At Career Center, Carrier aims to connect students with employers

NATCHITOCHES - Tiffany Carrier is bringing expertise in marketing, public relations and networking to help students at Northwestern State University find jobs. Carrier is the new Job Location and Development Officer in the university's Career Center, where students can utilize resources and coaching to help find part-time student jobs as well as prepare for future professional careers.

A native of Thibodaux, Carrier arrives at NSU following several years of work in marketing for Goodwill of Acadiana. She earned a bachelor's degree in communications in 2013 and a master's in communications in 2017 from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and always felt a desire to apply her expertise in a higher education setting.

Part of helping students is getting to know them one-on-one, she said.

"I want them to be comfortable talking. Through open dialogue with students, you get to know them and learn about their goals and aspirations."

Carrier relocated from Lafayette to Natchitoches earlier this summer to join her fiance, Andy Killion, assistant professor of lighting and sound design/facilities manager in NSU's Department of Theatre and Dance. In advance of the fall semester, and in order to meet people in Natchitoches, she participated in last month's Natchitoches Young Professionals conference where the focus was "Elevate, Innovate and Lead." The conference provided an opportunity to distribute flyers and talk about the NSU Career Center, and how she can connect businesses with college student employees. It also gave her a foothold in getting involved with the Natchitoches business community.

"I was focused on making connections and networking. The NYP conference was a chance to meet people and learn about leadership and networking with business people and the community. I'm looking forward to building those connections and friendships to help me succeed in this position."

She also participated in Freshman Connection, NSU's summer orientation program for incoming students, where she met students and parents to explain how she can help with interviews tailored to a student's field of study as well as find part-time work while they finish their degrees.

A background in communications is a big plus in what she hopes to accomplish at the Career Center and transfer her creative skills to enhance printed materials, signage, social media, video and the Center's online presence.

"Having a background in communications allows me to update information visually and helps when doing presentations and marketing the Career Center in a new and creative way that will get the word out to students, faculty and businesses in the community. I want to increase our media presence and make it engaging."

The Career Center's Fall Part-Time Job Fair is set for Tuesday, Sept. 10 in the Student Union Ballroom. Information on the Career Center is available at https://www.nsula.edu/careercenter/. Businesses who are interested in participating in the Career Fair can contact Carrier at [email protected].