Podcast

Career Readiness Starts in Freshman Year — with Michelle Chessler

What does “career ready” actually mean in the age of AI — and when should students start building toward it? Emerging Founder & CEO Laura Barr sat down with Michelle Chessler, Career Advisor at CU Boulder’s Leeds School of Business, for a live Ask Me Anything on Growing Good Humans. Michelle brought her years of global marketing leadership — across gaming, telecom, and construction tech — and now works daily with 18-year-olds navigating one of the most competitive job markets in history. She opened the floor to whatever was on families’ minds.

Here’s what most families don’t realize: career readiness doesn’t start in senior year of college. It starts in high school. The students who stand out aren’t just smart — they know themselves. And that work can begin right now.

What We Explored

Why Freshman Year Is the Starting Line

  • Why career exploration belongs in high school, not the final year of college
  • How self-awareness built early creates clarity that compounds over time
  • What students lose by waiting until senior year to think about career direction

Competing in an AI-Reshaped Job Market

  • How AI is changing what employers value on a résumé
  • The skills and experiences that actually differentiate candidates
  • Why human skills — curiosity, communication, adaptability — matter more than ever

Using Career Services to Its Full Potential

  • What career services at college actually offers — and why most students never use it
  • The questions families should ask about career services on every campus tour
  • How to evaluate a school’s career outcomes, not just its reputation

Building Career Clarity Through Self-Knowledge

  • How values, interests, and personality exploration shape real career direction
  • Why “what do you want to do?” is the wrong first question
  • What parents can do now to help their student build toward purpose

About Michelle Chessler

Michelle Chessler is a Career Advisor at CU Boulder’s Leeds School of Business, where she helps students build confidence and clarity in their career journeys. Before transitioning into higher education advising, she held global marketing leadership roles across the gaming, telecom, and construction tech industries — giving her a rare dual lens: she understands what employers are actually looking for, and she knows how to help students build toward it from day one.

Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Business from UCLA and an MBA from CU Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. Originally from Southern California, she now lives in Boulder with her husband, their 17-year-old twin boys, and two dogs named Pickles and Pebbles.

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