By the numbers, Boise State stands out as a top competitor in preparing students for the workforce. In the 2024-25 academic year, more than 800 companies came to Boise State’s campus for direct recruiting, networking and career fairs. A recent survey showed that, six months after graduation, 77% of Boise State alumni are employed or continuing on to graduate school. Of those employed, 89% said their work was directly related to their career goals.
How does Boise State make it happen? And how can students best take advantage of university resources to maximize their chances for success? Read on for real answers from a career counselor, current students and alumni.
How can Career Services help?
Job preparation starts as early as a student’s first day of class, according to Debbie Kaylor, director of Career Services at Boise State. Kaylor encourages all students to visit Career Services, the earlier the better. Career counselors cater sessions to each student, whether they already have a ten-year plan or are still adjusting to college life.
“Students can expect to be listened to and supported,” Kaylor said. “That’s often the first step. Then, we help them explore majors and career options.”
If a student is unsure of their path, Kaylor often recommends PathwayU, a self-guided online tool that helps students explore career options based on their interests, values and workplace preferences. Students can use PathwayU on their own to find in-depth information about different career paths. However, Kaylor says they’ll get even more out of PathwayU if they meet with a career counselor to help them interpret their results.
Other students may be looking for mentorship from a working professional who’s been in their shoes. BroncoLink, a network of graduates working in every industry worldwide, connects current students with alumni mentors in their chosen field. The network is easy to access — just use a Boise State email to sign up — and has accumulated over 2,000 users in its first three years of existence. As the program continues to build momentum, Kaylor expects significant growth.
For more industry-specific career advising, students need look no further than their own college. Kelby Andrew, a student in Boise State’s Career Track MBA, credits the College of Business and Economics’ career services center with placing her in a dream role at Trailhead, a startup incubator in downtown Boise.
“At the beginning, I wasn’t sure what type of internship I was looking for, so [Laura Chiuppi, director of COBE Career Services] guided me through that,” Andrew said. “Eventually, when I applied for internships, she was able to send my resume directly to recruiters or whoever was hiring. I think that made a really huge difference.”
What kinds of experience and internships do students get?
One third of Boise State students participate in an internship for academic credit, and even more participate in not-for-credit internships. Recent survey results show that around 40% of those participating in internships were offered a job as a result.
After completing her summer internship for Trailhead in 2025, Andrew was immediately offered a part-time role as program manager. She will continue part-time until her graduation from the MBA program in May 2026, when she is set to transition to a full-time job at Trailhead.
“Working at Trailhead is very fulfilling because I’m so invested in helping other people reach their goals,” Andrew said. “In this case, the goal is helping people successfully launch and sustain their businesses. It feels like I’m making a difference in people’s individual lives, which is something I’ve always wanted out of a job.”
It’s not just business students who experience a seamless transition from experiential learning to fulfilling, long-term employment. Take Jordan Ackley (BS applied physics, ’24) who spent his time at Boise State studying materials science in the labs of Josh Eixenberger and Tony Valayil Varghese. Ackley says his research, focusing on nano materials and ink creation, was ideal preparation for his current role. He’s now a quality assurance specialist at Nagase ChemteX, a manufacturing company specializing in high-performance chemicals.
“The work that I’m currently doing is nearly spot on what I was doing in the lab [at Boise State],” Ackley said. “We would test viscosity at the university, and the way that we test it at my work, we literally use the exact same viscometer. The 3D printer we use is the exact same. Honestly [when I started my job], it kind of felt like I went from one side of campus to another.”
How does networking work?
“I always kind of viewed networking as this dirty buzzword,” Kelby Andrew said, “especially before I started the MBA program. But networking could be as simple as having a good relationship with your coworkers. You never know where they’re going to end up, and they might be able to vouch for you.”
From on-campus clubs, to internships, to classmates and professors, Boise State offers a robust community that often connects students to employers.
“‘Make connections with your professors’ was probably the best advice I got at any point throughout my time at Boise State,” said Heather Allan (BS health sciences ’18, MPH ’22).
Allan now works for Central District Health, one of seven public health districts within the state of Idaho, as the Boise Initiative Lead for Communities for Youth. Her role is directly aligned with her passion: keeping kids safe and healthy.
But a little over 10 years ago, Allan had no college degree, and was a single mom working in the mining industry. “The job was a means to an end,” she said. Envisioning a more fulfilling career for herself, Allan decided to pursue her bachelor’s degree after her son graduated from high school.
Boise State put her on track to a leadership role in public health. One key connection was professor Sara Toevs, who pointed Allan to an internship opportunity at Central District Health. The internship led to Allan’s full-time job post-graduation.
“Being able to identify, ‘Hey, I really want to work on how I can impact kids’ lives positively,’ and then now, doing exactly what I set out to do — it was all because of the people that I met and the connections I made through my graduate program,” Allan said.
For students looking for a more formalized networking opportunity, Career Services hosts two university-wide career fairs during the year: the Fall Career and Graduate School Fair and the Spring Career Fair, giving students a chance to chat with employers face-to-face.
Networking, of course, doesn’t stop after graduation. Boise State offers a range of resources and events for graduates. The Alumni Learning Consortium offers free webinars on topics such as leadership, mindfulness and workplace culture. The Tapped Minds lecture series, hosted at Lost Grove Brewing, features talks by industry experts followed by an opportunity to network with fellow alumni.