Meet Jon Ambrose the University Career Center's Associate Director for Employer Engagement since summer 2022. Jon’s role at the UCC is to facilitate and connect external partners, such as employers and graduate programs, with students through our career readiness initiatives like the Career & Internship Expo, alumni panels, and networking events. He also plays an important role on the leadership team for the Career Center, where he contributes to big picture thinking, decision-making, management, and budgeting. But how did Jon get here? Did he always know he wanted to work at the UCC? Let's learn a little more about his career journey and how that's influenced who he is today.
Origin Story
As a little kid, Jon dreamed of being an astronaut... or a dinosaur... when he grew up. But later in childhood, he found a passion for music. In high school, he played the guitar in a band, and decided to major in music tech during the beginning of his college experience. After a while, he found that music production wasn’t for him and decided to get outside his comfort zone. He took a leave of absence, moved to a new state, and then transferred to a new university. He then majored in business administration, but ended up switching to marketing. He enjoyed the socialization aspects of marketing, like understanding audiences and why people respond a certain way to things. Ultimately, he struggled with the creative aspect, “I don’t have the gene,” Ambrose said.
While in undergrad, as he was still figuring out who he wanted to be, Jon was also faced with the loss of his father. With financially independence he now had to be a full-time working student. He worked a variety of jobs, from sales to insurance advising. Every job, good or bad, helped him refine what he was looking for in a future career path. “I didn’t want to be surrounded by people who just want the money – it was soul-crushing. There was no greater why,” he said. He persevered and ended up graduating from at Utah State University with a communication studies major and a marketing minor.
Finding a Good Fit in the World of Work
Following graduation, Jon started a job at the software company Adobe. “I took the job in software because it had all the things that I was socially told what I should want in a job,” Jon said. He liked the idea of working in tech because it was seen as cool and hip at the time. However, it ended up feeling like a chaotic work environment to him so he took a big chance on himself and quit afer working there for only 6 months. It was a big risk but it paid off! He found a great opportunity to use his skills in a professional role at the Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University which allowed him to also go back to school part-time to get his Masters of Business Administration in Leadership Specialization. While finishing up his MBA, he interviewed for his role on the University Career Center's Employer Engagement team and moved to Oregon soon after graduating.
Jon was especially looking forward to working at the UCC because he was excited to work under the UCC's Executive Director Paul Timmins, due to having a great prior experience with him and being inspired by his leadership. Jon expressed how he has continuously benefited from being mentored by Timmins, saying “you don’t quit jobs, you quit managers”.
As the Associate Director for Employer Engagement, he informs students about what career pathways are available to them, like organizations actively looking, learning activities, internships, job shadows and full-time opportunities.
Jon's favorite aspect of working at the UCC is when he meets a student that shares that they got that job or internship from a career expo, part-time job fair, or other UCC event he helped facilitate. It brings him joy because it not only shows the impact of career readiness week programming like the Career & Internship Expo, and how it makes a big difference in students' career journeys.
“I love it when it works; it fills the cup up for me. I remember the anxieties of being a young student, and I internalized it. It's so real for anyone.”
What Career Readiness Means to Jon
Jon defines career readiness as “knowing what you're good at and knowing what's out there.” He has two books that he loves that expand on this idea. The first being Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein, which has themes like institutional value, social patterns, and advocacy. The other book, So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love, by Cal Newport, argues the opposite and discusses becoming so skilled or so specialized in something that they have no choice but to rely on you.
His number one career readiness tip he gives to students is to leverage your network. He believes that this is an underutilized resource that students don't always know the importance of. “Recognize the value of your network,” he said. If you get to know the people in your network, you can find a mentor, be a mentee, get referrals, or find a job.
The most impactful career advice that Ambrose has received is a quote from Joshua Fields Millburn: “You can’t change the people around you, but you can change the people around you.” Essentially, this means that you do not influence what others can do, but you can choose who you surround yourself with.
“People are a byproduct of the people they surround themselves with and the books that they read.”
Leadership as a Career Readiness Skill in Action
As someone in a leadership position at the UCC, he defines leadership as a psychological state where someone is able to take accountability for their actions, be empathetic, and understand the needs of the people around them while still being authentic to themselves. “Leadership is less about titles, how much money you make, it's more about how you carry yourself,” Jon said. He is also very involved in leadership in the Eugene community through multiple volunteer opportunities. He is a Eugene Young Professionals council member, where he enjoys helping local businesses, community building, and getting civically engaged. Additionally, he is a student mentor for Uplift Leadership, a non-profit that helps provide career-specific extracurricular activities for high school students. He is involved with many other volunteer projects in the community because he believes giving back to others and getting involved is important.
Ambrose is looking forward to continuing his work at the University Career Center and helping students navigate who they want to be and what they want to be.
“Just do stuff. Just do all of it. Do the study abroad, do the internship, join that club. Even poor experiences are great data points to help you figure out what you want in your career,” he said.