New Career Readiness Hub: Paving the Way for Student Success

As a one-stop spot that gathers the professional and career resources provided across SUA areas and departments, the online Soka Career Readiness Hub aims to open pathways to success for Soka students. The new hub will help ensure Soka students can succeed professionally while upholding the university’s mission of living contributive lives in a rapidly changing world.

“The Soka Career Readiness Hub will have a great impact on students by streamlining resources and opening doors to internships and job opportunities,” said Soka Student Union President Aashish Sunar ’24. “I am looking forward to future initiatives of the hub.”

The hub offers access to graduate school and health profession advising, Fulbright Scholarship applications, on-campus hiring, alumni networking, innovation and entrepreneurship programs, and links to traditional career development office services.

It is the first project of the Soka Career Working Group, which launched in the fall of 2022 to strengthen and expand professional development resources for SUA students and alumni. Career development and readiness are a priority for SUA, and the working group includes leaders from across campus who meet regularly throughout the year.

The working group is also evaluating ways to provide faculty and staff with the tools and support they need to help students connect the dots for great career outcomes. The effort is being supported by a team of faculty and staff through the AAC&U Curriculum-to-Careers Innovations Institute, and results will be shared with the SUA community in early 2024.

While SUA’s career development and B2B offices provide a variety of professional development programs, there are numerous other professional resources available to students, including opportunities provided by the Writing Center, the alumni association, Ikeda Library, Soka Graduate School, the health professions advisor, and each academic concentration.

“Although the Soka Career Readiness Hub is in its early stages, we wanted to offer the campus a one-stop shop to know how to best direct our students as they learn to connect their Soka education to career pathways,” said Mary Patrick Kavanaugh, Soka director of special projects and founder of the B2B program.

Kavanaugh is excited about how the hub will continue to evolve and improve. “A team of folks from across all areas at Soka will attend the AAC&U Curriculum to Career Innovations Institute in order to learn and propose even more enhancements that will benefit our students,” she said.