Building a Career-Ready Campus:
Our Career Ecosystem Approach
Rutgers is advancing a career-ready campus—an integrated career ecosystem—through a shared vision, clear strategic priorities, and a common framework and language for career readiness. Together, these elements align academic and co-curricular experiences to help students build skills, gain experience, and successfully pursue their post-graduation goals.
Our Vision for a Career-Ready Campus
Rutgers’ commitment to building a career-ready campus is grounded in a strategic vision to ensure every student connects their experiences to meaningful career outcomes.
The Career Journey Model and Career Readiness Competencies provide the shared framework that advances this vision across the university.
Strategic Priorities
Rutgers is advancing a career-ready campus through six interconnected priorities:
First-Year Career
Integration
Integrating career development into first-year experiences in partnership with academic and student success units, through structured courses, guided reflection, and early exposure to career pathways—reaching thousands of students annually and supporting informed exploration from the start.
Career Mentoring
at Scale
Expanding access to career mentoring through a coordinated ecosystem of programs that connect students with industry professionals—growing cohort-based models and scaling mentorship opportunities—and supported by a campus-wide Career Mentoring Community of Practice.
Career Readiness in the Curriculum
Partnering with faculty to integrate career readiness into academic courses through shared learning outcomes, applied experiences, and alignment with NACE competencies—supported by high-demand faculty engagement and course-based innovation.
Career Readiness Across the Student Experience
Embedding career development across student organizations, on-campus employment, and campus experiences—in collaboration with campus partners who support student involvement and leadership—engaging hundreds of students in opportunities that build skills, support reflection, and connect experiences to career readiness.
Tailored Career Engagement & Experience
Connecting students and employers through tailored engagement aligned to career interests—coordinated with campus partners who support distinct student populations and industry engagement—through Rutgers’ career community model, with expanded access to internships and high-impact programs.
Career-Ready Campus Awareness & Common Language
Advancing a shared, campus-wide approach to career readiness through coordinated communication and a common language that helps students connect experiences to skill development and clearly articulate their growth.
In Practice
Rutgers is already advancing this work at scale through high-impact programs and initiatives across campus.
These efforts directly support the strategic priorities above and demonstrate progress at scale.
2,000+ students annually — First-Year Interest Group Seminars (FIGS)
80 students per cohort — 4WARD Career Pathways mentoring (expanding with new course)
130 paid internships annually — Scarlet Service Internship Program
400+ students / 700+ attendees — Student Employment Enrichment Program + On-Campus Jobs Fair
Faculty Career Fellows program — high-demand program with a growing waitlist
Career Journey Model: How Students Progress
The Career Journey Model outlines how students progress from exploration to post-graduation outcomes. This framework connects the strategic priorities above—spanning classroom, co-curricular, and experiential learning—to a shared pathway that helps students build skills, reflect on their experiences, and make informed decisions.
About the Career Journey Model
A four-phase model that connects student experiences across campus to career development and post-graduation outcomes.
Discover Yourself
Identify interests, values, and strengths to build a foundation for career exploration.
Explore Careers & Pathways
Connect interests to majors, careers, and opportunities through informed exploration.
Develop Skills & Competencies
Build and apply NACE career readiness competencies through hands-on and applied experiences.
Pursue Your Goals
Prepare for and secure post-graduation opportunities through strategic action and planning.
Career Readiness Competencies: A Common Language for Skills Employers Value
Developed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), these competencies define the skills students need for career success and lifelong learning.
Career readiness competencies are primarily developed through applied experiences and serve as a common language that help students reflect on and clearly articulate their growth across the Career Journey.
About Career Readiness Competencies
Eight core competencies developed by NACE that define the skills students build across the Career Journey Model.
Career & Self-Development
Continuously develop yourself through reflection and lifelong learning.
Communication
Clearly and effectively exchange ideas, information, and perspectives.
Critical Thinking
Analyze information and make informed decisions to solve problems.
Equity & Inclusion
Engage and collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
Leadership
Recognize strengths and guide others toward shared goals.
Professionalism
Act with integrity, accountability, and awareness of workplace expectations.
Teamwork
Collaborate effectively with others to achieve common goals.
Technology
Use technology strategically and ethically to enhance your work.
Put This Into Practice
Explore how you can contribute—through teaching, supervising, or leading student experiences.