Introducing New Career Center Director Lori Young

On January 11, the Oberlin College Career Center welcomed its new director, Lori Young. As director, Young will lead career center staff and work to build strong relationships with individuals on and off campus to ensure students have the resources and connections they need to identify and achieve meaningful career objectives.

Young holds a master’s in college student personnel from Bowling Green State University and a bachelor’s in communications from Ashland University. She also recently completed training and evaluation to earn the professional certified coach credential from the International Coach Federation.

Young comes to Oberlin from ReadyNow!, a training, coaching, and consulting business for leaders, teams, and organizations that she started in 2014. Prior to ReadyNow!, Young spent the first 14 years of her career working in career development and educational enhancement at Case Western University, Baldwin-Wallace University, and the University of Georgia. From 2006-2014, she led career and leadership development departments at the Cleveland Clinic and Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

Young says she was interested in the career center director position due to a strong desire to return to higher education, especially at a small liberal arts college. She says she was also drawn to one particular ask of the position: that the new director “identify areas of growth for the career center to align with the values and direction as identified in the new strategic plan.”

“I was not interested in returning to career development at a college campus where the goal was to simply maintain what was already in place,” Young says. “I like to be a part of creating a vision with intended outcomes and work with other talented people to see it come to life. I saw this position offering that type of experience.”

Young says one of her main goals as director is to infuse career development into the student experience. “My hope is that the career center can build collaborative relationships with faculty, staff, alumni, and parents to design cocurricular experiences and increase mentoring and internship opportunities,” Young says. “My hope is that every student leaves Oberlin doing what they planned to do because they knew their career goal, they gained experiences to be marketable, and they easily connected with people in their career interest areas.”

Young will report to Dean of Studies Joyce Babyak. She replaces Gayle Boyer, who served as interim director since September 1, 2015. Babyak offers her praises to Boyer and the rest of the career center staff for their excellent work leading up to Young’s arrival.