Kenneth G. Dixon Career Development Center Archives | �鶹ӳ��ý News

How to Impress on Your Job Interview

Jenna Marina Lee — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 13:24:14 +0000

Whether you’re attending a job fair or trying to advance to the interview stage for a position you’re applying for, you can increase your chances of success by following some tried-and-true tips from �鶹ӳ��ý’s .

How can you make a strong impression on your job interview?

Know your professional story/prepare your elevator pitch
Offer a confident greeting, handshake and smile
Think about two to three key selling points about your professional self. For �鶹ӳ��ý students, start with your major/expected graduation and talk about related skills/experience including student clubs and class projects
Research employers and showcase your knowledge in conversation
Give examples to back up your answers. Storytelling is a big part of the interview experience.

How can you craft an effective elevator pitch?

Your elevator pitch introduces you to recruiters in 30-60 seconds. Follow the present-past-future format:

Present: What are you currently studying? What’s your major or program?
Past: Highlight a recent relevant experience (e.g., internship, research project, volunteer work).
Future: State your career goals and explain why you’re excited to connect with this employer.

What are some ways you can make your resume stand out in a pile?

A resume should be concise, organized marketing document highlighting your education, experiences and achievements; its purpose is to secure an interview and evolve with your professional growth.
Keep formatting clean and consistent: 1-inch margins, 1 page (up to 2 max), standard 10- to 12-point fonts, professional appearance and easy-to-scan layout.
Focus content on relevance: tailor to the position, connect transferable skills, emphasize contributions and quantify results whenever possible.
Use strong writing mechanics: start bullets with action verbs, maintain consistent verb tense (present for current roles, past for previous) and keep statements concise.
Include core sections as appropriate: Heading, objective (optional but tailored), education (reverse chronological order), summary of qualifications (skills-focused) and experience (employment, internships, research, projects).
Add optional sections when relevant: Activities, leadership, honors/awards, publications or research.

What software or AI tools can help build your resume?

is a fantastic tool available to all students by logging in with their NID credentials
VMock is a 24/7 virtual career assistant that utilizes technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and sophisticated analytics engine to deliver instant, personalized, and smart career guidance to students and professionals.
Do not rely only on AI to write content for your resume. Double check wonky spelling/grammar and word choices to make sure it is your voice.
Be aware that employers are now reviewing resumes and running them through plagiarism detection software to check for AI.
Utilize AI (VMock can do this) to make sure your resume matches the language in the job description closely enough so that it will pass through applicant tracking systems successfully.

What questions should job candidates ask the interviewer?

Typically, it’s best to focus on two to three questions to have prepared to ask at the end of the interview.

Ask about the company culture. What is it like to work there?
Ask about the position or opportunity in a way that helps you learn more than what you have already learned on your own research. In your opinion, what qualities/traits do you look for in an ideal candidate to be successful in the role?
Ask about what to expect in the interview process. What are next steps?

Are there any best practices for following up after an interview?

Within 24 hours, send personalized thank-you emails to the recruiters you spoke with that include:

A brief recap of your conversation
An expression of gratitude
A question or statement to keep the dialogue going

�鶹ӳ��ý Named Finalist for APLU Excellence in Student Success Award

Juzanne Martin — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 13:00:16 +0000

At a university serving nearly 70,000 students — one of the nation’s largest student bodies — student success can’t depend on chance or on students figuring out complex systems on their own.

�鶹ӳ��ý has built something different.

Over the past decade, the university increased its four-year graduation rate by 23.4 percentage points, from 40.4% for the 2011–15 cohort to 63.8% for the 2021–25 cohort. Preliminary projections for the 2022–26 cohort indicate the rate could surpass 68%.

That progress has transformed student outcomes and placed �鶹ӳ��ý among just three finalists for the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities’ (APLU) 2026 Excellence in Student Success Award.

The annual award recognizes institutions demonstrating a comprehensive, systemic commitment to advancing student success. Through innovative initiatives, honorees reduce barriers to educational attainment, increase graduation rates and improve outcomes such as time to degree, civic engagement and career readiness.

The award winner will be announced at the APLU’s Annual Meeting, Nov. 15–17 in San Antonio.

“We have listened to students, strengthened cross-functional collaboration, used evidence to guide timely support and embedded student success practices into the university’s daily operations.” — Alexander N. Cartwright, �鶹ӳ��ý president

The distinction reflects a fundamental shift in how �鶹ӳ��ý approaches student success: not as a collection of programs, but as a university-wide operating model designed to help more students thrive.

“What distinguishes �鶹ӳ��ý’s approach is the way our community has translated that belief into sustained action,” �鶹ӳ��ý President Alexander N. Cartwright says. “We have listened to students, strengthened cross-functional collaboration, used evidence to guide timely support and embedded student success practices into the university’s daily operations.”

And �鶹ӳ��ý has done it while operating with fewer resources than many of its peers. The university receives the lowest funding per full-time equivalent student among Florida’s 12 State University System institutions and ranks in the 11th percentile nationally for expenditures per student among public universities.

�鶹ӳ��ý didn’t wait for permission or for more resources to improve outcomes. It transformed how the university works.

Community Is the Starting Line

In 2022, �鶹ӳ��ý made its highest strategic priority. Then it asked students a simple question: What does it mean to thrive?

Their answers helped create — Belonging, Engaging, Achieving and Meaning — a framework for success that gives students, faculty, and staff a shared way to describe connection, purpose, academic progress, and well-being.

Today, BEAM is embedded across the student experience. By Fall 2025, nearly 35,000 students had participated in orientation programming incorporating the framework. Thousands more engaged with BEAM-informed support across the university: 158 Academic Success Coaches and student success professionals use BEAM-guided conversations with students; 8,323 students engaged through Housing and Residential Life programming; 3,971 students engaged through Fraternity and Sorority Life; and more than 19,000 students engaged through the in the last year.

The idea is simple but powerful: Success starts with students feeling that they belong and knowing where to turn when they need help.

Building a Coordinated System of Care

�鶹ӳ��ý dared to rethink traditional academic guidance, replacing reactive advising with a holistic model in 2023 — one that reaches students before challenges become barriers.

“Our Academic Success Coaches are aligned with students as both advisors and coaches.” — Jennifer Sumner, assistant vice president of Academic Success Coaching

Academic Success Coaches combine BEAM-guided conversations with student-level analytics to identify needs — including academic planning, graduation requirements, registration issues and personal challenges — initiate outreach and connect students with support. Rather than waiting for students to ask for help, coaches use data to identify where support may be needed and reach out.

“Our Academic Success Coaches are aligned with students as both advisors and coaches,” says Jennifer Sumner, assistant vice president of Academic Success Coaching at �鶹ӳ��ý. “We’ve positioned [them] to be active and dynamic, and we expect students to do the same — to take an active role in their journey and work with us [to determine] how they can be successful at �鶹ӳ��ý.”

Behind that work is �鶹ӳ��ý’s Student Success Analytics platform, which brings real-time visibility into progression risk, retention patterns, graduation forecasts and intervention activity into one environment.

Every student in the graduating cohort is automatically evaluated nightly for indicators of completion status and progression risk. Those insights allow coaches, colleges and administrators to act while there is still time to make a difference.

The university’s Student Success Tiger Team takes that proactive approach further. Launched in 2024, the cross-functional team brings together analytics, coaching, enrollment management, academic affairs and college partners to resolve issues that individual advising can’t solve alone. Using data to pinpoint hindrances to graduation, the team helped prioritize graduating students for required courses, expand course capacity and improve graduation-related paperwork processes.

And this work now reaches students earlier in their academic journey, not just those nearing graduation. Progression checks for students in their first three years help identify challenges sooner, creating a continuum of support from entry to degree completion.

“[I can’t] express my gratitude enough for [my Academic Success Coach’s] support during my time at �鶹ӳ��ý, says psychology alum Jasmine Washington ’25. “I graduated with my bachelor’s degree, and I couldn’t have reached that milestone without [his] guidance. Navigating the requirements and staying on track wasn’t always easy, but [his] encouragement and insight truly made a difference in my journey.”

Advancing Timely Degree Completion

The impact is undeniable.

�鶹ӳ��ý’s four-year graduation rate has climbed to 63.8%, surpassing Florida’s 60% preeminence benchmark, with another increase projected for the 2022–26 cohort.

But the bigger accomplishment is what �鶹ӳ��ý built to get there.

Rather than layering temporary programs onto existing structures, �鶹ӳ��ý embedded student success into how it operates — from leadership priorities and analytics to coaching, academic planning and institutional decision-making. The sustained progress isn’t a result of a single program or initiative. It comes from making student success a shared responsibility.

Students helped define what thriving looks like. Faculty and staff bring that vision to life. Analytics reveal where action is needed. Coaches provide personalized support. �鶹ӳ��ý’s 12 colleges and administrative teams remove barriers. And university leaders keep student success at the center of decision-making.

Together, those efforts create an environment where more students can belong, move forward, overcome obstacles and graduate on time — prepared to thrive long after they leave campus.

That’s the difference between supporting student success and building a university around it.

If You Want to Know the Meaning Behind “Student Success” at �鶹ӳ��ý…

Robert Stephens | Photo by Nick Leyva ’15 — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 14:18:53 +0000

A certain word keeps coming to Chanda Torres ’98 ’00MA ’08EdD when she begins to describe where she’s been and where she is now: “Ironically.” Her work in student and academic affairs at �鶹ӳ��ý completes a series of so many ironies, or “full-circle moments,” that it begins to sound like maybe they aren’t happenstance but instead part of an incredibly perfect plan.

“What I’m doing today is another full-circle moment,” she says about her current role as the assistant vice president of the Kenneth G. Dixon Career Development Center. “It fits my passion for preparing students for life. Many of them remind me of myself, with similar challenges that I faced.”

Given only a narrow perspective of today, you’d never suspect Torres faced such challenges. You’d only see that Torres has three degrees from �鶹ӳ��ý, including a doctoral degree in education in curriculum and instruction. She helped imagine the office of Student Success and Well-Being for �鶹ӳ��ý Downtown. She’s been asked to share her expertise on student development at state and national conferences, earned awards for her exemplary practices, and can so easily articulate how �鶹ӳ��ý advanced the idea of “student success” from theory to proof that it’s easy to miss how this full circle began for her.

Torres has never forgotten.

“My motivation comes from my own story,” says Torres, who also earned a bachelor’s in foreign language education and master’s in educational leadership from �鶹ӳ��ý.

“As big as �鶹ӳ��ý is, it became my home. This is where I found mentors and people who helped me grow into what I am today. It’s why I’m here, 20-some years later, to make sure students have the support they need to graduate on time and discover their own passion to be successful.”

Before she knew what success as a student or as a leader meant, Torres had to overcome doubts. She struggled with a learning disability, which affected her academically and socially. The label on Chanda Torres the teenager said “at-risk student” and “low-income family.” She gravitated into theater to find a sense of belonging. To pull her credentials up to speed after high school, she muscled through classes at Brevard Community College. A few years later, driven partly by a desire to prove doubters wrong, she came to �鶹ӳ��ý to find her own way — a transfer student dropped off in a very new, very big place.

“It was the best thing my parents could have done,” Torres says. “As big as �鶹ӳ��ý is, it became my home. This is where I found mentors and people who helped me grow into what I am today. It’s why I’m here, 20-some years later, to make sure students have the support they need to graduate on time and discover their own passion to be successful.”

All of this tells us why the College of Community Innovation and Education honored Torres in 2023 as a Distinguished Alumni. She is also a big reason �鶹ӳ��ý has achieved a 90% freshman retention rate and increased our four-year graduation rate to 68.1%, which is up 18.1 percentage points in five years.

“To have achieved success as a student despite my history,” she says, “and then to be honored for the work I’m doing for other students, and now to play a role in �鶹ӳ��ý’s [qualification for] designation as a preeminent university, it all represents another full circle.”

Driven by Personal Experience to Serve Students

At the Dixon Career Development Center, Torres oversees services and programs that support students through every stage of their journey — from discovering career and advanced-degree options and gaining meaningful experience to preparing for and launching their next step. Through career education, employer connections, internships and other experiential learning opportunities, Dixon Career Development Center helps students build a future with confidence and purpose.

Torres knows the greatest impact begins with one student and one conversation at a time.

“It’s crucial to understand where they’ve been and where they want to go,” she says. “There are people around us in everyday life who are intelligent and talented but haven’t heard someone tell them. Ironically, that’s exactly what turned everything around for me.”

“I knew deep down, despite my learning difficulties, that I was capable. The question was always, ‘Does anyone else believe it?’ ”

Torres’ parents never had a “someone.” Her mom had dropped out of high school. Her dad joined the military to escape poverty. They married young. Torres would be the second of their four children.

“I knew deep down, despite my learning difficulties, that I was capable. The question was always, ‘Does anyone else believe it?’ ” she says.

To this day, she points back to a high-school language arts teacher, Mr. Couch, who encouraged Torres to participate in theater and engage in public speaking. His confidence in her unlocked skills and pathways she didn’t know existed. Because of him, she pursued a degree in education, so she could also be a teacher. What happened during her master’s work at �鶹ӳ��ý turned her into a lifelong believer in learning opportunities outside the classroom.

“Ironically,” she says again, “while mentoring �鶹ӳ��ý students in the program now known as SOAR [Seizing Opportunities for Achievement and Retention], I helped some of them with public speaking. That’s what Mr. Couch told me was my strength before I knew it myself. I began to realize my calling into leadership, where I could scale my impact with students.”

After a 10-year run in student support at Valencia College, Torres was courted to return to �鶹ӳ��ý as the assistant vice president of student success. She would be among the first to create real structure for the concept of student success at her alma mater: advising, coaching, retention, and career and transfer services. To inspire her to map out the future, she could look at her own past.

Turns out, another inspiration was coming.

A Reinvigorated Purpose

Torres’ perspective changed dramatically in 2018. Early that year, she took a leave from �鶹ӳ��ý to give birth to her daughter. The questions she’d always heard from parents of students took root in her own mind. What will my little girl’s life be like? Will she find her own passion? What can I do to make sure she thrives?

Torres set up a scholarship fund. She paid attention to her daughter’s interests in animals and STEM, supporting her passion for animal rescues, attending SeaWorld camp and learning code. She would be a mother, mentor and encourager.

“I’ve learned from my own experiences how important it is to be engaged in her journey, so when the time comes, she can graduate on time, get the job she wants and be retained because of her valuable skills. Those are the same types of measures of success we have for each �鶹ӳ��ý student.”

“My purpose could not be more clear: to make sure every student, regardless of high school or background, whether they’re a freshman or transfer, is seen, supported, and feels capable.”

After her maternity leave, Torres went to �鶹ӳ��ý Downtown to mesh student affairs with the community and business sector. Then, in July 2025, she returned to the main campus that she says she remembers as home to lead the Dixon Career Development Center.

“It’s exciting to see students connecting with resources — like academic success coaches — and discovering a clear direction. They have research opportunities, clubs, community work, networking and people to listen.”

Maybe it isn’t so ironic that she’s here, where her own path to success started.

“My purpose could not be more clear: to make sure every student, regardless of high school or background, whether they’re a freshman or transfer, is seen, supported, and feels capable,” she says. “That’s what I needed to complete my journey. And now it’s my way of giving back to the university that has given me so much.”

Kenneth G. Dixon Career Development Center Archives | �鶹ӳ����ý News