In a room tucked away on the second floor of the Student Union, the energy is unmistakable — it’s part innovation lab, part mentorship hub, and entirely focused on the future. 

At the Rebel Career Champions Network (RCCN) Showcase on April 30, UNLV faculty and staff shared how they are helping students prepare for life after college long before graduation arrives.

Microcredentials

Whether it’s peer mentors logging hours of training and reflection, student-athletes mapping life after competition through structured development programs, or something else entirely, UNLV is ensuring that Rebels are earning high-quality, relevant, and in-demand competencies through microcredentials.

Once completed, these short, focused microcredentials award digital badges that highlight skills and experiences students can carry into the workforce. And at UNLV, the list of available microcredentials keeps growing.

Two of the microcredentials featured at the showcase focused on peer mentors and student-athletes, helping students build skills like communication, leadership, and teamwork.

“So far we’ve awarded 65 microcredentials,” said Alexandra Caballero, a peer mentor and third-year biology major. “These are high-career impact and transferable skills in the workforce to prepare students for supervisory roles and to be professionals.”

This preparation is thorough: to earn the badge, peer mentors must complete at least 20 hours of direct job-related work and five additional hours of training, including professional development workshops.

Another innovative program designed to help students build career skills is the Rebels EmpowHER Program, which supports the career and personal development of female student-athletes.

“We developed the career development playbook for them, helping them earn three pillars: professional development, personal wellness, and community impact and mentorship,” said Becky Pugh, senior associate athletics director for student-athlete academic services and one of the program’s developers. “It creates a structure for their journey and helps develop them for their career after sports and college.”

Pugh shared that the program was recently approved for a microcredential, giving student-athletes more tools to market themselves to prospective employers.

Prototyping Careers

Another innovative approach to career conversations is career prototyping: the idea that career development can be reframed as a student-centered process rather than a one-and-done decision. 

“We teach prototyping because, what better way to find out if you’re ready for a career than going out and talking to somebody who’s already doing it?” said Anne Jacklin, one of the developers of this approach and a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education.

Instead of relying on assumptions, career prototyping turns curiosity into clarity, encouraging students to step into conversations that reveal the realities behind a job.

“Our students ask questions that they really care about: What time do I wake up in the morning? Do I work weekends? What are the lifestyle demands?” Jacklin said.

The mindset shift that prototyping encourages isn’t limited by age, background, or experience — anyone can explore what they want through small, intentional steps, including structured reflection and real-world engagement. 

“It doesn’t matter what generation you talk to — everybody can prototype what they want to do. This is a scalable approach.”

Offering a Hand

At the UNLV Care Center, students are bringing career readiness into focus through hands-on, accredited training.

The Care Center's Care Advocate Training Institute (CATI), accredited through the National Organization for Victim Advocacy (NOVA), allows students to volunteer and learn about working with violence-impacted clients — providing crisis intervention and connecting people with resources that suit their needs.

Through this training, students complete 45 hours of immersive learning centered on victim advocacy, crisis intervention, and resource navigation. They engage directly with the realities of supporting individuals experiencing power-based violence, from domestic and relationship violence to sexual violence and stalking.

This impact extends beyond subject-matter expertise. Students develop the core competencies that define effective professionals: empathy, communication, critical thinking, and the ability to respond thoughtfully under pressure. 

“We get a lot of students from social work, psychology, human services, and education, but we also get other students from all over campus. People who just want to learn about basic victim advocacy skills,” said April Weeks, advocate coordinator with The Care Center.

By pairing this training with real-world application, the program gives students universally valuable skills, as well as the confidence and the capability to step into meaningful, people-centered careers.

Ka-Chow!

Throughout the three-minute presentations dubbed “Lightning Talks” — spanning internships, success stories, AI training, and even rethinking failure — faculty and staff shared how students are building not just résumés, but purpose-driven pathways into the workforce.

From orientation leader programs that train groups of students each summer in transferable leadership and communication skills to innovative coursework connecting precalculus concepts with engineering careers, presenters emphasized that career development is most effective when embedded in everyday learning.

Across campus, experiential opportunities are expanding at scale. Internship programs that place over 1,300 students — with hundreds of opportunities each semester and nearly half offering pay — demonstrate a growing commitment to access and accountability. Share-out student success stories reinforced this impact, showing how hands-on experience can transform uncertainty into a clear career direction.

Sessions also highlighted the importance of professional skill-building in all forms: structured feedback models from the Writing Center, career ambassador programs that prepare students for employer engagement, and specialized training in fields like paralegal studies, where students tackle real-world scenarios and complex communication challenges. Initiatives like AI training modules and Work+ ambassador roles are further positioning student employment as a launchpad for long-term success in future careers.

Underlying every quick, punchy presentation was a shared theme: career readiness isn’t a single program or milestone — it’s a continuous process that takes the entire Rebel community to move the needle. Whether through internships, campus jobs, or mentorship, students are gaining the tools to navigate uncertainty and build purposeful, adaptable careers.