Roger Gfrörer has led the Career Services at the University of Zurich since its foundation in 2008. In 2024, he also assumed responsibility as the head of the newly established Study Orientation Center, overseeing the entire student journey at the University of Zurich. 

Holding a PhD in Human Resource Management, Roger began his professional career at the University of Zurich’s HR department after completing his doctoral studies. Before that, he spent five years as a senior assistant at the Chair of HRM. During the 1990s, alongside his academic pursuits, he gained diverse practical experience — including five years at Tamedia and four years at IBM Switzerland.

A founding member of several regional Career Services networks, Roger is also actively engaged with numerous global organizations. Since 2025, he serves as Chairman of the Career Services Network Switzerland. As a another highlight, he was part of the program committee for the Global Career Services Summit 2025 in Belfast. 

Roger brings deep expertise in the Swiss education system. He regularly lectures on HRM and career development at various educational levels — from Bachelor and Master to PhD and Postdoc — across universities, universities of applied sciences, and colleges of professional education with a focus on vocational training. And yes — perhaps most importantly: he has also been a ski instructor.

As our final interviewee this season, we were delighted to collect these ten interviews and finally include the Swiss perspective ! A big THANK YOU to our international partners who made this possible and through whom we were able to gain global insights into the work of Career Services!

Ursula Axmann has been working at WU ZBP Career Center (WU, Vienna University of Business and Economics, Austria) for 25 years. We are delighted that she took part in this podcast series and that we were able to win her as another interview partner. The career service at WU Vienna is a rare example of a career center that is self-financed by employer partnerships and career events, serving a population of 22,000 students, with a staff of 20 people.

Previous to her current position as a managing director, Ursula worked in career guidance, coaching, and recruitment. Since 2009, Ursula has been president of Career Services Austria, the Austrian-wide umbrella organization of university career centers. Furthermore, she is actively involved in international career service networks. In addition to her work in careers, Ursula teaches as a lecturer at WU Vienna. Listen to this episode and learn from her expertise and advice!

Jim Lowe serves as Associate Vice Provost for the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills for the University of Connecticut. Prior to this appointment, Lowe served as Assistant Dean of UConn’s School of Business, overseeing Career Services, Veteran Affairs, Diversity Initiatives, Marketing/ Communications, and External Relations Departments. 

Before joining UConn, Lowe spent 10 years with Lee Hecht Harrison, a global human capital solutions firm, as a Senior Vice President primarily in their Manhattan, New York offices, overseeing all operational, financial, HR and marketing/sales functions at the firm’s international headquarters office. He chairs the U21 Employability Group and sits on the Student Experience Steering Group. We are delighted to welcome him as another interview partner in this podcast series and hope our listeners enjoy listening to his experiences and insights.

Francesca Saracino, our interview partner in this episode, has been Head of the Career Service at Politecnico di Milano for over 10 years, serving a population of 48,000 students with 24 people in staff. The Career Service at Politecnico is a rare example of a 100% self-financed career center by employer partnerships and career fairs. Being a native American-Italian bilingual and having obtained a Masters in Cultural Mediation, she sees how students, professors and employers need help in understanding each other because they speak different cultures and languages. Other projects she has managed include the launch of the first Diversity & Inclusion Program and the setup of a new strategy for the management of university rankings at her institution. She has been member of the program committee for two editions of the Global Career Services Summit.

Today's guest speaker: Shelagh Green - the Director of  Careers and Employability at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. 

As Director for Career & Employability she leads careers and employability across the University, supporting the three key stakeholder groups - students, employers, and University colleagues. Taking a holistic approach to supporting student development and student success, she also has responsibility for student induction and orientation. Shelagh has worked in the HR careers sector for over 20 years, and prior to that in outplacement and financial services with a brief stint living abroad. She is an economics graduate from the University of Aberdeen, and loves that her work allows her to engage with both education and the wider economy.

We were delighted to have the opportunity to speak to Shelagh and also to hear her views on the current state of higher education in her country and what she thinks will shape the future of the work of careers services. 

Listen to the insights Marie-Elise gives us in thie episode as she talks about the current state of higher education and career services´ work in Amsterdam.

Marie-Elise is an experienced career development professional with 15+ years of experience guiding students and early-career professionals in finding their path in the world of work. 

With a background in organizational psychology and a strong foundation in HR, recruitment, training, coaching, and project management, she brings both strategic insight and hands-on expertise. At the University of Amsterdam, she has led the development of innovative career services and programs that connect academic learning with real-world career success. As a driving force behind the professionalization of the UvA Student Career Centre, Marie-Elise continues to explore new ways to empower students and strengthen university-to-work transitions.

We were lucky enough to have another interview with Dr. Alan McAlpine, Deputy Director of Student Success at Curtin University in Australia and President of the National Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (NAGCAS).

You wonder who Alan McAlpine is? 

Alan is a tragic 70’s music rock lover, he enjoys playing his guitar (badly) and sings in a (non performing) band – The Geriatrics. As much as he would like, that doesn’t pay the bills. He is the Deputy Director of Student Success at Curtin University having been there since 2021. His portfolio comprises Careers and Employability and a Social Impact Hub. Alan has over 20 years’ experience in the career development field and has been involved nationally and internationally for many years through his involvement in NAGCAS (National Association of Graduate Career Advisory Services), where he is currently National President. Alan's extensive experience includes past roles such as Associate Director, Student Success at QUT and Careers and Employment Manager for over a decade. He serves on the Career Industry Council of Australia (CICA) executive and chairs the board of Graduate Careers Australia. 

Listen to the insights of Dr. Andreas Eimer, our interview partner in this episode. 

After completing his studies in English, German and Sociology at the University of Münster and a subsequent training as a newspaper editor, Andreas Eimer initially worked for several years in journalism and public relations. From these positions he moved to the University of Münster, where he has been Head of Careers Service since 1998. While working, he studied Career Management and Counselling/Organizational Psychology at the University of London, graduating with an M.Sc. in 2009. 

In 2023, he received his doctorate from the University of Hamburg with a thesis on the relationship between university teaching and professional application.

In addition, he completed several years of further training in counselling methods and psychotherapy. Since 2015, he has been advising universities and Higher Education ministries in North Africa, Jordan, Malaysia and Vietnam on employability on behalf of the German Ministry of Higher Education (BMBF) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). In his function as Head of Careers Service, Andreas Eimer is active in teaching, student counselling and strategic development. 

Sue Harbour, today's interview partner, is the Associate Dean & Executive Director of Berkeley Career Engagement (BCE) at the University of California, Berkeley. 

Sue has spent 29 years in higher education and specifically Career Services. At UC Berkeley she has overseen the rebranding of a well established career office and created a culture of access and equity for students and a culture of growth and development for staff. 

Prior to arriving at UC Berkeley in 2018, Sue spent 12 years in Career Services at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where she was the Senior Associate Director and managed the day to day operations of a team of 25 to build career development programs that were innovative, industry-driven, and responsive to both the needs of students and the marketplace. While at UNC, she led an initiative to develop a comprehensive model of professional development for the 400+ full-time staff members within Student Affairs and overhauled the new staff orientation and onboarding process and created a structured mentoring program for Student Affairs. Sue began her career in higher education at UC Riverside where she spent 10 years in a variety of career services roles in the Career Center.

Sue has presented at numerous conferences including: NACE, SOACE, GCSS, NCACE, NCCA and NCDA. She has sat on the Executive Board of NCACE and served as the President of NCCDA during the 2012-2013 year. She has won numerous awards from NACE for innovative practices in Career Services both at UNC and most recently with UC Berkeley for Excellence in Technology for utilizing google tools to create a KPI dashboard to visualize trends in BCE programs and appointment data.

Tony Botelho, our guest speaker today, is the Managing Director of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Career Centre and has served in leadership roles in post-secondary career development and co-operative education for close to 25 years. The teams he has led have been recognized in Canada for innovation and service excellence and Tony has received multiple awards for leadership in the Canadian career development space. Of particular pride, his second grade teacher once said he was a pleasure to have in the class.