Picture this: You graduate college with your Bachelor’s degree and you’re very excited to find out what the future holds for you in terms of your career development. Now, some years have passed since you graduated and all of a sudden, you don’t feel as though the career you focused on or wanted to pursue during your time in undergrad is the right one for you. But how do you find help so many years after graduation? Here at the Center for Career Planning (CCP), our services are still available for alumni, no matter what year they graduated from CNU or even CNC (Christopher Newport College).

How To Make An Appointment With The CCP

If you were a student in 2018 or later and your CNU email is still active, you can make an appointment via Handshake. If you were a student in 2018 or later but your CNU email address goes inactive (typically after a year of inactivity), you can call our office or email us to change the email address associated with your Handshake account. By letting us know your name, graduation year, and your updated email address, we’ll be able to make sure you still have access to a Handshake account in order to make appointments, view job postings, and access CCP resources on the platform.

If you were a student before 2018, you won’t have a Handshake account, but you can call our office and make an appointment. 

Explore Types Of Appointments

If your career path or desires change, the “Job Search” or “Exploring Careers & Pathways” are the best appointments to choose. You have the choice of meeting online or in-person with a CCP staff member.

Testimonies From CNU Alumni

“Before graduating, they [The CCP] helped so much! They gave advice to treat the fall job fair as if it was the Spring and secure a back up job ASAP. It saved my butt when Spring and Covid-19 came.” - Evan T. Flatt, Class of 2020.

“I'll share what I tell every intern, mentee, or recent grad I meet with: Jobs are temporary. That idea can be scary, but it's also full of opportunity. The job you have now or the job you hope to land does not need to be your job for the length of your career. If you love it, great! Even if you end up needing to change jobs at some point, you've found something you love to do and can probably find something similar or find a way to continue some of that work in a different capacity. If you don't love your job, that's okay! Get 1-2 years of experience and then figure out your next move. And lean on your fellow Captains. We have an incredible alumni network that enjoys supporting fellow Captains. Even if they don't have a job at the moment, the more people that know you and value what you bring to the table, the better positioned you'll be when a great opportunity comes along.” - Victoria Dixon, Class of 2016.

Career changes are common. Very few people have a set career path that they continue to pursue years later because so many things change, such as interests and goals. Rather than wallow in confusion, it’s best to prepare for these changes by meeting with the CCP and getting any help you need to move forward!