Concordia’s Career Services is led by a dedicated team committed to helping students achieve their career goals. Mariah Lucas, the Director  of Career Development and Vocation along with Katherine Olea, Assistant Director of Career Development and Nadja Novakovic, a Graduate Assistant at the Career Center play crucial roles in opening doors to opportunities for Concordia students. 

Lucas holds a master’s in science and psychology with an emphasis in life coaching. Driven by a desire to help others she initially pursued a career in marriage therapy. However, life had something else in store for her. Reflecting on her journey Lucas said, “I decided that marriage family therapy wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I wanted to help people and I wanted to focus on practical steps forward and I was interested in academic advising. So, I shifted to career development and working with our undergraduate students and exploring what majors they wanted to do and career outcomes. I really enjoy that part of my job.”

Joining Lucas as her Assistant Director is Olea, who attended Concordia and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Behavioral Studies. Reflecting on her journey to becoming a career service staff member, Olea said, “Life took me to New York City and while I was in New York, I was working at a tech company. During my time there I served as an administrative assistant, I worked in HR and participated in marketing.” 

When her time concluded in New York, Olea came back to Concordia to implement what she had learned in the Career Center. Olea said, “I wanted to come back to California and use what I was able to do in the corporate world and I wanted to bring that back to students and see if I could provide any support.” 

The newest recruit of the career center staff is Novakovic. She graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Novakovic said, “I always wanted to somehow be a positive influence to younger generations and younger students. Currently, I am an assistant coach for the women’s water polo program, where I also found a lot of passion for guiding young ladies and athletes in their life. But, I also realize that I am very passionate about keeping them on a track with academics.” 

The career staff is dedicated to guiding students towards successful futures, and students are encouraged to seek out their advice as they prepare for life after college. Lucas said that, “The Career Center staff are experts in helping you navigate how to figure out your next step after graduation and we encourage students to explore and test potential career paths.”

At Concordia the goal is to not only prepare students for their careers but also direct their pathways to employment. “We want to be able to create these pipelines where employers are consistently coming back to Concordia to hire their early talent so that there are these funnels for our students as they go through the program. Here at Concordia, students are getting an internship and they’re ending up getting hired afterwards,” Lucas said. 

Take the first step toward your future by contacting Career Center staff at cui.edu/studentlife/career-services and secure your place in the professional world. For more information about the Career Center go online or contact Mariah Lucas at mariah.lucas@cui.edu. 

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