Career Everywhere

For too long, career services has been an afterthought. Now it's time for career services to be in the driver's seat, leading institutional strategy around career readiness. Join us every other Tuesday for in-depth interviews with today’s most innovative career leaders about how they’re building a campus culture of career readiness… or what we call Career Everywhere.

Career Everywhere is a education podcast hosted by uConnect, with 102 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

uConnect hosts Career Everywhere, a education show with 102 episodes published.

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  Episode #99

  25 Years of Career Services Leadership: Reflections, Lessons, and Advice from Harold Bell (feat. Harold Bell)

  Sep 1, 20261h 16m

  What does it take to build a 25-year career in higher ed career services—and know when it's time to walk away on your own terms? In this episode of the Career Everywhere Podcast, host Meredith Metsker sits down with Harold Bell , who recently wrapped up 25 years as Director of Career Planning and Development at Spelman College, the No. 1-ranked HBCU for 19 consecutive years and, more recently, the top-ranked women's college in the country. Harold is a longtime NACE leader and a mentor to countless career services professionals across higher ed. Harold traces his winding path into the field—from an early student affairs role, to a nonprofit that connected him with employer recruiting, to two corporate stints in banking and consulting, and finally to Spelman, where a key introduction (and a very direct first question: "Will you hire men?") led to a job that had quietly sat open for a year. He talks about the proudest moments of his tenure, including helping bring career services into the classroom through grant-funded work, building out Spelman's virtual career center (powered by uConnect) during the pandemic, and being inducted into the NACE Academy of Fellows. Harold also shares candid reflections on leadership, including why he believes your own team is the most overlooked stakeholder in career services, and why he decided the time was right to leave Spelman this past June. He closes with what "semi-retirement" looks like for him right now, and his philosophy for anyone thinking about their own next chapter: see yourself as the answer to a problem, and the right opportunity will find you. Key takeaways: Your team is your first stakeholder. Harold argues that career leaders often look outward first—to students, parents, employers—without recognizing their own staff as the biggest stakeholder in the work. Investing in your team (and in yourself as the leader) has to come first, not last. A winding path can be the best preparation. Harold's route to Spelman ran through student affairs, a nonprofit, and two corporate roles in banking and consulting. Each stop added a skill he'd eventually bring to career services—recruiting, training, budgeting, and leadership development among them. Relationships open doors that job postings don't. Harold landed the Spelman role through a networking chain: a former colleague, a mutual contact, and a search committee chair who'd already seen his resume before he applied online. As Harold puts it, “It's not what you know. It's not who you know. It's who you know, who knows what you know, and who likes you.” Know the signs it's time to move on. For Harold, the signal wasn't burnout or conflict—it was the sense that the work had become repetitive and that he could no longer move the needle on the things he cared most about advancing. Choosing your own exit is a privilege. Harold left Spelman voluntarily, on good terms, and with a proud legacy—something he considers rare and worth planning toward. Rest before you relaunch. Harold's framework for his “semi-retirement” transition: rest, reset, reload, relaunch. He's intentionally giving himself time before deciding what's next, rather than rushing into consulting or another career services role. See yourself as an answer, not just an employee. Harold's closing philosophy: sustainability in your career comes from identifying the problems you're uniquely equipped to solve and positioning yourself as the answer to them. About the guest: Harold Bell recently retired after 25 years as Director of Career Planning and Development at Spelman College, a private women's HBCU in Atlanta ranked the No. 1 HBCU for 19 consecutive years. Before Spelman, Harold worked in student affairs, at the nonprofit INROADS, and in corporate roles at NationsBank (now Bank of America) and EY. He is a longtime NACE volunteer and was inducted into the NACE Academy of Fellows. Harold now considers himself "semi-retired" and is exploring what's next. Resources from the episode: Harold’s LinkedIn profile NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) INROADS —the nonprofit where Harold gained early experience connecting employers with student talent Spelman College's virtual career center (powered by uConnect ) Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

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  Episode #98

  Why Career Services Engagement Matters More Than Your Major (feat. David Kozhuk)

  Aug 18, 20261h 6m

  What if the single biggest predictor of a student's success after graduation isn't their major, their GPA, or even their school's brand name—but simply whether they engaged with career services? In this episode, host Meredith Metsker welcomes back David Kozhuk , Founder and CEO of uConnect , for his second appearance on the show. David makes the case that career services engagement is the most important thing a student can do during college—more influential on outcomes like retention, graduation rates, and earnings than the major they choose or the classes they take. David traces this conviction back to his own experience as a finance student at UMass Amherst, where regular use of the career center helped him land multiple internships and his first full-time job. He also shares the story of how he returned to campus several years after graduating to recruit top-performing students for a few open roles at his company. Despite the marketing and promotion, a great venue, catering, and the whole nine yards, only three students showed up to his presentation. That gap between what career services offers and how few students actually engage with it inspired David to start uConnect and build the first-ever Virtual Career Center platform —now trusted by hundreds of institutions across the country. From there, the conversation turns to the data. David unpacks: Why so many institutions are sitting on a goldmine of outcomes data they aren't using How uConnect is helping schools connect career services engagement to outcomes data and real-time labor market trends How AI is now making it possible to deliver personalized, trustworthy recommendations to students at scale (no matter your career team size) He also gets candid about what's at stake—for students, staff, and institutions—when career readiness stays a talking point instead of a funded priority, and offers concrete advice for both career leaders and senior higher ed leadership on how to close that gap. Key takeaways: Career services engagement is the No. 1 influence on student outcomes. David points to data showing that students at institutions with strong, scalable career services engagement see meaningfully higher average earnings, retention, and completion rates than the NACE national average—across hundreds of institutions and hundreds of thousands of students. Small amounts of engagement can have an outsized impact. An hour spent in a mock interview or talking with an alum about a career path they'd never considered can do more for a student's trajectory than almost any other hour of their college experience—largely because it builds confidence, and confidence compounds. Non-engagement is rational, not a motivation problem. Students who don't know what they want to do often assume the career center can't help them until they do—a branding and positioning gap David sees as one of the field's biggest opportunities, especially for reaching underserved and unengaged students early. Outcomes data is one of higher ed's most underutilized assets. Most schools collect rich first-destination survey data but rarely operationalize it. It sits in a spreadsheet rather than informing real-time recommendations to current students or messaging to prospective ones. Reframe outcomes data as inspiration, not judgment. David encourages senior leaders to stop treating outcomes data as a referendum on institutional effectiveness and start using it—even a small sample size—as proof of what's possible for students in a given major or pathway. Intentionality is a career leader's edge. David points to other podcast guests like Barbara Zerillo (Post University) and Josh Domitrovich (PennWest) as examples of career leaders who used data to earn a seat at the table. Josh manually tracked correlations between career services engagement and institutional KPIs for years before career became part of PennWest's strategic plan. The stakes are institutional, not just individual. David connects career services engagement directly to enrollment, persistence, completion, and ultimately institutional revenue—arguing that as other funding sources shrink, delivering on the ROI promise of a degree becomes existential for many schools. About the guest: David Kozhuk is the Founder and CEO of uConnect, the all-in-one Virtual Career Center platform used by hundreds of institutions across the country. He started uConnect over a decade ago after a formative experience recruiting on his own college campus, where he discovered how few students were engaging with the career center that had shaped his own path from student to full-time offer. David built an early prototype of the Virtual Career Center concept to help make career services more visible, accessible, and personalized for students—and has spent the years since working directly with career leaders, provosts, and presidents to connect career services engagement to measurable student outcomes. Resources from the episode: David’s LinkedIn profile David’s article: The Answer to Higher Ed’s Outcomes Problem is Hiding in Plain Sight uConnect website Barbara Zerillo episode (Post University) Josh Domitrovich's episode (PennWest): Coming soon! Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

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  Episode #97

  Career Services + Student Affairs: A Blueprint for Partnership (feat. Nicole Hall and Christian Garcia)

  Aug 4, 20261h 2m

  In this episode of the Career Everywhere Podcast, host Meredith Metsker sits down with Dr. Nicole Hall , Senior Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students, and Christian Garcia , Associate Vice President of Career and Professional Development, at the University of Virginia. Christian is also Nicole's direct report—a dynamic that shapes nearly everything they discuss. The conversation opens with trends the two surfaced during a recent fireside chat at the Virginia ACE conference: the deepening of skills-based hiring, a widening gap between internship demand and supply, the state of Virginia's growing involvement in internship policy, and the layered, still-unsettled role AI is playing in the job market. Nicole, who currently chairs the NACE Board of Directors, brings a national data lens. Christian brings the day-to-day view from UVA's career center, where he's seeing high fair attendance and strong demand for one-on-one advising even as some employers pull back on-campus interviewing (or “on-grounds” as they call it at UVA). From there, the episode turns to what makes this pairing unique: Nicole's path from 20+ years leading career centers into executive student affairs leadership, and her decision—negotiated during her own UVA hiring process—to bring career services into her portfolio rather than let it sit as a separate, siloed unit. Christian and Nicole talk candidly about what it's like to work together day to day, how they balance "reading the tea leaves" with tactical execution, and the advice they'd give other career leaders hoping to build stronger relationships with student affairs (or vice versa). Key takeaways: Career Everywhere means shared ownership, not shared job titles. Christian compares it to a mental-health-referral mindset: you don't need to be a career counselor to play a role in a student's career readiness—faculty, staff, peers, and alumni all have a part. Skills-based hiring is deepening, not just spreading. Nicole points to NACE data showing employers have moved from mentioning desired skills in job postings to building specific skills assessments directly into their application and interview processes. Internship demand is badly outpacing supply. A 2023 Business-Higher Education Forum survey found that eight million students wanted internships, but only about four million internships were available—pushing career centers toward creative alternatives like short-term, skills-rich projects that don't require a full semester or summer commitment. AI anxiety is real, but the "doom and gloom" narrative isn't backed by employer data. Citing NACE's 2026 Job Outlook , Nicole notes 61% of employers surveyed have no intention of replacing roles with AI, while about 25% are exploring ways to augment existing roles with it. The bigger opportunity for students, both guests agree, is building genuine AI literacy. Bringing career services under student affairs was a deliberate, negotiated choice. Nicole pushed for the structure before she'd even accepted her offer, driven by a belief that career development should be woven through the entire student experience rather than managed in isolation. A thought-partnership beats a reporting relationship. Christian and Nicole describe weekly check-ins built around mutual trust rather than oversight—Nicole intentionally stays "at arm's length" from day-to-day career center decisions so Christian can lead. Relationship-building is the real integration strategy. Christian's practice of meeting broadly across campus (352 meetings in one semester alone) helped him build trust quickly in a new role—something both guests see as foundational to breaking down silos between career services and the rest of the institution. Career leaders should apply their own advice to their own careers. Both guests encourage career professionals to stay open to unexpected opportunities and to release the pressure that career advancement has to mean climbing to a director- or VP-level title. About the guests: Dr. Nicole Hall is the Senior Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students at the University of Virginia, and the current Chair of the NACE Board of Directors. She spent 20+ years leading career centers before moving into executive student affairs leadership, and now oversees career services alongside orientation, fraternity and sorority life, leadership development, and other student-facing units at UVA. Christian Garcia is the Associate Vice President of Career and Professional Development at the University of Virginia and 2024 winner of the NACE Mackes Leadership Award. Longtime listeners may recognize him from Season 1 of the podcast, when he led career services at the University of Miami. He also hosts UVA's "Living Room on the Lawn" video interview series. Resources from the episode: Christian’s LinkedIn profile Nicole’s LinkedIn profile NACE Job Outlook 2026 (referenced for AI adoption data among employers) Business-Higher Education Forum internship demand/supply survey Christian’s previous Career Everywhere Podcast appearance (episode 14) Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

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  Episode #96

  BONUS: Answer a Question + Leave a Question (Live from NACE 2026)

  Jul 28, 202618 min

  In this second bonus episode recorded live at the uConnect booth at NACE 2026 in Denver, host Meredith Metsker puts a twist on the "Answer-a-Question/Leave-a-Question" segment from the regular show. Each guest answered a question left by the person before them, then left a new question of their own—resulting in a fun, unpredictable chain of career-focused insights and lighthearted personal stories. Here were a few themes: Career services wish lists. Guests floated ideas for improving the field, from more seamless resume upload tools to better support for adult learners building online portfolios that translate previous work experience into new career paths. Supporting students who need it most. Several answers focused on equity and access—covering funding support for students in unpaid internships, and coaching strategies to help students with disabilities navigate disclosure and self-advocacy in the workplace. Mentorship as a throughline. More than one guest credited a mentor—sometimes an unofficial one—for shaping their own career path, reinforcing a theme that's come up throughout the podcast: mentorship can come from anywhere. AI and the human touch. One guest's piece of advice to students: don't let AI replace the personality and human element that make you stand out in a job search. Lighter moments, too. True to the "no rules" nature of the segment, guests also shared favorite (or hated) first jobs, childhood dream careers, go-to road trip snacks, sports loyalties, and more—showing off the personalities behind the profession. Tune in to hear the full chain of questions and answers, live from the NACE conference floor. (Apologies for any less-than-ideal audio issues!) Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

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  Episode #97

  Internships for Everyone: How ODU Removes Barriers to Work-Based Learning, Part 2 (feat. Barbara Blake)

  Jul 21, 202644 min

  If you haven't listened to part one yet, start there first. In that episode, Dr. Barbara Blake walks through the origin story of ODU's Monarch Internship & Co-Op Office —why it was created, how it's structured, and how four distinct pathways are making work-based learning accessible to every student regardless of major, background, or circumstance. In part two, the conversation goes deeper. Host Meredith Metsker and Barbara dig into what the office has accomplished in its first three years, how Barbara secured $8.5 million in funding from more than 20 sources, and what it looks like to turn a $5 million Mellon Foundation gift into 75 brand-new internships that never existed before. Barbara also takes on one of the field's thorniest issues—unpaid internships—and makes a compelling case for why career services leaders need to stop accepting the status quo and start advocating for change. She closes with some of the most practical advice in the two-part series: how to find your people on campus, how to think small when it comes to grants, and why doubling down on what you do best is the right move for any career office that's stretched too thin. Key topics covered in this episode: Why myth-busting is mission-critical for first-gen students—and how assumptions about unpaid internships, year-long commitments, and eligibility requirements are keeping students from pursuing opportunities that are actually available to them. How ODU's $5 million Mellon Foundation grant funds the Monarch Humanities Internship Academy, which pays humanities students $20 an hour—including at nonprofits that previously couldn't host interns because they couldn't afford to pay them. Since early 2024, the academy has created over 75 brand-new internships. Why unpaid internships deserve real advocacy, not just workarounds—and what career services leaders can do right now at the institutional level to push for change, from reaching out to faculty and departments to challenging accrediting bodies to explain and revisit policies that prohibit pay. What the office's biggest win actually looks like—not a funding milestone or an engagement metric, but a student who submitted 50 applications with help from the team, landed a life-changing national internship, and a student whose Congressional internship led her to write that her whole world had changed. How ODU's virtual internship office , powered by uConnect , launched in fall 2025 and already boasts the highest engagement rate among comparable R1 institutions in Virginia—and how the office has struck the right balance between high-touch counseling and scalable technology. Barbara's top advice for career leaders who want to do something non-traditional: look for the helpers, think small when it comes to grants, and double down on what your office does best instead of trying to do everything. About the guest: Dr. Barbara Blake is the Chief Internship Officer and Executive Director of the Monarch Internship & Co-Op Office at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. An economist by training, she has taught economics for over 20 years, conducted economic research for NATO, worked in the corporate world for companies like Hanes Mexico, and owned her own consulting business. Since launching the Monarch Internship & Co-Op Office in July 2023, her team has secured $8.5 million in funding from more than 20 funders and built one of the most distinctive experiential learning models in higher education. Dr. Blake holds a master’s degree from the University of Leeds and has published and presented original economic research in the United States and the United Kingdom. Resources from the episode: Dr. Blake's LinkedIn profile Dr. Blake's email: bblakego@odu.edu Monarch Internship & Co-Op Virtual Office (powered by uConnect ) Part one of this conversation Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

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