Assistant Director, Career Success Strategy
Medical Professions, Life Sciences, and Health Sciences Career Communities
Assistant Director, Career Success Strategy
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, seeks a dynamic team leader to serve as an Assistant Director of Career Success Strategy (UHR Title: Career Management Specialist) within the Office of Career Exploration and Success.
Application Deadline to Apply: 11:59 pm on September 11, 2024
Institution Overview
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, the flagship campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a renowned academic institution that boasts a vibrant and diverse community of learners. With its enrollment numbers exceeding 43,000 students, Rutgers-New Brunswick offers a broad range of programs across its schools and colleges, providing students with ample opportunities for intellectual growth and personal development. The campus's rich history, state-of-the-art facilities, and distinguished faculty contribute to a dynamic learning environment that prepares students for success in their chosen fields and equips them with the skills necessary to thrive in an ever-changing world.
About Career Exploration and Success
Career Exploration and Success (CES) is committed to assisting students with making connections between their academic experience and career paths. We provide career-related advising, resources, and programs to help individuals discover their interests, values, and skills, explore careers and majors, develop skills through internships and experiential opportunities, and pursue their post-graduate goals. We build relationships with alumni, employers, and graduate schools to optimize internship, job, and career opportunities while also creating strategic partnerships with campus departments to assist students in developing and articulating co-curricular experiences that will help to ensure they are competitive in their future pursuits.
CES is comprised of four units, each with its own director who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of their unit, making hiring decisions, providing leadership to their unit, managing their unit's budget, solving challenges and celebrating wins, and making decisions aligned with overarching goals.
About the Career Readiness Unit
One of four units within the Office of Career Exploration and Success, the Career Readiness Unit guides students through the later stages of their career journey. Its main goals are to help them develop skills, connect to meaningful professional experiences, and master contemporary strategies to enhance competitiveness post-graduation. The unit consists of 11 full-time staff members and three graduate coordinators organized into two teams led by associate directors: the Career Success Strategy Team and the Internships & Professional Development Team.
About the Career Success Strategy Team and Career Communities
Aligned with the Career Readiness Unit's mission, the Career Success Strategy team provides coaching and programs tailored for students within specific career interest communities. Additionally, the team develops and nurtures campus partnerships to enhance outreach and specialization, ensuring students excel in contemporary job searches and graduate school applications, all in line with CES’s overarching mission to prepare students for competitive success post-graduation.
Ten years ago, Rutgers—New Brunswick developed the career interest-centric approach to career development within a large, centralized career office. The Rutgers model has been showcased at numerous statewide, regional, and national gatherings. Career communities provide tailored access to preparation programs, recruiting events, job listings, alumni mentors, and more! Each community has a student-facing lead (Assistant Director, Career Success Strategy), an employer-facing lead, and an advisory board comprised of campus partners, employers, and student leaders aligned with the community. Soon, there will be a Peer Career Educator and Industry Consultant aligned with each community.
About the Associate Director, Career Success Strategy
About the Director of Career Readiness
Jennifer Broyles is the Director of Career Readiness. With nearly two decades of experience in career services at multiple institutions, Jennifer's extensive background positions her as a capable leader who can successfully navigate the challenges of today. Her accomplishments, such as collaborating with faculty to connect hundreds of undergraduate researchers to the world of work at The College of New Jersey and co-creating the now nationally utilized career communities' model during her time at Rutgers, demonstrate her expertise in establishing partnerships, developing experiential education opportunities, and enhancing career readiness. Jennifer is widely recognized for her work by the Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers and the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
About the Executive Director
Jennifer Broyles, Director of Career Readiness, reports to William (Wil) Jones, Executive Director of Career Exploration and Success. Wil was officially named Executive Director in 2021 by Rutgers University-New Brunswick Chancellor-Provost Francine Conway. Jones previously served in various roles within CES, including Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives, Senior Director, and interim Executive Director. At Rutgers, he co-founded the industry-centric career community approach to career development – which has become a national model – to diversify office offerings and help students think about their professional goals beyond the confines of their academic discipline. Before joining Rutgers, Wil oversaw various functions at the University of Maryland Career Center, including helping student leaders translate their experiences to the world of work by making connections to the skills employers sought.
Position Description
Reporting to the associate director of Career Success Strategy, the Assistant Director (UHR Title: Career Management Specialist) is an integral part of the development and implementation of the career community ecosystem. The role includes overseeing the career interest communities, managing campus partner advisory boards, connecting students with exploration and networking opportunities through alumni mentorship and engagement, and providing tailored programming and advising services. The Career Management Specialist will oversee the Medical Professions and Life & Health Sciences.
Community Engagement and Advisory Boards
The assistant director will work with community partners to have an active presence in locations associated with the assigned career community. This may include hosting drop-in office hours in the community, coordinating student organization activities, or participating in community meetings and presentations.
The incumbent will recruit and lead a group of community partners to serve on their career community advisory boards. The board’s purpose is to provide career resources tailored to the community to ensure positive post-graduation outcomes. Board membership shall include faculty/staff, employers/alumni, student leaders, CES employer engagement staff, etc. The board will direct the overall administration of community-specific career journey programs, student-alumni mentoring activities, and virtual recruiting programs (representative from the Industry and Student Connections Unit). The board will also assist the career community lead with engaging academic departments, large student organizations, and other community members. The boards will meet virtually or in person at least three times annually.
The incumbent will work with assigned academic liaisons to incorporate career programming into the curriculum. This includes meeting annually with campus departments to establish potential partnerships, discuss student engagement, and present annually at departmental meetings.
Career Advising
The incumbent will provide front-line career advising services for students and alumni within their communities and the general population. They will advise students regarding self-discovery, career and academic exploration, skills development, and pursuit of graduate studies and employment. This includes all advising modes, such as drop-ins at various campus locations, individual appointments, group advising, etc.
Programming
The incumbent will present tailored programs associated with their career communities. They will also solicit and present presentations within the community based on requests by faculty, staff, and organizations associated with their community. These events aim to explore career paths and discuss issues relevant to that community through student and alumni connections.
Miscellaneous Duties
The program director will actively participate in various meetings, professional development activities, and other responsibilities as assigned.
Candidate Profile
To be considered for the assistant director position, candidates must meet the following minimum requirements:
- Experience and Education: Requires a bachelor’s degree in a related field with two years of experience or an equivalent combination of education or experience.
- Skills and Competencies: Should have an in-depth understanding of NACE Career Readiness Competencies, contemporary job search strategies, and experience working with students in a career development setting.
Preferred Qualifications: Ideally, the person will have a master’s degree and experience within career services or higher education settings. Industry experience connected with the career community is also preferred.
Flexible Work Arrangement Program
Rutgers is pleased to announce the extension of the FlexWork@RU Pilot Program through August 31, 2025. Full-time staff members within Career Exploration and Success are permitted to either a 4:1 compressed work week or up to two days per week of remote work.
The flexible work arrangements outlined in Rutgers Policy 60.3.22 are part of a pilot program that is effective September 1, 2022 and extended through August 31, 2025. Therefore, there is no guarantee that this flexible work arrangement will continue beyond that date. Flexible work arrangements are not permanent, are subject to change or cancellation and contingent on the employee receiving approval in the FlexWork@RU Application System. Additional information may be found at https://futureofwork.rutgers.edu.
Additionally, CES has implemented #FocusFriday, a department-wide practice where internal meetings between CES colleagues are discouraged every Friday. This dedicated time enables staff to concentrate on accomplishing their goals. Periodic meditation or mental health breaks throughout the day are also supported. To further support productivity, CES encourages the utilization of automated "Focus Blocks" through Microsoft Outlook. These automated blocks allow staff members to schedule designated periods of uninterrupted work time, further maximizing productivity and focus.
Benefits Program
Rutgers offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. For details, please go to http://uhr.rutgers.edu/benefits/benefits-overview.
Rutgers also offers a benefit program to eligible full-time postdoctoral fellow students. For details, please go to https://finance.rutgers.edu/healthcare-risk/insurance/postdoctoral-health-insurance.
Non-Discrimination Statement
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or any other category covered by law in its admission, programs, activities, or employment matters. For additional information, please see the Non-Discrimination Statement at the following web address: http://uhr.rutgers.edu/non-discrimination-statement
Search Committee:
Tamara Peters (Search Chair), tamara.peters@rutgers.edu
Assistant Director, Industry and Campus Connections - Career Exploration and Success
Anne Carr-Schmid
Director of Advising - School of Arts & Sciences, Biological Sciences
Tanishq Jagoori
Student Intern, Rutgers Scarlet Service Internship Program - Career Exploration and Success
Tiffany Rice
Assistant Director, Career Exploration - Career Exploration and Success
Greg Sobol
Pre-medical Advisor - Health Professions Office, Division of Life Sciences
Apply Today
Application Deadline to Apply: 11:59 pm on September 11, 2024