BU Career Ambassadors Venessa Odera (CAS’26) (from left), Madison Whisnant (CAS’26), and Quinn Manzo (CAS’26). The team is “dedicated to making services more accessible to students on campus,” Manzo says, and helps them realize that their individual uniqueness and experiences help set them apart in today’s job market.      

Student Life

Meet the BU Career Ambassadors Helping Their Peers Find Internships

These students review résumés, host career workshops, and guide fellow students in navigating the professional world

When Madison Whisnant first came to Boston University, she experienced “imposter syndrome,” she says. It seemed that everyone but her had a LinkedIn profile and knew how to conduct themselves professionally. 

While her family had always encouraged career opportunities and helped her learn how to speak with adults, Whisnant (CAS’26) says a lack of career-readiness resources at her high school left her searching for more.

That’s how she found herself at a résumé review drop-in freshman year, hosted by BU’s Center for Career Development (CCD), where her résumé was “torn up—in a good way,” she says. That same year, when she needed a pair of slacks for a last-minute career fair, she found herself at the CCD again, this time at its Professional Clothing Closet.

It wasn’t long before Whisnant found a more permanent place at the CCD, not just as a student benefiting from resources, but as a mentor herself. She is now one of 20 Career Ambassadors helping undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni with professional development. As part of the peer-to-peer career education program, she assists with résumé and cover letter reviews, hosts workshops, and partners with other on-campus organizations to get the word out about the CCD offerings. 

“I know firsthand how these resources assist students, so I just want to help continue that cycle,” says Whisnant, who is also president of BU’s Undergraduate Women in Economics club. “I want to truly make sure that every single student feels like they belong here at BU, in Boston, and in the professional world.”

Students can apply to become ambassadors through JobX. Experience and graduation years vary, though most applicants are motivated and ready to be community leaders, says Liv Silva, CCD student engagement manager, who also oversees the Career Ambassadors program. 

Ambassadors work in one of three teams: Programming, PR, and Partnerships and Equity. Returning ambassadors are typically chosen as team captains and act as de facto supervisors, overseeing their peers’ work and meeting with Silva weekly. 

“Our three-team model…is very unique,” Silva says. “The students have a lot of independence and adult ability to take initiative and be the bearers of the CCD strategy.” 

Quinn Manzo (CAS’26), a second-year ambassador, is captain of the Programming team, which curates and runs events, from networking and public speaking workshops to individualized career prep for student clubs. As captain, Manzo reviews event ideas, determines their feasibility, and considers student needs to see how the team can best help what they envision. 

“I felt like there was this exclusive body of knowledge about how to get a career. I wanted to be part of the ‘in crowd,’” says Manzo, who is also a director of Fusion Dance Troupe, BU’s oldest dance team. “I feel like I’ve been given the chance to invite other people into that circle and make it feel like career readiness is less of an exclusive thing.”

Shepherding the PR team is third-year ambassador Venessa Odera (CAS’26). The PR team creates and posts career-focused content on various social media platforms and conducts market research on other universities’ career centers, Silva explains. 

Each PR team member is responsible for coming up with content, ranging from an overview of that week’s CCD events to an explainer on job-hunting terminology. As cocaptain, Odera reviews each post for typos and CCD brand alignment. 

“It’s a great way to interact with students and make the CCD seem more approachable,” says Odera, who became an ambassador after a friend went through the program. “Working here helped me a lot in my internship, and I was able to bring back skills from my internship here.”

All ambassadors participate in the CCD’s résumé and cover letter drop-in hours, regardless of the team they’re on. Whisnant, a member of the programming team, says ambassadors typically address formatting issues first, before tailoring a student’s résumé to highlight their skills and experiences.   

The Partnerships and Equity team is part of the CCD’s new Career Communities model, curated tracks that help students explore fields of interest and connect with resources (such as blogs, tips, job and internship opportunities, and upcoming events and career panels) tailored to their goals. The team performs outreach to various student groups, like business fraternities or cultural organizations, to help identify student career needs and gaps in career resources. 

Whisnant says being an ambassador has helped her find a diverse community on campus. She has kept in contact with alumni ambassadors and her hope is being the same kind of mentor when she graduates. 

“As a whole, we’re all really dedicated to making services more accessible to students on campus who might feel like they’re not being catered to,” Manzo says. “We’re helping students realize that the differences that might hold you back are actually a power.”     

Interested in becoming a Career Ambassador? Applications open February 1 for positions the following academic year. Be sure to check the CCD’s Instagram page and the Student Job Board beginning in February for hiring updates and deadlines.