By Abdullah Budeir, Intern, Campus Life Communications

Photo credit: Alexa Polomo, Intern, Campus Life Communications

As a student volunteer, Dalyla McGee 17C served as director of the Career Ambassadors program with the Career Center, a unit of Emory Campus Life. She joined the center team in 2015 and led a group of 20 to 30 dynamic student volunteers described as the “face of Emory” to employers and various organizations.

The ambassadors also work with Career Center staff to: host employer and graduate student information sessions; staff, market, and promote programs and events; and elevate awareness of the center throughout the Emory community.

McGee coordinated interactions between the ambassadors and major employers. For example, when Southwest Airlines reached out to Emory for students interested in positions, McGee and the career ambassadors marketed these real-world opportunities to students.

Ambassadors also play a crucial role in helping to facilitate interactions at career fairs. When students seem to be struggling with interacting with recruiters, ambassadors jump in and try to connect them by sparking meaningful conversations between the two parties, effectively guiding students through the process and hopefully to meaningful careers and fulfilling lives.

The ambassadors receive mandatory training during bi-weekly meetings, where guest professionals lead workshops and make presentations. Past topics included professional communication, networking, effective pitches, and interviewing.

“The most important attributes in a career ambassador are a positive attitude, a willingness to learn, and a connection with the program’s value of ‘paying it forward,’" says McGee.

McGee’s point illustrates why a student leads a program that has such impact. According to Paul Fowler, executive director of the Career Center, his team hesitated in the past to entrust management of recruiters’ information sessions to students, knowing that the center’s reputation and credibility with employers depends on an exceptional campus visit.

“The Ambassador Program, under Dalyla’s leadership, has proven that our students are professional, responsible, trustworthy, and recognize the significance of representing the Career Center and Emory University,” says Fowler. 

“Dalyla has instilled a professional work ethic in the ambassadors that could only come from her own servant-leadership role of demonstrating the qualities necessary to be a truly successful professional.”

Learn more about the Career Ambassadors Program here.