Career Everywhere

About 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.

Publisher

uConnect

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

21 Dec 2022

Latest episode

6 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

103 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   6 Oct 2026

   Ep. 100: How Career Readiness Became a Core Pillar in PennWest's New Strategic Plan (feat. Josh Domitrovich)

   What does it take to get career services a seat at the table—and keep it, through four presidents, eight bosses, and constant reorganization? In this milestone 100th episode of the Career Everywhere Podcast, host Meredith Metsker (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmetsker/) welcomes back Dr. Josh Domitrovich (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuadomitrovich/), Executive Director of the Career Center at Pennsylvania Western University (PennWest)—and her very first guest (https://www.gouconnect.com/podcast-episode/bringing-career-everywhere-to-life-at-pennwest-josh-domitrovich/) when the podcast launched back in January 2023. Nearly four years after that first conversation, Josh returns to share how far PennWest's career center has come. Formed in 2022 from the consolidation of three standalone universities in western Pennsylvania, PennWest has put Josh and his team through the gauntlet: Three different divisional homes (enrollment management, student affairs, and now academic affairs) Four university presidents Eight different bosses A nearly 50% budget cut (some of which has been clawed back) A 15% enrollment decline And yet, through all of it, Josh and his team have made career services an indispensable part of PennWest's institutional identity—culminating in career readiness being a core pillar and value in PennWest’s new strategic plan (launched in 2026). In this episode, Josh shares a behind-the-scenes look at how this all happened: How he and his team got invited to help write the strategic plan How they "infiltrated" other pillars to make sure career showed up throughout the entire student experience (not just around graduation) How relationship-building, strategically saying yes, and (most importantly) data became the tools that earned them a seat at the table Josh also shares the persistence and engagement data his office tracks, what's made him stick with the work through constant change, and his advice for other career leaders hoping to do the same at their own institutions. Key takeaways: Relationships are your biggest asset. Being bounced between enrollment management, student affairs, and academic affairs over four years was extremely challenging in a lot of ways. But it also meant Josh built relationships across nearly every division on campus, all of which paid off when the strategic plan process began. "Strategically saying yes" is a long game. Josh rarely said no to opportunities to help other departments, even when it stretched him thin. Saying yes to things like analyzing enrollment data, leading a new exploratory studies program, and project managing a state system advising grant built the credibility that eventually got career services a seat at the table. Data has to connect to what leadership already cares about. Josh recalls a mentor telling him: “If it doesn't touch enrollment, retention, or outcomes, don't send it to me.” Josh took that to heart and framed all future asks around those initiatives. His team built a persistence dashboard comparing engaged vs. non-engaged students, and even preemptively countered the "only high-performing students use career services" critique with GPA data. Career readiness shouldn't be positioned as a post-graduation focus. When career readiness was initially only included in PennWest’s “post-graduation purpose” pillar in the strategic plan, Josh worked to embed career across the other three pillars, too. That way, career readiness was woven throughout the entire student experience—a reflection of Josh’s Career Everywhere mentality. Curiosity beats accepting "no" at face value. Josh's approach to pushback is to ask, respectfully, what it would take to turn a no into a yes—and to treat "not now" as an invitation to try again later, not a dead end. None of it works without a team that believes in the mission. Josh credits his team's consistency and belief in Career Everywhere as the throughline that carried the office through constant changes and challenges. About the guest: Dr. Josh Domitrovich (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuadomitrovich/) is the Executive Director of the Career Center at Pennsylvania Western University (PennWest), where he has built the university's career services function from the ground up following PennWest's 2022 consolidation from three legacy institutions. A first-generation college student and Air Force National Guard veteran, Josh holds a doctorate in Higher Education Administration and Leadership. Under his leadership, PennWest's career center has grown its team, clawed back budget, and helped write career readiness into the university's newly launched strategic plan. Josh is a longtime member of the Career Everywhere Community and was Meredith's very first guest on the Career Everywhere Podcast back in Episode 1 (https://www.gouconnect.com/podcast-episode/bringing-career-everywhere-to-life-at-pennwest-josh-domitrovich/). Resources from the episode: Josh's LinkedIn profile (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuadomitrovich/) Josh's email: jdomitrovich@pennwest.edu (mailto:jdomitrovich@pennwest.edu) Josh’s first appearance on the Career Everywhere Podcast (https://www.gouconnect.com/podcast-episode/bringing-career-everywhere-to-life-at-pennwest-josh-domitrovich/)(Episode 1) PennWest’s virtual career center (https://career.pennwest.edu/) (powered by uConnect) PASSHE (https://www.passhe.edu/index.html) (The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education) — the state system PennWest belongs to; referenced in connection with the multi-institution advising infrastructure grant Josh now project manages Six Thinking Hats (https://www.debonogroup.com/services/core-programs/six-thinking-hats/) by Edward de Bono — a book Josh recommends for facilitating more focused, productive meetings Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community (https://www.gouconnect.com/career-everywhere/community/)

2. 

   1 Sept 2026

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

   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 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmetsker/) sits down with Harold Bell (https://www.linkedin.com/in/harold-bell-6376983/), 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 (https://cpd.spelman.edu/) (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 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/harold-bell-6376983/) 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 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/harold-bell-6376983/) NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) (https://www.naceweb.org/) INROADS (https://inroads.org/)—the nonprofit where Harold gained early experience connecting employers with student talent Spelman College's virtual career center (https://cpd.spelman.edu/) (powered by uConnect (https://www.gouconnect.com/)) Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community (https://www.gouconnect.com/career-everywhere/community/)

3. 

   18 Aug 2026

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

   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 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmetsker/) welcomes back David Kozhuk (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kozhuk/), Founder and CEO of uConnect (https://www.gouconnect.com/), 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 (https://www.gouconnect.com/product/)—now trusted by hundreds of institutions (https://www.gouconnect.com/client-directory/) 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 (https://www.gouconnect.com/podcast-episode/how-to-make-career-services-a-campus-wide-strategic-priority/) (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 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kozhuk/) is the Founder and CEO of uConnect, the all-in-one Virtual Career Center platform (https://www.gouconnect.com/product/) 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 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kozhuk/) David’s article: The Answer to Higher Ed’s Outcomes Problem is Hiding in Plain Sight uConnect (https://www.gouconnect.com/) website Barbara Zerillo episode (https://www.gouconnect.com/podcast-episode/how-to-make-career-services-a-campus-wide-strategic-priority/) (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 (https://www.gouconnect.com/career-everywhere/community/)

Who has been a guest on Career Everywhere

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• James Tarbox
• Theanne Thomson
• Rebekah Paré
• Michael Griffin
• Lexie Avery

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

19 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

14 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 48 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

65

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

77

Contact Career Everywhere

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.