Reframing Experiential Learning in a World Without Enough Internships (feat. Todd Schuster)

Reframing Experiential Learning in a World Without Enough Internships (feat. Todd Schuster)

The internship landscape is shifting—and if you've been feeling the pressure in your career center, you're not alone. In this episode, host Meredith Metsker [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmetsker/] sits down with Todd Schuster [https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-schuster-41441921/], Senior Director and Head of Network Development at Forage [https://www.theforage.com/], to take an honest look at the state of experiential learning in higher education. Todd brings a rare dual perspective: he spent the first half of his career working directly with students as an academic advisor and hall director, and the second half in edtech, now working with hundreds of employer partners through Forage's virtual job simulation platform. Together, they unpack why internships are becoming increasingly competitive, what employers are really looking for in early-career candidates right now, and how career centers can help students build a meaningful portfolio of experience even when a traditional internship isn't in the cards. KEY TAKEAWAYS — The internship gap is real, but demand is the bigger driver. More institutions are requiring experiential learning across all disciplines, more students are competing for a limited number of spots, and AI is replacing some of the entry-level tasks that internships traditionally covered. — Experiential learning is bigger than internships. On-campus jobs, student org leadership, research projects with faculty, co-ops, capstone projects, and virtual job simulations all count—and career centers play a critical role in helping students translate those experiences into language employers understand. — Employers are prioritizing soft skills more than ever. Critical thinking, communication, teamwork, and the ability to work through conflict in an in-person setting are now at the top of hiring managers' wish lists. — Start career exploration in year one, not year three. Students who explore early are better positioned to pursue the right internship when the time comes—and virtual job simulations are a low-stakes way to test-drive careers and companies before committing. — Forage simulations are free and employer-informed. With over 300 simulations built in partnership with companies like Citibank, Red Bull, BCG, and Bloomberg, students who complete a simulation are more likely to land a role with a participating employer. — Virtual simulations work best alongside in-person experience. Todd was candid: the best-case scenario is pairing virtual exploration with on-campus roles, internships, research, or leadership experiences that develop in-person soft skills. ABOUT TODD SCHUSTER Todd Schuster is the Senior Director and Head of Network Development at Forage [https://www.theforage.com/], a platform that partners with leading employers to create free virtual job simulations for college students. Before joining Forage, Todd worked as an academic advisor and hall director at the University of Denver and the University of Northern Colorado, and later led operations in the coding and cybersecurity boot camp space. Connect with Todd on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-schuster-41441921/]. RESOURCES MENTIONED Forage [https://www.theforage.com/] uConnect [https://www.gouconnect.com/] Career Everywhere Community [https://www.gouconnect.com/career-everywhere/community/] (free for higher ed career services professionals) 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/]

How Career Centers Can Build a Sustainable Content Ecosystem (feat. Nikki Pebbles)

What career services team wouldn't benefit from reaching more students—without adding more hours to the workday? In this episode, host Meredith Metsker sits down with Nikki Pebbles, Learning and Development Specialist for the City University of New York and a career content creator with over 400,000 followers across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Nikki shares how career advisors can position themselves as trusted micro-influencers for their students, and walks through her practical, framework-driven approach to building a sustainable content ecosystem—no marketing degree or big team required. In this conversation, you will learn: * Why career advisors are already subject matter experts—and how to leverage that as a micro-influencer * How Nikki's 3 AM Method helps career centers generate content ideas rooted in what students are actually worried about * How the Content Anchor System turns one workshop or presentation into a semester's worth of content across multiple platforms * Why consistency matters more than frequency when you're just getting started * How Nikki ran a LinkedIn Bootcamp at St. John's University that generated hundreds of student posts, drove appointment bookings, and created a replicable content blueprint * The tools Nikki recommends for beginners: Edpuzzle, Loom, Descript, CapCut, and iMovie * Why starting a podcast—even a simple audio-only one on Zoom—is her top recommendation for career centers ready to dip their toes into content creation Whether you're a one-person career center or a larger team looking to be more strategic, this episode will leave you feeling like you can actually do this. Connect with Nikki Pebbles: * LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nikkipebbles [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkipebbles/] * Email: nikki@nikkipebbles.com [nikki@nikkipebbles.com] * Website: nikkipebbles.com [https://nikkipebbles.com/] * TikTok, Instagram, YouTube: Search "Nikki Pebbles" Resources mentioned in this episode: * Edpuzzle [https://edpuzzle.com/] * Loom [https://www.loom.com/] * Descript [https://www.descript.com/] * CapCut [https://www.capcut.com/] * iMovie [https://www.apple.com/imovie/] 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/]

When Career Becomes a Presidential Priority: One Career Leader's Partnership Playbook (feat. Joe Catrino)

What does it actually look like when a university president makes career a strategic priority — and how does a career services leader make the most of it? In this episode, host Meredith Metsker [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmetsker/] sits down with Joe Catrino [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcatrino/], Executive Director of the Center for Career Design at Dartmouth College, for a candid look at what's possible when career services has a seat at the highest table on campus. Joe joined Dartmouth in early 2025, stepping into a rare situation: a president who had made career one of her core institutional pillars. In just over a year, he's nearly doubled his team, helped close a $30 million fundraising campaign [https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2026/01/dartmouth-raises-30-million-offer-internships-all] for student internships, and built a partnership with President Sian Beilock [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sianleahbeilock/] that has become a model for executive-level collaboration in career services. In this conversation, Joe shares how that partnership actually works — from the structure of their regular meetings and the impact reports he brings, to the business plan he built to align his center's goals with institutional priorities. He also offers practical advice for career leaders who don't have direct presidential access yet and want to start building those relationships from the ground up. Key topics include: * What it looks like when a president is genuinely committed to career * How Joe structures his regular meetings with President Beilock * The business plan framework he built with Dartmouth's advancement office * How to connect career center outcomes to institutional priorities * Why Joe spent his first five months on a listening tour before building anything * Practical advice for career leaders who don't have presidential access (yet) Learn more about the Dartmouth Center for Career Design*: careerdesign.dartmouth.edu [https://careerdesign.dartmouth.edu/] *Dartmouth's virtual career center is 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/]

From Deficit to Asset: How Career Centers Can Serve Students in an Uncertain World (feat. Justin Lawhead)

What if "not knowing" wasn't a problem to fix—but exactly where students are supposed to be? In this episode, host Meredith Metsker sits down with Dr. Justin Lawhead, Assistant Vice President for Career Readiness and Postgraduate Student Success at the University of South Carolina, to talk about one of the most persistent challenges in career services: the deficit model. Justin is working to replace it with something better—an affirmation model that treats career uncertainty as normal, reframes exploration as the goal, and meets students where they actually are instead of where we think they should be. Justin shares how his team redesigned their University 101 presence, ran a user-centered design exercise that surfaced exactly who students trust for career guidance (hint: it's not the career center—yet), and introduced "exploration" ribbons at career fairs so employers can better support students who are still figuring it out. He also gets into the harder questions: how do you measure what actually matters in career services, how do you bring your staff along through a mindset shift, and how do you communicate real impact to senior leadership? If you're a career services leader thinking about how to build a culture of exploration on your campus—and make the case for it up the institutional ladder—this one's for you. 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/]

How Career Services Can Support Students in a Tough Job Market (feat. John Koelliker)

The job market hasn't been this hard for students and recent grads in decades. In this episode, host Meredith Metsker sits down with John Koelliker [https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-koelliker/], co-founder and CEO of Leland [https://www.joinleland.com/]—a platform that connects students and professionals with expert coaches and partners directly with career centers to amplify their impact. John works with tens of thousands of students and the employers trying to hire them. He brings a clear-eyed, front-row view of what's actually happening out there—and what career services professionals can do right now to help students navigate it. In this episode: * Why this job market is uniquely difficult—and what's really driving it * Where the real pockets of opportunity exist for new grads (hint: it's not where most students are looking) * Why the "generalist business" path is struggling and what students should do instead * The power of being hypothesis-driven early—and how career centers can help without overwhelming students * Why in-person still wins in an era of AI-generated applications * What the best career centers are doing differently right now * Why career services engagement is one of the strongest leading indicators of student outcomes—and how to make that case to leadership About John Koelliker: John Koelliker [https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-koelliker/] is the co-founder and CEO of Leland [https://www.joinleland.com/], a platform connecting students, recent grads, and professionals with expert coaches for career navigation and skill-building. Leland also partners with career centers to extend their reach and support for students. Before founding Leland, John worked in venture capital and operations and started his career at LinkedIn. He's based in Utah. Resources from the episode: * John's LinkedIn profile [https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-koelliker/] * John's email: john@joinleland.com [john@joinleland.com]  * Leland [https://www.joinleland.com/]—platform connecting students and professionals with expert career coaches; also partners directly with career centers * Designing Your Life [https://designingyour.life/]—referenced indirectly through the "life design" and "prototyping" conversation * Sandbox [https://web.sandbox.ing/]—entrepreneurship program mentioned by John that gives college students academic credit to build companies; currently offered at a handful of universities 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/]