Career exposure program connects students with Lansing opportunities

This October, James Madison College at Michigan State University will take students to Lansing to explore career opportunities in Michigan’s capital region.

While the Career Exposure Program has previously taken students across the country, this year it will focus on local opportunities in mid-Michigan and, in the spring, it will take students to metro Detroit to demonstrate the college’s commitment to connecting graduates with meaningful work across the state.

Held during MSU’s fall break on Oct. 20 and 21, the program will take James Madison students to visit Lansing organizations actively seeking public affairs talent; students will also have opportunities to build connections during a networking reception with program hosts and local alumni.

“There are many great opportunities for people to make their mark in Michigan,” said Karissa Chabot-Purchase, JMC’s assistant director of career services. “We wanted to help students see the variety of options that are literally down the street from campus.”

Program overview

The program supports MSU’s strategic plan, MSU 2030: Excellence for Global Impact, which emphasizes growing talent for Michigan and beyond. President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D., has made preparing students for roles within the state a priority.

JMC has offered the Career Exposure Program for several years, taking students to major career hubs like New York City and Washington, D.C., following spring semester. The spring 2025 program brought 24 students to Chicago to visit JMC alumni at organizations including Google, United Airlines, Uber and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Program organizers — Chabot-Purchase and Lauren Michalak, JMC’s field experience coordinator — choose destinations based on data about where graduates work and where alumni are located.

“Not everybody wants to go to D.C. or to Chicago,” Chabot-Purchase said. “As wonderful as those places are, we have a lot of great opportunities for people to have impact here in our state.”

This fall, students will visit Michigan Farm Bureau Insurance, Dewpoint Consulting, Public Sector Consultants, TechSmith, MSU Federal Credit Union, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the Michigan Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Executive Office. These organizations represent a wide range of sectors that all value the education and skill public affairs graduates bring to the table.

Focus on Lansing opportunities

The Lansing-focused initiative emerged through a combination of existing relationships and new partnerships. A key connection came through Lansing 501, the regional talent attraction effort led by President and CEO Samantha Harkins, who helped connect JMC with employers eager to recruit in the Lansing area.

“Their role is to market the Lansing region to potential talent, so they know where current opportunities exist,” Chabot-Purchase said. “They work directly with those employers, so it was just a matter of bringing us all together in the effort to connect our students to opportunities.”

Like much of JMC’s career programming, the success of this Lansing visit depends on the generosity of alumni who remain connected to the college long after graduation. The willingness of graduates to open doors, host site visits and share their career journeys makes these experiential learning opportunities possible.

“Our alumni are amazing at really living the adage about not pulling up the ladder behind them,” Michalak said. “As they achieve success in their spaces and in their career paths, their willingness to engage with current students to show them opportunities and pathways that they could follow is truly remarkable.”

JMC students interested in attending, as well Detroit-based alumni who may be interested in hosting students during the Career Exposure Program in May, can email JM.Career@msu.edu.