From Education to Employment: Embedding Career Readiness Across the Student Journey – Higher Ed Careers

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In this Higher Ed Careers interview, Kelly Cherwin, director of editorial strategy at HigherEdJobs, speaks with Ellie Bridges, director of the Bearcat Promise Career Studio at the University of Cincinnati, about embedding career readiness into the student experience at scale and building equitable pathways from education to employment.

Bridges leads the Bearcat Promise Career Studio within UC’s College of Cooperative Education and Professional Studies, where she works with faculty, staff, and campus partners to integrate career exploration across the academic journey. Her work focuses on aligning academic pathways with workforce needs, strengthening faculty engagement, and ensuring students graduate with both a degree and a defined career plan.

Ellie Bridges, director of the Bearcat Promise Career Studio, University of Cincinnati: I was drawn to higher education because I experienced firsthand how transformational college can be, particularly for students who do not arrive with built-in social or professional capital. As a low-income, first-generation college student, I benefited deeply from having people and systems in place that helped me navigate both the academic and unspoken aspects of college life. That experience continues to ground my work.

Having served in roles across admissions, advising, and career coaching has given me a holistic view of the student journey. I have seen where students arrive with excitement or uncertainty, where they can lose momentum, and where well-timed support can make a meaningful difference. Those perspectives shape how I lead the Bearcat Promise Career Studio today.

Rather than positioning career development as a single office or moment in time, the Career Studio is part of a broader ecosystem in which faculty, staff, and campus partners share responsibility for helping students connect their education to meaningful work and long-term purpose. In my role as director, I work closely with faculty, staff, and partners to help ensure students encounter coordinated, intentional opportunities to explore careers throughout their academic journey.

Bridges: One of the most important lessons we learned early on was that scale requires structure. With a student population of 53,682, we could not rely solely on one-on-one career coaching to reach every student. At the same time, students made it clear that while career development matters, it often competes with other priorities unless it is intentionally embedded into the academic experience.

That insight led to the development and implementation of career education learning outcomes, or ‘CELOs,’ in 2020, created using guidance from the National Association of Colleges and Employers career competencies. Embedding these outcomes into the curriculum required time, planning, and collaboration with faculty and campus partners. This investment established a shared framework for what students should be exploring, practicing, and reflecting on at different points in their academic journey.

Students engage in professional development courses that build career readiness skills such as self-exploration, resume development, networking, and career decision-making. Most courses are taught by faculty in students’ home colleges, with additional sections taught by CCPS faculty members and adjunct instructors. I consult with faculty on integrating CELOs into professional development courses and learning experiences offered through the Career Studio. Together, the curriculum, courses, and faculty collaboration ensure that career exploration is a consistent, integrated part of the student experience from the first year onward. Students also continue to have access to one-on-one coaching, ensuring personalized guidance complements the integrated curricular and professional development opportunities.

Bridges: We take a multilayered approach to ensuring our academic pathways align with workforce needs. Students participate in cooperative education and other experiential learning opportunities, and they complete structured reflections after each experience. These reflections allow both students and employers to share what is working well and identify areas for growth, creating real-time feedback on skill development and workforce preparation.

Employer advisory boards and alumni also provide insight into the competencies students need now and in the future, helping faculty and staff make informed decisions about programming and skill development. Supporting this work, a dedicated staff member analyzes labor market data and translates it into actionable insights for faculty, staff, and students. Together, this combination of student reflection, employer and alumni input, and data-driven insight creates a continuous feedback loop that connects academic learning to real-world outcomes and helps students develop the skills and experiences needed for long-term career success.

Bridges: Consistency comes from intentional design and strong partnerships across the campus ecosystem. Rather than expecting students to seek out resources independently, our team works closely with faculty, staff, and campus partners to embed career development into both curricular and co-curricular pathways students are already navigating.

First-generation students engage with career development through structured coursework and complementary programming. Commuter students receive targeted information about coaching, workshops, and career fairs through an existing newsletter, ensuring they hear about opportunities early and often. For students participating in work-study, we partner with the program administrator to label students in our career platform and send targeted communication about work-study opportunities and workshops.

We are also strengthening support by equipping faculty and staff supervisors with tools through our Career Champions Canvas community, helping students connect their on-campus employment to skill-building and career exploration. These structured supports are complemented by traditional coaching, giving students access to individualized guidance when needed.

We also reduce practical barriers through initiatives such as our free professional headshot booth, launched in 2020 after learning that professional photos significantly increase employer engagement on platforms such as LinkedIn and Handshake, as well as our Career Closet and JCPenney Suit-Up partnership. Across these populations, thoughtful design and strong partnerships ensure career development is a consistent, integrated part of the UC experience rather than a series of isolated touchpoints.

Bridges: We approach career readiness as a lifelong practice rather than a one-time outcome. For current students, we teach how to use AI ethically and effectively throughout their career journey and encourage them to take advantage of platforms such as LinkedIn Learning and Coursera to continuously upskill alongside their academic experiences. Students and alumni can pair these resources with coaching support to apply their learning, reflect on career goals, and plan next steps.

For learning beyond graduation, UC’s professional and continuing education team developed Skills@UC, which offers flexible, expert-led programs designed to help learners grow in their careers, education, and personal lives without the commitment of a full degree. With online, in-person, and hybrid options, Skills@UC allows alumni and community members to develop new skills, advance in their roles, or explore new opportunities throughout their professional lives.

By emphasizing both immediate skill-building and long-term adaptability, we help students and alumni build career agility, confidence, and the ability to navigate evolving workplace expectations.

Cherwin: This article introduces the Purpose First 2.0 framework, which encourages institutions to give students early, ongoing opportunities to explore careers, understand labor market realities, and connect academic choices to long-term goals. What aspects of this approach feel most relevant to your work, and what should institutions adapt when implementing similar models?

Bridges: The emphasis on early, ongoing exploration in the Purpose First 2.0 framework strongly resonates with the work we are doing at UC. Students benefit most when they have repeated opportunities to reflect on their interests, values, and strengths while understanding how those connect to real labor market opportunities. Waiting until the final year is simply too late.

One area institutions should thoughtfully adapt is how frameworks such as this are operationalized at scale. Clear learning outcomes, faculty engagement, and a shared language are essential for moving from philosophy to practice. Flexibility is also critical. Students’ paths are not linear, and models must allow for exploration, recalibration, and growth rather than positioning purpose as something defined once and for all.

Ultimately, the goal is not to rush students toward certainty, but to equip them with the tools, experiences, and confidence to navigate complexity throughout their lives. By embedding career readiness across the student journey, UC helps students connect their academic choices to meaningful work while developing long-term career agility.

Bridges: What continues to motivate me is seeing students recognize their own potential and begin to articulate how their experiences, inside and outside the classroom, connect to a larger sense of purpose. That recognition is powerful and serves as a reminder of why career development is such a critical part of higher education.

I am also encouraged by the broader direction of career readiness efforts across higher education. National- and state-level attention on demonstrating the value of a degree has brought greater visibility and institutional support to career services, creating opportunities to strengthen programs and build coordinated, student-centered ecosystems.

In 2023, the College of Cooperative Education and Professional Studies was created to further strengthen the institutional structure supporting coordinated career readiness efforts. CCPS houses the Career Studio alongside cooperative education, professional development courses, service learning, Skills@UC, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the Bachelor of Professional Studies program, and industry engagement. This integrated approach helps students connect academic learning to meaningful careers while supporting long-term career success.