BONUS: Answer a Question + Leave a Question (Live from NACE 2026)

Hey everyone! Welcome back to the Career Everywhere Podcast. I’m your host, Meredith Metsker. And today, I’m excited to share our second bonus episode from my live mini-interviews at the NACE conference last month.

For this episode, I recreated the “Ask a Question, Leave a Question” segment I always use to close out our regular episodes. So each guest answered a question the previous guest left them, and then left a question for the next guest. There were no rules. Questions could be silly, serious, or anything in between, and they could be related to career services and higher ed, or not. We had a great mix of fun, thoughtful questions, and I compiled them all into this bonus episode so you can hear them, too.

To kick things off, I asked our first guest, John Nykolaiszyn from the Florida International University College of Business: If you could wave a magic wand and change something about career services right now, what would it be?

Hope you enjoy this bonus episode!

John Nykolaiszyn, Florida International University

So my name is John Nykolaiszyn. I’m the Director of the Office of Business Career Management at Florida International University. If I could wave a magic wand and change one thing about career services, I would allow resume uploads to automatically populate text boxes, no matter the platform. Platform agnostic.

Noah Kraulidis, National Louis University

My name is Noah Kraulidis. I’m an Employer Relations Manager for National Louis University based in Chicago, Illinois. Who or what inspires me? I love that question. I would say in terms of my work now, I think the aspect of just mentorship. And I don’t think mentorship needs to be like an official, hey, can you be my mentor? I just think the thing that inspires me is thinking of all the people that invested in me early on, spent time with me to talk about career stuff, how I can improve as a professional, as a person, and breathed life into me when they didn’t have to. And that’s something that motivates me and provides a lot of passion that I can do to students when it comes to careers. When they come to us, they don’t know what to do, and when we take time to sit and listen to them, we’re able to mentor and invest in people, the youth, and the next generation of the workforce.

That’s the stuff that comes gets me riled up and inspires me. So I think whenever people are willing to lend that ear, and I try and do that and live that as much as I can.

The question I wanna leave for the next person is one that I would love to hear the answer to:
What’s the hardest interview question you’ve had, and how did you answer it?

Tiffany Lee, Purdue University Global

I’m Tiffany Lee from Purdue University Global, nd the hardest interview question I’ve ever been asked was, if you were a door, what part of the door would you be? My answer was the hinges.

The hinges are the stability of the door. They allow the door to open and close. And as a career professional, helping support people with access is one of my number one priorities. And as a hinge, you can provide that access, that stability, just that safety overall.

The question I would leave for the next guest is, if you were to provide one piece of career advice that has the biggest impact, what would that advice be, and what’s the impact that you’re hoping it would leave?

Mandy Thomas, Purdue University Global

Mandy Thomas, Purdue University Global. If I were to give a student one piece of advice, do not completely rely on AI because AI removes the humanistic aspects of everything. And so in order for your personality to shine, you can’t do that through AI.

The question I wanna leave for the next guest is, how would you increase engagement with adult learners in an online environment, ages thirty five and above?

Ben Weihrauch, University of Colorado Boulder

I’m Dr. Ben Weihrauch, Senior Director of the Engineering Career Hub at CU Boulder. And the way that I would increase adult learner engagement in career services is to help adult learners really leverage their previous experience in an online portfolio sort of way.

So making sure that adult learners can clearly articulate skills and experiences that they’ve had from previous jobs or previous career paths and translate that in an online portfolio or a LinkedIn account, so they can be more successful in their job search.

And the question I’ll leave for the next person is, what was your dream job when you were ten years old?

Tamara Menghi, Curry College

I’m Tamara Menghi from Curry College, and my dream job when I ten… I was huge into the show Fame. I know I dreamt about being a dancer, and I did take dance classes, so that was probably in my dreams every night about being a Fame cast member.

The question I’d ask the next person is, what was one of the first jobs you had in high school, maybe even college, that you really just did not enjoy? What did you learn from it?

David Adams, University of Florida Warrington College of Business

My name is David Adams with the University of Florida Warrington College of Business. And a job that I had in high school that I really did not enjoy, was my first job ever, was detasseling. I’m from Indiana originally, and so that involves going through cornfields at the crack of dawn and plucking the tassels out of it, which is bit in the heart of the corns they don’t want to continue growing and you get corn rash and you’re wet and hot. And with other high school students, it is not always the most fun thing, so it was a lot. And then from that, I learned to be adaptable and solutions oriented.

So the first couple of days of doing it, I didn’t have any, like, protective gear or anything. So I was just getting soaked and cut up by the corn leaves and everything. By probably day three or four of doing it, I had my solution of trash bags, which I cut arm and leg holes in and wore my ridiculous looking trash suit outfit, but that was much better for not getting so wet and cut up by the corn leaves.

The question I wanna leave for the next person is, if money was no obligation and your job was no obligation and if you go live in another country for a full year, where would you choose to live and why?

Larry Jackson, UC Berkeley

Hi, everyone. My name is Larry Jackson, my pronouns are he/him/his, and I’m the Senior Associate Director for Career Education at Berkeley Career Engagement at UC Berkeley. The question I got was, “If you could live anywhere for a year and money was no object, where would you live?” I would choose Belfast. Belfast is wonderful — so hospitable, so clean, and the people are just so lively and really have a zest for life. It’d be amazing.

The question that I’ll leave for the next person is, if you could have one free truck stop snack for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Paul Casey, Kean University

Hello, I’m Paul Casey. If I could have one truck stop snack for the rest of my life, it would be Twizzlers, because it brings back great memories of riding in the car when I was a kid. My parents always used to hand them out to us to keep us quiet on long car rides.

And the question that I wanna leave for the next person has to do with what’s on the front of my mind today, and that’s the NBA playoffs. And I just want you to tell me that the Knicks are gonna win, and we’re gonna take it home.

Ryan Palm, Mercyhurst University

My name is Ryan Palm from Mercyhurst University. The question I got was whether the Knicks are going to win the Finals. Well, I’ve got bad news. I’m a hockey fan, not a basketball fan. I couldn’t even tell you what the Knicks series is, but I can tell you the Stanley Cup finals is now two-two, which is very exciting in my book because that means they’ll hopefully go to game seven, which in my opinion, game seven of the Stanley Cup finals, one of the greatest things in all of sports.

And the question I will leave for the next person is, how do you help support students who maybe think different, who are in the population of students with disabilities or maybe are nontraditional students? How do we help support that group of students knowing that they may face some some obstacles in their career experience?

Matthew Warren, Wayne State University

Hi, my name is Matthew Warren, Wayne State University, Employer Engagement Manager for Main Campus Career Services. I support neurodiverse, nontraditional students through specialized career resources and programs on campus. So that population, definitely, it’s okay to give them a little bit more attention, to make them feel seen and heard in the career space. They may feel uncomfortable at a traditional career fair. They may feel uncomfortable in the job search process. So really mapping out how do you disclose your disability as a positive versus a negative in the workplace.

They may have an employer as a supervisor that’s neurodiverse. They may have no idea until they bring it up in conversation. So really coaching on those hard conversations and letting them know that it’s okay, that your disability, your difference is actually a strong attribute to have in the workplace.

For nontraditional students, really providing hands on learning opportunities, so an introduction to career one on one. At my university, we have a first-year career-learning class that any student can take, whether they’re a freshman or a transfer student or they’re a nontraditional adult.

And the question I would like to leave for the next person is, what would be the best way to support students in unpaid internship opportunities through a university setting? Should there be endowments set up? Should there be departments and scholarships? Really, how do we cover the gap and the cost for helping those students get those opportunities?

Karen Wong, St. Catherine University

My name is Karen Wong. I’m the Director of Career Development at St. Catherine University based in St. Paul, Minnesota. And how we can support students who are getting unpaid internships is to help provide some institutional funding, something like scholarships or stipends to be able to cover some of the costs that they may be incurring from taking those opportunities so that they can still have a really great chance to learn all the skills and develop themselves during those internships without having to worry about the cost of it.

And the question I want to leave for the next person is, who was your first mentor?

Sierra Whipple-Padgen, University of Washington Foster School of Business

My name is Sierra Whipple-Padgen, and I’m a Senior Career Coach at the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington in Seattle. And my first mentor was in high school. Cody Valdez was one of the drafting teachers. He was involved everywhere.

He was in the wrestling department. He was in the yearbook committee. He helped with student government. And I’m a first-generation student, so when I showed up, I was just really excited to learn.

And he was someone who guided me through every application process. He showed up with scholarship opportunities for me. He made sure that I always belonged in every room, especially within drafting because I was the only female in the class of forty.

And he just made sure that I knew what was happening, but also made sure that my voice was amplified in every opportunity. And if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be a career coach today.

The question I want to leave for the next person is, if you could have your career anywhere in the world, what would you be doing and where would it be?

Kaidy Smith, Kansas State University

Kaidy Smith with Kansas State University. And if I could be doing my career anywhere in the world, what would I be doing and where? I would be doing the same thing, so employer relations in higher ed, preferably in Ireland or New Zealand. So if anyone’s hiring, hit me up.

And the question I’ll leave is, soccer or football?

Emily Sheltry, Clarkson University

My name is Emily Sheltry from Clarkson University, and the question that was left for me was soccer or football. My husband would be very upset if I did not say football. He’s a huge Buffalo Bills fan, so go Bills! I met someone from the University of Wyoming yesterday who said she didn’t know him but knew of him — that’s gotta be a cool connection.

The question I have for the next person is, what has been the best thing you’ve eaten in Denver so far?

Nancy Inkertsiah, Roosevelt University

Hello! My name is Nancy Inkertsiah. I’m from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. The best food I’ve had in Denver so far is the Cobb salad — it’s amazing. I went to Yard House for that.

The question I wanna leave for the next person is, if you were to go back in time, what would be your dream job?

Lindsay Arbach, North Dakota State University

I’m Lindsay Arbach with North Dakota State University. If I were able to go back in time, my dream job would still be something in connecting and talking to people, because that’s what I really love most about what I do, is getting to know people and learn their stories.

The question that I want to leave for the next person is: What was your very first job, and what did it teach you?

Gerald Tang, Bridgewater State University

I’m Gerald Tang from Bridgewater State University in Southeastern Massachusetts. My first job was working in a bubble tea shop and learning from being, you know, a delivery person all the way to figuring out how to put together a bubble tea or tea set together based on whatever specific item that the customer wants.

I think that experience has taught me unique customer service experience and knowing how to provide the best experience for the individual sitting standing in front of me and following the quality control that the company also has to do because you want a very specific order. You want to deliver that for the person in front of you.

The question I want to leave for the next person is, as a life designer, we always say there’s a term called Odyssey Plan. So you think about what are three different lives that you will have an opportunity to design, what would they be? So I would love to see what the next person’s will be.

If you had unlimited resource and access, what would be a really interesting career that you would like to have at this time?

Adam Capozzi, Syracuse University

Adam Capozzi, Syracuse University, Director of Career Services Assessment and Student Success. Interesting question, in terms of if I had unlimited resources and if I could choose a path forward, I would actually take the Career Everywhere model from an on-campus experience to an off-campus experience. And actually bring career on the road to major markets across the United States, where not just Syracuse University, but other institutions, can pilot programming, workshops, networking events, and on-premise experience with employers in real time.

The question I’ll leave for the next person, similar to what I just heard: If you had unlimited resources, what would you do from a staffing standpoint within your department to make sure that you got across everything you want to to this new wave of students?

Steve Simpson, University of Buffalo

Hi, Steve Simpson from the University of Buffalo. I serve as Director for the Career Design Center. I appreciate Adam’s question about if I had unlimited resources, what would I do from a staffing standpoint?

Reflecting on that, I guess, thinking in a Career Everywhere context, I really wouldn’t utilize it to build out direct staff right in the center. But really towards incentivizing and supporting the work, especially with faculty across the university through fellowship and grants or opportunities to help recognize and reward that work and their connections and collaboration with the career center and our resources.

Question I’d like to leave for the next person… So I am from the University of Buffalo, and so I have a very Buffalo-oriented question, and it has to do with a very serious topic in Buffalo, which is chicken wings. So for those who may enjoy chicken wings either regularly or from time to time or even just conceptually, do you prefer the drum or the flats when it comes to a chicken wing?

Arthur Lumzy Jr., East Texas A&M University

Hello, my name is Dr. Arthur Lumzy Jr. I serve as Executive Director of Student Career Preparedness. The question left for me was do you prefer drums or flats? I’m gonna go with flats, but I like drums and I love chicken wings.

The question that I’m gonna leave is, what was the biggest takeaway that you had from the NACE conference this past year?

Erica Kryst, Cornell University

Hi, I’m Erica Kryst from Cornell University. My biggest takeaway from NACE this year has really been the people and the passion that live within this organization, both from the employers and career professionals. It’s just how motivated we all are to support students and early career professionals to be successful. And you see all these folks, you know, finding sessions and engaging here in the expo hall, and we’re all doing this because we’re driven to support students.

And the question I want to leave for the next person is, speaking of our AI keynote yesterday, what is the fun way that you’re using AI in your personal life? Are you planning trips with it, or what ways are you using it that might be fun to share with others?