Building a Professional Development Program for Career Center Staff

Meredith Metsker:

Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Career Everywhere podcast. I’m your host, Meredith Metsger, and today I am joined by Andrea Franklin and Tracy Austin, both of Clemson University. Andrea is the Director of Employer Relations and Recruiting, and Tracy is the Senior Associate Director of Career Readiness and Strategic Solutions. Thank you both for being here.

Tracy Austin:

Thank you so much for having us.

Andrea Franklin:

Yeah, thanks for having us. We’re really excited to be here with you, Meredith.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, me too. I am really excited to talk to you both today about a really cool professional development program that you have developed there at Clemson called Spark Exchange. So we’ll dig into more details later, but just to give the audience some quick context, the Spark Exchange Program initially started as an internal professional development series for career services staff, and now it has grown to include other campus partners and even employer partners, which is super cool. And the best part is, it’s scalable and costs $0. It’s hard to beat that. Again, we’ll dig into more of those details here in just a minute. But before I get into my questions, is there anything else either of you would like to add about yourselves, your backgrounds, or your roles there at Clemson?

Tracy Austin:

Well, like we said, we’re really thankful to be here with you, Meredith. As you introduced me, my title is so long. It is a little vague. So just to kind of unpack what that looks like at Clemson, my team works with our core competency initiative, so we help students grow in those skills, like leadership, communication, critical thinking. We also work with experiential learning and our center’s assessment efforts.

Andrea Franklin:

And I know my title is not as mysterious as Tracy’s, but I am the Director of Employer Relations, which means my team really does everything around recruiting and talent acquisition. So we work with our employer partners primarily to help offer opportunities for students to connect with them for internships and full-time opportunities beyond Clemson and while they’re here. So yeah, that’s my background.

Meredith Metsker:

Awesome. Thank you both. And Tracy, I can totally understand the vague title. I feel like that’s just kind of a thing in higher ed sometimes.

Tracy Austin:

Yes, absolutely.

Meredith Metsker:

Cool. Well, before I get into my specific questions about our topic today, I do want to kick us off with a question that I ask all of our guests here on the podcast, and that’s what does Career Everywhere mean to you?

Tracy Austin:

Well, whenever I think about Career Everywhere, especially on a campus setting, I really think about all of us. So faculty, staff, no matter what your role is, working together to equip students for whatever their future opportunities, we want to prepare them. But I think another dimension of that that’s really important to remember is in terms of the individual, and it makes me think about how career is everywhere around us and how we can approach our career development from a holistic standpoint and think about all of those roles that we have, whether they’re our current position or maybe our educational experience, volunteering, even the things that we, those roles that we have in our home lives, they all add new dimension for how we can grow and how we can take that new perspective and apply it towards our work.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, I really love what you said about even our home lives. I am a new mom. I have an almost five-month-old baby, and so I see the things that I’m doing, raising him, taking care of him, figuring out how to manage all of that. And I see lots of ways that I’m already applying it in my work at uConnect, so can totally relate to that.

Tracy Austin:

Yeah, I always say there’s nothing to test your communication skills like a middle school daughter. That whole new world, right?

Meredith Metsker:

Oh, I believe it. Well, Andrea, what does Career Everywhere mean to you?

Andrea Franklin:

Yeah, so I think kind of piggybacking on what Tracy said, it’s really how do we bring career into every aspect of what we’re doing with those that we engage with. Obviously, we want to bring this across campus in our various engagements with campus partners, and I think as you’ll learn more about the Spark Exchange and what we’re doing with that, I think it is a way to bring career into a deeper connection with those that we work with. And I think we’re excited to just think about what that looks like and how to continue to expand our reach. So that career is something that’s talked about in all kinds of spaces across campus, not just in the career center.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, I could not agree with that more. There’s so many people, of course, in the career center, but across campus and off campus that should be equipped to have those conversations with students.

Andrea Franklin:

Absolutely.

Meredith Metsker:

Cool. Well, now I would love to dig into our topic today, which is again, the Spark Exchange program that you all have developed there in the Clemson Career Center. So let’s just start high level. Can you give me an overview of what the Spark Exchange program is and what it entails?

Andrea Franklin:

Yeah, so Meredith, I love this opportunity just to talk a little bit about what we’re doing. So thank you for giving us this gift. Tracy and I are kind of going to popcorn back and forth with some of the answers on these questions, but we may both jump in on some as well. One thing I wanted to start with is I think one of the things I really appreciate about working in higher education is that we are amongst people who consider lifelong learning a really valuable thing. And so I think we are always looking for ways to continue to grow and never to be in a space where we think we really are the expert on any particular thing, that there’s just always evolving thought process and knowledge. And so I think that’s really exciting. So I kind of want to kick off by saying that I love that.

So our current variation of the program at a high level is called Spark Exchange Flipped, and in a minute you’ll understand more when Tracy kind of digs into the inception of the Spark Exchange. And so she’ll talk more about how it’s evolved, but really in the current rendition, we wanted a way to engage our campus partners and our employer partners on a deeper level and tap into their expertise while also providing an opportunity for professional development for our team, for our center, to engage in really meaningful, thoughtful conversation about topics that really matter to students and to our work. And so we invite campus partners or employer partners to present to the center, the Center of Career and Professional Development here at Clemson on a topic that we curate and we think about an area of professional growth or professional growth that we would like to see specifically, maybe a gap that we notice, or possibly just something that we feel like, “Hey, this is a huge topic. It’s really important.” We want to continue to engage those who really are experts in those subjects.

And so we look for areas of expertise across campus or even within our employer spaces. I work with employers, so we kind of know some of the efforts and things that our employers are doing, and when we hear certain topics come up, then we take note. And those are folks that we may want to invite to a future session. And so the presentations are monthly and they can be virtual or in person, so depending on if folks are local or with employers, they may not be local to Clemson. And then about a week after that main session where we engage in a presentation in a conversational, inquisitive way, we will invite our team, even those who maybe couldn’t make the presentation to come back together for a reflection session. And so I’m going to pause there on the high level, but that’s where we are now. And then we’ll dig a little bit deeper here in the next couple of questions.

Meredith Metsker:

Okay. Yeah, that’s so cool. I love that you’re kind of grown the program to include other partners across campus or even employer partners. It’s so smart. And I can also relate to what you were saying about just that breadth of knowledge that is on a college campus. I worked at Washington State University back early in my career for a few years, and I loved that energy and that everyone there not only supported lifelong learning but was willing to teach. I think that was just kind of a common value. So that made me kind of smile and reflect on the early part of my career in higher ed too.

Andrea Franklin:

Awesome.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah. So Tracy, do you want to talk about how this started, what Spark Exchange originally looked like?

Tracy Austin:

Absolutely. So we started a few years ago and just trying to think about the topics that my team focuses on, experiential learning, core competencies, assessment, and how do I get the center? How do I get our broader team engaged in those? And so really, we weren’t thinking the words Career Everywhere, but that concept was very present, just really from the beginning of how do I get these folks engaged? And so we started this really just focusing in on those three topics. Didn’t branch out of those three areas, but really wanted to prompt conversation among the team or spark an exchange of ideas across folks across the team. So I started out facilitating a couple sessions once we kind of all understood the concept and the format, then I brought in the folks that are on my team, and they were able to facilitate sessions. So sometimes that facilitation would look like we were going to start with a case study or maybe here’s a journal entry and here are some key points from that journal article, or maybe we would work through a reflection activity.

But the goal was not to have a lecture or a seminar where there’s an expert at the front, but to really get conversation going. And then we provided notes and links for additional reading. And that was really great because some folks weren’t able to attend certain months, but they were able to take a look at the high points, and then connect with someone who did attend, and then all groups, whether they attended or not, were able to identify other resources, whether they were books or podcasts or journal entries, and able to dig into that topic in a deeper way.

Meredith Metsker:

Okay. Yeah. So it sounds like, just to kind of summarize, it started with just your team there in the career center, exchanging ideas, taking turns, presenting on different things, and then you have recently expanded it to include campus partners, employer partners, because why not bring in more of that knowledge to your center? So you both kind of touched on this, but I would just love to hear a little bit more about why you started the Spark Exchange program and then this new iteration of it as well.

Tracy Austin:

So when we think about why, one of the things that happens is my teammates and I are thinking a lot about core competency work and thinking a lot about internships and preparation for folks who are in, maybe first generation students and how to get them ready for experiential learning opportunities. We’re also digging in and pulling reports and thinking critically about our impact across campus, but a lot of our teammates and the broader department have other goals that they’re focused on. And so how do we engage them in those same topics? So whatever we’re able to provide, here’s something that this university is doing, or here’s something that we’re seeing start to emerge in trends across research, then it allows us to think about ways that our work actually does intersect, and it gives those folks an opportunity to think about career counseling or their work with employers on Andrea’s team and how that might also connect to our work on our team as well.

Andrea Franklin:

And I would add, first of all, that Tracy used to provide us Krispy Kreme donuts for every session that her team facilitated internally. So there’s extra motivation to show up. But yeah, I think when we think about how it’s expanded over time, Tracy, what they did was just so beautiful. It was just a way for us to get together and bring diverse perspectives to certain topics and engage in these conversations that were really interesting and thought-provoking and sometimes that are a little outside of the normal scope of your work, which everybody needs that. So I would understand a little bit more about some of the things Tracy’s team is facing or our career development team is facing. And so it was a way for us to even talk about some of the things happening. And so I think that’s awesome in and of itself.

But then just recently in this last academic year, Tracy and I were talking about what else can we do with this? This was really her sort of brainchild from the beginning. And a couple of things happened to me in the fall that made me think, man, it would be really cool if, for example, one of my professors in my current doctoral work is like a expert I, and I know we’re going to talk probably a little bit more about topics, but is an expert in a certain area of research. And I’m like, we need more of that in our center, so wouldn’t it be cool if we brought her in? And so Tracy and I kind of started brainstorming, what could it look like if we, instead of just keeping it internally, which is great, but also we want to bring outside perspectives in too.

So not only as a way to engage our team to think a little bit more deeply about some of these topics that maybe we either know a little bit about or we don’t know anything about, but also a way to deepen those connections across campus and with our employers. And so it really has evolved from that internal into now including the external. And I think another piece of this that Tracy and I recognize, especially because her and I both have multiple positions at our earlier career talent on our teams, is that we don’t always have the funding to send our people to professional development externally. We can’t always get them to every conference that we would love to or get them to things that are outside of campus. So sometimes that piece is really limiting. And so looking for ways to bring in that expertise I think is really important.

Doing this for $0, and not only are we giving that professional development opportunity to our people, but we’re also able to have a learning experience together. And I think there’s something about that shared experience that just creates new pathways between our teams. We work in a center where we have several different teams that fall under one umbrella, and so there are limitations sometimes to how much we can engage. So this is just another way to do that. So just adding to what was already a great program to thinking about some new ways we can keep things fresh and exciting.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, I love how it’s just a win-win across the board, both with that internal version of the Spark Exchange program and now this Spark Exchange flipped version. It’s like with that internal version, like you said, you get that professional development, you’re giving early career professionals opportunities to learn how to present and practice presenting. That’s hard. And sometimes it’s hard to get that experience.

Andrea Franklin:

Absolutely.

Meredith Metsker:

It’s just so relevant now that you’re able to do this for $0. I think budgets everywhere are just tightening and we have to get creative.

Andrea Franklin:

Exactly.

Meredith Metsker:

So we kind of hinted at it a little bit earlier, but I would love to hear what a typical Spark Exchange session looks like. What kinds of topics do you cover and who are you inviting?

Andrea Franklin:

Tracy, do you want to kick off with some of the previous topics?

Meredith Metsker:

Yes.

Andrea Franklin:

And then we can, cool.

Tracy Austin:

So as we worked from the beginning, we talked through, it was very narrow, just focusing on those areas that my team works on. But we were able to do a deeper dive into some of the core competency work and thinking about some of the activities that we would do. One of the pieces that was really important to me was having a component of reflection. And I feel like that’s where a lot of the learning and application comes in. And so how can I take maybe one of the core competencies and one of ours is brand. And so we did an exercise where the individuals who attended that Spark Exchange session were really able to reflect and do almost like a personal audit of their professional brand. And so it was unique to that one day and then another month they come in and maybe we’re digging into some thoughts that are really important about how do we track our engagement and how do we look at what those outcomes, when we see those numbers, what meaning do we infer from those numbers and making sure that we’re keeping things in perspective.

And so as we’re thinking about assessment, that can feel like a scary topic to a lot of folks, but how can we break that down into something that feels manageable and accessible to any of the folks on our team? Sometimes we were talking about programs or initiatives or pulling in, I referenced earlier journal articles and thinking about how can we incorporate certain aspects into our own work that other schools are using in their experiential learning programs. So really kind of began from, okay, we’re going to introduce a topic and then we’re going to engage with it in some fashion, whether that’s through questioning or whether that’s through an activity like the personal brand.

Meredith Metsker:

Okay. That’s really neat. I love the variety there. And again, that’s kind of getting the whole team involved and sort of breaking down the silos that can sometimes pop up when you have multiple teams under one career center.

Andrea Franklin:

Absolutely. Yeah. And so now as we’re thinking externally, we’ve got some exciting topics coming down the pipeline, but I’ll just say most recently we had Dr. Sanja, Ardoin talk to us about building deeper connections with first generation students.

Meredith Metsker:

That’s a good one.

Andrea Franklin:

And so yeah, it was really good. So that is her research, her area of expertise. She also is a first-generation student, and so while we have something on Tracy’s team, a program called Tigers on Track that really focuses on professional development for our first generation low income students, we recognize that we don’t know everything and that this is a complex topic that we need to understand how to better serve our students in these areas. And so having her talk to us was so incredible. It crossed over into multiple different areas, including recruiting. And so I’m now even thinking about how I can bring her in to talk to some of my employer partners and one of the employer retreats that we do. And so that was one. We’ve got a couple of other exciting things coming down the pipeline. Like I said, giving effective presentations.

We’ve got something, and that’ll be with somebody through the communications department. We’ve got somebody from our sales innovation program that’s going to talk to us about the power of a moment with employers, and then we have an employer partner that we’re going to engage in some AI and recruiting conversations. So those are some of the things that we’re looking at and that are coming up this semester. And then I just want to mention, so we touched on it, but a typical session now with the way that we’re doing the flipped piece, we have that presentation, but it’s conversational, it’s engaging, there’s definitely questions and all of that. That’s great. That’s an hour long virtual or in person. And then we’re having that follow-up reflection, which we did in person. I think the neat thing about that is we’re able to carry on some of Tracy’s original extra reading resources, references, and the reflection, the thing that I really appreciate, so well, let me say this.

The reflection is not limited to those who are able to come to the session. So we know schedules are just tricky. Everybody’s got stuff going on, and so we invited everyone to come for the reflection because even if you weren’t there for the presentation, you’re going to pick up great things from the conversation that happens at that reflection time. And so the other piece about that that I love is Tracy and I can come together. We’ve got different experiences. We’ve got different focuses in our work, and so our takeaways from that session can be very different. And so the things that jump out to Tracy or to someone on her team or to someone else within the center are totally different from what my standout takeaways are.

And so we had a really neat roundtable discussion just about the aha moments that people had within that session, and they were totally different. Everybody had different pieces that they picked up. So I think you also get that diverse perspective, like, oh yeah, I do remember her saying that, and I didn’t think about it in that lens because I’ve got my own set of lenses, my own set of filters that I bring into it.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, I love that reflection element that’s so smart. And to confirm, that’s at a separate time. It’s not like right after it’s just say a week later.

Andrea Franklin:

About a week is what we’re trying to do so that you have a little time to digest. Maybe look at some of those extra readings or references that are provided, the slide deck we provide, and then we’re able to have some time to really digest that content and come back with some of those key takeaways.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, it’s so smart. As I’m hearing you both talk about this program, it just seems like it is infinitely scalable in a lot of ways. You could, especially if you’re doing stuff virtually or if you record these sessions so people can watch later. I’m just curious, what are your goals, like pie in the sky, what do you hope to accomplish work exchange program?

Andrea Franklin:

Yeah, Tracy, what are our goals?

Tracy Austin:

I think one thing that we really wanted to do when we set out with it is it needed to feel sustainable. And so as we think about the way that we’ve set up the structure, we want folks to feel like it’s something that is digestible for them, that it’s engaging, that it’s worth their time in coming. It’s totally optional for folks to come to it. And we recognize you may be able to come sometimes, but not all the time. But I think as we think about the center or we think about our work, we want to make sure that we’re intentional to build in professional development moments, or we’re thinking about things that are trending or hot topics in our area. So we want to certainly be intentional about it. But I think one of the things that we’ve done, and I really think that it has helped, is that it doesn’t feel very formal.

And I think because of that, you’re not going to get a survey at the end. You’re not going to get any of those traditional things that we think will help us measure and see if this is on track. But I think that that allows it to have an ease to it that feels like it can integrate into our flow of work. And it also feels like folks can drop in as they need to. And so I think that we’re going to continue with the core concepts of how do we get professional development, how do we connect our folks to resources, whether or they’re printed and researched and published resources, or whether there’s resources that are here on campus or within our reach, those living resources. So I think our goals would be to continue to offer that in a way that’s sustainable for our team and engaging for our team.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that’s smart. We can talk about goals and expansion, but it has to be sustainable.

Tracy Austin:

Yeah.

Meredith Metsker:

Okay. You kind of touched on it a little bit, but what results or benefits have you seen since launching the Spark Exchange program?

Tracy Austin:

Yeah, so we kind of started out with the idea of how can we get folks exchanging ideas and sharing ideas. We definitely saw that immediately. Another thing that kind of came up that we didn’t expect to see but was really interesting and just a win to see was like Andrea mentioned, we have a handful of different teams and sometimes our work doesn’t necessarily intersect. And so one of the things that was really neat within the Spark Exchange itself is you might be having a conversation or really connecting about a certain topic and have a sense of what it’s like to work with the person in our department that you haven’t had a chance to really partner with or collaborate with in the past. And so I think that was one big outcome that we saw is conversations that started there led to collaborations in our normal work scope.

And then I think Andrea kind of touched on this a little bit too, but in addition to that free professional development for all staff, it allowed some of our folks who haven’t had a chance to propose a conference session or facilitate a conference session, we’re able to develop that practice. So our executive director and our directors are there and engaging, and they’re sitting there listening and ready to be engaged. And I think it helped kind of break down some of those barriers that might come with where it feels like a title, where it feels like, well, I can’t possibly teach or share or have something of value, but it helped to break that down I think a little bit.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, absolutely. I can imagine it’s intimidating if the first thing you’re applying to present at is NACE or some big conference.

Tracy Austin:

And our former graduate assistant was able to present, and it was something that she was able to use even in her applications for jobs in the future as she was thinking about what’s next for her. She was able to use that, and I think it helped her see how no matter what your title, you can still demonstrate leadership in certain areas.

Meredith Metsker:

That’s an amazing result. I love that. Andrea, anything else to add on that?

Andrea Franklin:

I think the only thing I was going to say, which kind of touches on a similar vein, which is I think sometimes it is easy for us to kind of get siloed. And so just the opportunity to engage with all different levels within the center I think is really cool. It’s also that shared learning experience, which I know we’ve talked about a little bit, but anytime that you get to see someone else’s perspective, you get to demonstrate as a leader. So thinking about myself as a director, engaging with some of our early career talent and bringing the perspective that, Hey, I don’t know everything and I’m also here to learn and I’m hungry to continue to grow. And so having conversations like that with folks across from our executive director all the way to folks that are straight out of grad school, it’s their first professional position and understanding, I mean, I just love the perspective that we’re all here to learn together because I do think that that sets a tone for the type of office that we want to be, the type of culture that we want to have here.

And so because we are different teams in one center, we don’t always get to have all of those engagements in our regular work like Tracy mentioned. So this is kind of a way to create a culture of conversation, of being inquisitive, of asking questions, of saying it’s okay not to know everything. It’s okay to stumble through your first presentation to a bigger team. So just creating a place that we can learn and grow together I think is a really important quality in our team culture. So I just want to add, kind of emphasize that because I think Tracy really brought that with the original inception of Spark Exchange, and now we’re just kind of taking that to the next level in terms of engaging external. And I love what Tracy said about sustainability because I do think that can be a barrier sometimes for people when we think about launching a program. It’s like, well, who’s going to manage all of this and who’s going to take care of all these things? And so just remembering that making something that feels sustainable, manageable is really important and it’s so valuable.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, absolutely. And it’s so smart that with the setup you all have, it’s not all on you two to figure out the programming every time. You’re not the ones having to decide the topic, come up with the presentation, execute the presentation, facilitate the reflection. You are bringing in other people, which not only gives them the opportunity to get that professional development, but I imagine it makes it easier on you two as well.

Tracy Austin:

And it helps it not be limited to our own experience or skill. And so when we’re able to kind of broaden it out, you’re getting to hear a different perspective. You’re getting to process new thoughts and learn new things. So you’re not limited to my experience or to Andrea’s experience, but we’re really able to really employ that Career Everywhere aspect for ourselves.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, I love that, you’re the ultimate facilitators. So on that note of engaging others across campus or even the employers, I am curious, how do you reach out to them or how do you identify who might be a good presenter? How do you reach out? Just how do you facilitate all of that?

Andrea Franklin:

Yeah, so I think either identifying gaps, so what are some areas that you’re looking to bring specific content in this place? Think about effective presentations and how complicated that topic is in a day and age where we’re flipping between Zoom and in-person and everything is at your fingertips, and I don’t want to watch a video that’s five minutes long or those kind of things. And so we can either look at some gaps or some kind of areas of need and look that way. So then figure out like, Hey, okay, communications make sense. Who in this department has this kind of area of expertise And listening for those moments where things come up organically.

So I mentioned one of my classes in the fall, it was something that my professor said that I was like, oh, we need that here in the center. And so it’s just looking for those moments where you get the aha, like, this makes perfect sense. Why isn’t she coming and telling us about this? We need to know what she knows. And so finding those kind of opportunities as well. My team has conversations with employers all the time, so hearing what they’re doing like this AI and recruiting, we have some employers who do that really well. We have employers who serve a neurodiverse student population really well and look for ways to be much more equitable in their hiring processes. And so kind of thinking about those things are ways to identify. I mean, I think it can be internal or really looking external, just looking for the right moments to grab somebody who has an expertise in a particular area.

Tracy Austin:

Yeah, Andrea kind of addressed this component when she talked about gaps, but it can also be questions. So where do we want to learn more? Or Hey, I kind of want to sit with that topic a little bit more. And so we’re kind of seeing those moments, not just letting them pass by, but really kind of taking them to heart and thinking how can we find more and bring it in and incorporate it into the system of Spark exchange.

Meredith Metsker:

And I imagine as more time goes on and more of your team experiences, these types of presentations, they’re going to start keeping their eyes and ears open for potential topics or presenters as well.

Andrea Franklin:

Absolutely. We hope so. We like that. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Meredith Metsker:

That plays into that sustainability angle, right?

Tracy Austin:

For sure.

Andrea Franklin:

We might need to bring you in to talk about Career Everywhere or some other topic that you would like to share with our team.

Meredith Metsker:

Would be happy to.

Andrea Franklin:

See, here’s a moment right here.

Meredith Metsker:

There we go. The moment.

Andrea Franklin:

The moment.

Meredith Metsker:

Yep. Would be happy to, I give presentations to journalism classes at my alma mater all the time because that’s what I studied there too.

Andrea Franklin:

Awesome. Okay. That’s your homework. That’s your homework.

Meredith Metsker:

So what advice would you two give to other career leaders who may want to launch something like Spark Exchange?

Andrea Franklin:

Yeah, so I think a lot of times we’ve talked about sustainability. We know bandwidth is definitely a concern for folks. So I think Tracy put it really well. What questions are you curious about or what gaps might you have on your team? And then looking for opportunities to engage the expertise that already exists within your circle, within your stakeholders. There’s some low hanging fruit people that you know already that right off the top of your head, if I said Meredith name, five people that could talk about these things that you could do that. So just don’t overthink it. But really those questions, those gaps, those areas that you’re looking to grow or expand with your team in terms of programs or focus areas, those are really good ways to just identify some topics and then either do some pretty simple Googling within your campus is one way or looking for those moments with employers.

And then I would just say take action. So we’re doing it monthly. It doesn’t have to be monthly. It could be whatever makes sense for you. It could start with your staff retreat over the summer. It could be a one-time thing that you do that you kind of test the water with. I think anything like that is a great opportunity for folks to learn.

Meredith Metsker:

Anything to add, Tracy?

Tracy Austin:

Well, I think if it starts to feel overwhelming, just scale it back. And so maybe securing presenters doesn’t feel freeing because it feels like there’s a lot of connection points to make. And so even if it’s you just sharing and starting the conversation, I think can be really helpful. Or if thinking of different topics for each time you have a Spark exchange feels like too much, then maybe just settle on a theme for the academic year and see what happens. So if it starts to feel overwhelming, look for a way to scale it back. It’s better to start small or start just a little bit than not start at all, I think.

Meredith Metsker:

And bring Krispy Kremes if you can.

Tracy Austin:

Donuts help.

Andrea Franklin:

If you can do it, it does help.

Meredith Metsker:

If there’s budget, bring the Krispy Kremes. Well, is there anything else about the Spark Exchange program that you would like to add that we haven’t covered?

Tracy Austin:

I can’t think of anything else. I think it’s just been kind of a neat thing. It didn’t start out as here’s this big idea, we’re going to do this. It was just like, “Hey, you want to come? Feel free to come. We’re going to be here.” We did it the first Friday of the month. We’re going to be here the first Friday of the month. Come join us if you’d like. And we’ve just kind of seen that engagement and attendance and when folks can’t make it, you can tell they’re disappointed.

Meredith Metsker:

Are you still doing it on the first Friday of the month?

Tracy Austin:

With bringing in our outside speakers, it’s kind of caused us to change up our schedule a bit. We wanted to try to keep that, but it was better to make sure we had the quality presentations than it was to kind of stick to a certain day.

Meredith Metsker:

I was going to ask, that would be tomorrow, right? What’s the topic?

Andrea Franklin:

So we actually had our kickoff for this semester last week and had our reflection earlier this week. So you’re not way off track with the timing, Meredith. It just wasn’t on a Friday.

Meredith Metsker:

Well, Andrea, is there anything else you wanted to add before I start wrapping us up?

Andrea Franklin:

I think the only thing I would say, just as a thought for folks who might be in similar situations as we are is that just looking, anytime you can look for ways to collaborate amongst your teams is really valuable. So that’s something that I really appreciate about Tracy, is that she always brings really good energy to collaborative work. And so this is something that her and I just sort of came up with together as it sits now. And the fact that we can do that, even though technically our jobs really don’t intersect a ton, they do a little bit, I think is really cool. And so we work for an executive director who is really supportive of these types of things and says, whatever you guys want to do, go for it, and he’ll join us. And that’s really cool. So I’ll just give a shout-out to Neil Burton for the support of all of our wild collaborative ideas. This isn’t the only one that we have, so it’s a lot of fun.

Meredith Metsker:

Well, it sounds like it’s been going really well. I’ll have to check in another year and see what your top topics were for the past year.

Andrea Franklin:

Yeah. We’re hoping to bring this to some conferences in 2025, so we may even see you there, Meredith.

Meredith Metsker:

All right. Yeah, I’ll look for you. Well, if people would like to learn more from you or connect with you, where is a good place for them to do that?

Tracy Austin:

Yeah, I think LinkedIn is a good place. You can connect, message, we can get you connected with some Clemson resources if that’s what you’re interested in, or if you just want to chat, certainly, absolutely. LinkedIn would be a good place.

Andrea Franklin:

Yeah, I second that notion.

Meredith Metsker:

All right. And for those of you who are watching or listening, I’ll be sure to include links to both Andrea and Tracy’s LinkedIn profiles so you can easily find and connect with them on there. So now that we’re kind of wrapping up, I want to do something I do at the end of every interview, which is an answer a question, leave a question thing. So I’ll ask you a question that our last guest left for you, and then you’ll leave a question for the next guest. So our last guest was Nick Edwards of Hardin Simmons University in Texas. And he left this question for you, if you could give one piece of advice to a student entering the job market for the very first time, what would it be?

Andrea Franklin:

So I think that one thing when students are at least in the search process is that it can be very overwhelming. And so I’m going to go back to similar theme to what Tracy said as you’re looking to enter the job market to start small, I think sometimes we feel like we have to have it all figured out, but just taking the next step is really what’s important. And so I think there’s a notion a lot of times with students where they feel like this first job is going to be forever. Whatever I take, I’m going to be married to it. And so I think a lot of times that pressure just gets really overwhelming because they think the decision has to be perfect, essentially. I think really just taking that next step is really important, taking that action. And I also always like to tell students to know that they are also interviewing the company, and so making sure that they are discriminating about the role that they’re considering, that they don’t feel like it’s just one-sided. That’s more of an interview kind of decision piece. But I do think it’s important.

Tracy Austin:

I think one thing that I would add would be to focus on the impact that you want to have in that role. And so as you’re thinking about different opportunities, look for ways that you can employ your values, that you can employ your skills in a way that allows you to make an impact. And so instead of thinking about what could this opportunity do for me, think about what I could do for it, and how you can get engaged and start to make a difference, even if it’s in a very small way in those first roles. And then you can kind of carry that difference into future roles.

Meredith Metsker:

Yes, that growth mindset, that will always serve you well.

Tracy Austin:

Absolutely.

Meredith Metsker:

All right. That’s some great advice. So what question would you like to leave for the next guest?

Tracy Austin:

So we work together, kind of came up with a question together. So we were thinking if someone was going to write your biography, what would be the title?

Meredith Metsker:

Ooh, I like that one. I don’t know what that would be for mine. What do you think? What would your titles be? I’m turning it back around.

Wait, we have to answer this question.

Tracy Austin:

No, you don’t have to. I’m just curious. But I don’t know what mine would be.

Andrea Franklin:

Tracy, do you know? Yeah.

Meredith Metsker:

I would have to think on it more I think.

Andrea Franklin:

How long do we have to answer this question, Meredith? Can we circle back?

Meredith Metsker:

Yes. Yeah, we’ll circle back. It’s fine. I just like to sometimes turn it around in case people have thought about their own answer.

Tracy Austin:

Yeah, I don’t think I’ve thought about it before.

Meredith Metsker:

We’ll have to

Andrea Franklin:

See. I have a theme, but I would have to think about the actual, how would that be a title, but I do have a concept in mind.

Meredith Metsker:

Oh, what’s your concept? What’s your

Andrea Franklin:

Concept? Well, I think for me it would be something about continuing to move. Yeah, there’s something there

Meredith Metsker:

For me.

Andrea Franklin:

Okay.

Meredith Metsker:

All right. Well whenever someone writes your biography, we’ll find out what the title is. I’m going to

Andrea Franklin:

Work on it. Yeah, well I’ll work on it.

Meredith Metsker:

Awesome. Well that’s a great question. I look forward to seeing what the next guest says for that.

Andrea Franklin:

Yeah, they’ll have time to think about it.

Meredith Metsker:

Yeah, exactly. Awesome. Well, thank you both so much for taking the time to join me on the podcast today. This was a really fun conversation. I love tactical conversations like this where our audience can really take what they have heard about today and apply it in their own career center. So I will be excited to hear if any of the audience starts their own version of Spark Exchange.

Tracy Austin:

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much Meredith.

Andrea Franklin:

Yeah, thank you. It was great