Career 365

MTSU’s Career Development Center has embarked on an initiative to establish a campus and community-wide culture of career education and promotion called Career 365. This model is rooted in the understanding that students often do not visit the Career Center, but get Career advice from faculty, staff, alumni, and industry partners. The idea of Career 365 is to ensure that people who are interacting with students and having career conversations are equipped with the tools and resources needed to create consistent messaging for all our students! In support of Career 365, the Career Development Center is sponsoring a Career Influencer program that identifies faculty, staff, alumni, and industry partners who are engaged in assisting students in their career journey.

Why Is Career 365 Important?

With the rising cost of higher education, the emphasis on return of investment for a degree is increasing. In addition, 64% of students state that a professor was a mentor to them during college and an additional 10% identified a university staff member as a mentor. The need to have the Career Development Center work closely with faculty and staff to provide the most up to date resources, trends, data and information is becoming more and more apparent.

Career 365 spreads awareness about career competencies and the career development process throughout campus in a way that ensures consistent messaging to students. It also provides an opportunity to bring those members of the Career Influencer community together for training, discussions and brainstorming around career issues as they relate to MTSU students in an effort to continue learning from one another and providing more comprehensive and specific information to our students.

The Career Influencer Network

In support of Career 365, the Career Development Center sponsors a Career Influencer Network that that connects and engages faculty, staff, alumni, and employer partners who are actively assisting students in becoming career ready to achieve post degree success in the ever-evolving world of work.

The goals of the Network include:

Engagement with the Career Development Center to provide the most current best practices in the career management discipline which include information about resources, trends, and data to share with students.
Development and sharing of consistent language to use when discussing career-related topics; attained by either having a Career Staff Member attend a class and/or a 1:1 training with faculty and staff.
To build a community around career readiness to support MTSU students by recruiting faculty, staff, alumni and industry partners who impact our students’ lives in an effort to influence post degree success.

The Career Influencer Network is designed to be flexible, understanding that faculty and staff already have their plates full and asking them to do one more thing can be daunting. Career Influencers can take an active role and attend workshops and receptions offered by the Career Development Center or they can take a more passive role in disseminating information and one of one engagement with Career Development Center Staff.

Benefits to Becoming a Career Influencer

In addition to helping MTSU students make more intentional career decisions and become more confident in their career readiness, there are additional benefits you will find in being a part of the Career Influencer community which include:

Invitation to Career Advisory Board meetings for recognition AND annual awards ceremony recognizing Influencers
Opportunity to learn from and network with other faculty and staff and the Career Center who are doing this work, to develop additional skills, knowledge and ideas that will help you help your students in the career space
Eligibility to be nominated for a special “Career Influencer” award
Name/picture displayed on the Career Development Center website
Name displayed during Career Events if relevant
Special invitations to Center events that feature employers and alumni
A letter from the VP and Director of the Career Development Center to your supervisor (participate at least two semesters)
A plaque that recognizes you as a “Career Influencer” (participate in at least 2 semesters and attend at least 2 Career Development Center sponsored training sessions/discussions during that time)

How to Become a Career Influencer?

Request a presentation or assignment through the Career Development Center and/or complete or be nominated for being a career influencer on this brief form
Meet for 15 minutes either in person or via zoom with a Career Advisor to learn of updated resources and job market trends

Thank you for being a great campus partner and your willingness to equip our students with the most recent and relevant career information to help them land the next best opportunity for themselves.

Career Influencer Award Winners

2021 - 2022

Dr. David Clark	Dr. Brandon Grubbs	Dr. Carla Hatfield	Dr. Richard Moffett
Ms. Laura Buckner	Ms. Leah Soule	Ms. Nikki Little
2023 - 2024
Ms. Laura Buckner	Dr. Janet McCormick	Ms. Casie Higginbotham	Ms. Carol Swayze
Dr. Dianna Rust	Ms. Andrea Bell	Ms. Mina Abdulkareem