The Luxury of Choice

One principle in ice hockey is to always skate to where the puck will be, not where it has been. Mark Green, the new Poole Career Services director — and a passionate sports fan — will use that concept of anticipating and moving forward in shaping the operations of the College of Management’s career services.

A key strategy will be to remain aware of students’ career interests and be nimble to change with trends. The center, which now combines services for undergraduate and graduate students, will be on solid footing with Green as the first director of the restructured unit.

“There are social, political and economic impacts that influence employment trends. With that, you have changing student preferences that continue to evolve,” says Green, who moved to North Carolina from his longtime home in Toronto, Ontario. “We need to adapt to students’ preferences.”

“Our mission is to empower students for a lifetime of success and impact.”

Green’s main areas of focus for his office are career education, employer relations and student engagement. He’ll also leverage advanced technologies, faculty, alumni and professional organizations such as the American Marketing Association. “Our mission is to empower students for a lifetime of success and impact. The word ‘empowerment’ is key,” he says. 

Enhanced empowerment for students will come from various initiatives, including supporting high impact experiences for students, and a well-staffed department of about 20 people.

“There’s been a significant investment in career services staff and resources at Poole to support our students,” Green says.

In the short term, students will experience improved technology tools that use AI and a wider range of employers at campus recruiting events for those who want to consider working outside the Raleigh area after they graduate.

“We want to give as many opportunities to students as we can — the luxury of choice.”

“We want to give as many opportunities to students as we can — the luxury of choice. That means bringing in employers from a wider geography and industry range to give students exposure and ideas about what’s possible outside our region,” Green says.

That also could open up more job options with higher starting salaries and expand the highly respected Poole College brand beyond the region.

Through internships, practicums and other opportunities, Green plans to introduce more high-impact experiences for students with a global dimension rather than strictly local. “That increases their understanding of how business operates on a larger scale, which makes them a more valuable asset to their employers,” he says. 

His own experience in the private sector and academia makes him a more valuable asset to Poole. 

“My whole career has focused around a talent mandate — either recruiting talent, assessing talent, managing corporate talent acquisition teams, or preparing talented students for the future of work,” Green says. 

Before Poole, he led career services for Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Previously, he worked in recruitment and human resources positions, as an executive with a large Canada-based retailer and a consultant in executive search for U.S. and Canadian firms.

The decision to move from private-sector recruitment to public higher education came when, as a consultant, his firm placed a former governor of the Bank of Canada as Rotman School of Management dean.

“The light came on for me,” Green says. “I saw the impact people make with students. Walking the halls at the university, I saw how my work can affect an institution…I found I could actually do what I love but make an impact and not just affect quarterly results of companies. It’s about being more purpose-driven.” 

After living in Toronto for about 20 years with his Canadian wife, Green, a Pennsylvania native, has brought his purpose-driven mindset to North Carolina, where they’ve often vacationed on the coast.

Green also brought his drive for disc golf with him.

As a member of the international Professional Disc Golf Association, he’s been in tournaments and plays regularly. “Sometimes these habits turn into a passion. It’s being out for a walk, a physical challenge, spending time with friends — all the things you enjoy about the peace and solace of golf, but it’s more accessible,” he says.  

Growing up, Green played basketball and baseball and later intercollegiate volleyball. Now he watches college and professional sports and plays tennis. His son, a high school senior in Pennsylvania, is an aspiring college football player.  

Outside of his son’s — and his own — athletic ambitions, nurturing students’ aspirations as they grow into their potential is the most rewarding part of Green’s career services work.

“You get to see the fruits of your labor. One of my favorite things is commencement, talking to students about their careers and where they’re going, and seeing their bright futures ahead of them,” he says. “I want our work to have an impact, and I always want to leave things better than I found them.”