers.

  • During second semester, each senior receives weekly e-mail messages that include information about recruiters, job fairs and recent job listings; jobs are also posted in the Filene Center and the student center.

  • The center also works with seniors during the summer and fall after graduation. Because many seniors are involved in theses and other projects, many seniors launch their job search in the months after graduation.

    • What services do we continue to provide Wheaton College students after graduation?

    After Wheaton, alumnae/i are encouraged to stay in contact with the Center. The advising they received as undergraduates is available to them at no cost all along their career paths as are the resources of the Center and the Filene Center Liaison Network, the national career network.

    When is the Filene Center for Work & Learning open?

    The Filene Center for Work & Learning, located on the 2nd floor of the Admissions building is open Monday - Friday from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

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    Providing guidance, tools, resources and programming that promote students' exploration of learning options and cultivates their ability to make informed decisions in relation to their learning at Wheaton and beyond.