When Mohave College (Arizona) set out to strengthen career development for its rural, multi-campus population, the work began with a single staff member and a clear goal: ensure that every student has access to guidance, resources and a path toward meaningful employment. As the new director of first year and career experience, I was tasked with developing a career services center from the ground up, an effort that quickly grew into a cross-campus movement focused on student readiness and community connection.
Building career services as a one-person department requires intentionality and creativity. From the start, the mission has been to give students early and ongoing opportunities to explore careers, understand industry expectations and build the skills that employers consistently value. Over the past year, the center has hosted career fairs, expanded employer engagement and offered both scheduled and mobile support across the district’s four campuses.
To reach more students directly, I adopted a mobile model that brings services into classrooms, workshops, student spaces, and campus events. Résumé development, interviewing skills, career exploration and major-to-career clarity are now delivered where students are, not only in a physical office.
Career exploration also was integrated into the new student orientation to help connect academic choices with future pathways from the first moment students engage with the college.
Expanding access
One of the earliest priorities was establishing an entry point for students seeking guidance.
The Career Services Hub, an online platform offering self-guided tools, resources, and program-to-career information, provides that starting place. This digital presence complements a growing physical space on the Kingman campus designed to serve as a welcoming environment for student support. A mobile version of the space travels to other campuses to ensure equitable access across the region.
Development is also underway to secure an online career services platform that will streamline employer engagement and job opportunities, enhancing the college’s connection to the local workforce.
Collaboration as the foundation
Career services has grown through strong collaboration with departments across the college. Faculty partnerships, in particular, have helped integrate career exploration directly into coursework, reinforcing the connection between academic programs and real-world expectations.
Campus partners who have historically supported career readiness are now aligned with a unified set of goals, creating a coordinated approach to student preparation.
These collaborations highlight widely recognized career readiness competencies such as communication, professionalism, teamwork, and self-development. Embedding these skills throughout the student experience supports confidence and helps students prepare to enter the workforce.
Looking ahead
Although career services at Mohave College began as a one-person effort, the vision is far-reaching. The work extends beyond events and job fairs to building a culture where exploration, confidence and opportunity are woven into the student experience from enrollment to graduation.
Many rural and multi-campus community colleges face similar challenges in providing equitable access to career development resources, especially when operating with limited staffing. The strategies implemented at Mohave College, including mobile service delivery, cross-campus collaboration and integrated career exploration, offer a replicable model for institutions seeking scalable solutions. These approaches can be adapted to different regional needs while maintaining a shared focus on removing barriers and strengthening student readiness across diverse communities.
This is the foundation of a growing career services model, one conversation, connection and collaboration at a time.
