Jessica Doner was working in the Career and Professional Development Office at Texas A&M University-Central Texas, talking with a female student about the process of presenting herself to prospective employers, in particular how to introduce herself. The student, at one point in tears, was struggling with the idea of talking about herself to others. Doner said she reassured the student and by the end of the conversation she was all smiles, and much more confident in herself.
“That was my a-ha moment, when I knew this is what I wanted to do,” said Doner, who is beginning her fourth year as director of Alfred University’s Career Development Center.
Doner’s path to the higher education career services profession has been anything but traditional, much like her educational journey. A first-generation college student, Doner’s own educational and professional journey did not follow a traditional path. She began her undergraduate education at the University of Phoenix, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in information technology with a concentration in Multimedia and Visual Communication in 2013. At the time, a career in higher education—much less career development—was not yet part of the plan.
As her life and career evolved, so did her sense of where she wanted to make an impact. Doner later married her husband, Adam, and the couple moved to Texas while he was serving in the military. It was there that her professional path would begin to shift toward higher education and, eventually, the work she now describes as her purpose.
Doner began working at Texas A&M University-Central Texas (TAMUCT), located in Killeen, TX, that spring as an administrative assistant in the Office of Student Affairs. About seven months later, an opportunity became available in the Career and Professional Development Office, and Doner was appointed senior associate and program specialist. In that role, she administered the Handshake job portal, connecting students with employers, employment and networking opportunities, and events; and managed the office’s social media networks.
Two years later, Doner was appointed coordinator, Career and Professional Development, and in the fall of 2022 was named assistant director, Career and Professional Development. It was during her tenure at TAMUCT that Doner earned a master’s degree in education with an emphasis in higher education administration, and when she began getting involved with NACE, the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
NACE is a professional association that brings together college career services professionals, employers, and others working at the intersection of higher education and the workforce. Doner said as her career advanced, so did her involvement with the organization— from engaging with colleagues and learning from national research and best practices to taking on leadership roles that allow her to contribute to conversations shaping the career development profession while strengthening her ability to serve students and prepare them for life after graduation.
Jessica Doner, director of the Career Development Center at Alfred University, at the 2026 National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Conference, held in June in Denver. Doner is active in leadership roles with NACE, including serving as co-lead of NACE’s Liberal Arts Colleges and Majors affinity group.
“The biggest benefits (from being involved in NACE) has been having the opportunity to engage with other career services professionals nationally, talking about trends and best practices,” Doner said. “The people there are driven by the same passion to help students post-graduation.”
In 2023, Doner and her family moved to Alfred, and she began serving as director of the Career Development Center. She has continued to be deeply involved with NACE. The organization is made up of several specialized “affinity groups,” which bring together members around shared areas of interest within higher education and career development. Doner was appointed in fall 2025 to a three-year term as co-lead of NACE’s Liberal Arts Colleges and Majors affinity group.
“Our group brings together employers and career services professionals from either a liberal arts-focused college or one that offers majors in the liberal arts,” said Doner, who noted that both members of her team at the Career Development Center—Hannah Miles, assistant director, and Emily Cronin, employee relations coordinator—are also members of NACE.
As co-lead, Doner helps guide the group’s programming and conversations, bringing professionals together from across the country to share practices and explore issues affecting liberal arts students.
“There is so much value in bringing together people who are asking the same questions and doing the work in different ways,” Doner said. “For liberal arts students especially, a big part of our work is helping them recognize the skills they’re already developing through their curricular and co-curricular experiences, and then helping them learn how to talk about those skills and the value they bring.”
Later this month, Doner begins her tenure serving on NACE’s Skills Based Hiring Task Force. The group is charged with advancing the association’s leadership in skills-based hiring, including AI skills, by clarifying how employers define, assess, and validate skills in early talent recruitment, and by identifying how higher education supports skill development and articulation through curricular and experiential learning. The task force’s work will strengthen alignment between education and workforce practice and reinforce NACE’s role as a bridge between employers and higher education.
For Doner, the appointment connects her day-to-day work with Alfred students to broader questions facing higher education and employers nationally.
“There is an important conversation happening right now about skills—what employers are looking for, how students are developing those skills, and whether they know how to talk about what they can do,” Doner said. “Students are developing so many skills through their classes, jobs, internships, and other experiential learning opportunities. Our job is to help them recognize those skills and understand how to communicate their value. I love that I get to be part of that conversation nationally and bring what I’m learning back to the work we’re doing with students at Alfred.”
That work also intersects with Doner’s scholarship. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education degree in educational leadership, with an emphasis in higher education administration and leadership, from Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
Her doctoral dissertation, “Employer-Defined Skill Language and Early-Career Access in Technology-Mediated Hiring,” examines how employers articulate skill expectations in early-career job postings.
The alignment between her research, national professional leadership, and work at Alfred reflects what Doner sees as a common goal: helping students understand the value of their education and communicate that value as they prepare for life after graduation.
Six years after her “a-ha moment” at Texas A&M Central Texas, Doner is settled into a career that brings her joy with every student served by the Career Development Center.
What does she find most rewarding in her role at Alfred? “I would say it’s when students start to realize all they are doing at Alfred is preparing them for life post-graduation,” Doner said. “Just seeing their confidence grow…If I could bottle that feeling and sell it, I’d be a very rich woman.”
