Christina DeBerardino didn’t know that a Poole College accepted-students’-day event would lead her to a full-time position in the college’s career services office. Nor did she know that she would be one of her own best examples for students in her M120 professional development and career planning course.

After DeBerardino’s son Nick was accepted at Poole, she and her husband attended a talk by the then-career services director, who noted his plan for a career preparation class. Afterward, she introduced herself and discussed a similar adjunct course she taught at an area university.

The result? She got the director’s business card and an invitation to send her resume. Now she is Poole’s associate director of undergraduate career services.

“All the stars aligned on that one for me,” DeBerardino says. “My accepted-students’-day experience is exactly how I start the M120 networking discussion. Networking pays off. People are very willing to listen to you and help.”   

From Corporate HR to Poole Pack

Since 2019, DeBerardino’s course and career coaching have led to stars aligning for many Poole graduates who find positions they want in their field.

Many alumni tell her, “‘I didn’t realize how valuable the course would be in my career,’” she says. “Some even help colleagues with professional development. They’re teaching the skills to others, which I think is really cool.”

DeBerardino worked in corporate human resources for about 15 years before she moved with her family from her native state of Michigan to Raleigh for a job for her husband, Dave.

The Raleigh area made a higher education career an appealing alternative. “I took it as a sign because there are so many universities here. I saw the opportunity,” she says.

By pursuing that opportunity, DeBerardino has opened up diverse career options for her students.

The Evolution of M120

The M120 course has evolved over the years to include, among other services, career and internship fairs, mock interviews, and class presentations by industry partners — with a waiting list of employers. “It’s very important for students to hear industry representatives talk about the skills they need and learn the industry application of those skills,” DeBerardino says. “And employers love the engagement and getting in front of students.”     

Poole alumni engage with students, too. 

M120 students lead panel discussions in class with graduates in accounting, economics, supply chain, marketing and other business fields. “That peer-to-peer interaction is important. Students see that a graduate did it and feel that they can do it, too,” DeBerardino says. 

“Networking pays off. People are very willing to listen to you and help.”

The M120 course is required for transfer students but an elective for others. How popular is it? One section of 19 students has grown to four sections, each with about 120 students.  

The course, career coaching and other services for Poole’s 3,800 undergraduates are coordinated by DeBerardino and two other staff members. “The amount of success and great outcomes we’ve seen with students with such a small team is pretty amazing,” she says. 

Unwinding, Cooking and Traveling

Even with great outcomes, all jobs can be challenging. DeBerardino often unwinds by returning to her Italian roots — in the kitchen. Cooking is a hobby inspired partly by her grandparents’ Detroit restaurant.    

“When I’m stressed out or looking for something to do in my spare time, I make hearty comfort food, ethnic meals,” DeBerardino says. Italian, Greek, Polish. A family joke is that if she ran a restaurant, she’d call it Christina’s Cozy Café. “I really enjoy keeping traditions alive through cooking,” she says.

Her travels to Italy, where she has relatives, help her keep some traditions alive. She also has visited France, Switzerland, Hawaii and other states.     

The mother of four loves music, too: heavy metal, the 1980s rock she grew up with, country, rap, hip-hop. “If music wasn’t part of life,” she says, “it would be very, very dull.”

Success in Student Success

There’s nothing dull about DeBerardino’s job.

She’s motivated at Poole, and in her personal life, by helping people succeed.  

“I hear all the time from students that they’ve achieved things they didn’t think they could achieve. That’s what’s most rewarding for me at Poole,” says DeBerardino, who received Poole’s 2024 Student Success Award for staff. 

She initially wanted to be a teacher like her mother. With the M120 course, that goal is accomplished. “That’s where I really get excited,” she says, “and where my main passion is.”