Employee of the Year recipient finds joy in helping students find their niches

February 25, 2009
By Valorie Broderick
Contributing Writer

Tammy Craig, Director of the Career Development Center, was named Employee of the Year for 2008 in a ceremony held last month.

Every January, the Employees of the Month of the previous year are invited to attend the ceremony to hear which of them was chosen as Employee of the Year.

Winning was not something Craig anticipated.

“It was a shock,” she said. “The people that were sitting at the table with me knew that it was a shock as well,” she chuckled. So oblivious was she that her admirable reputation would lead to this red-letter day, she did not even invite her family to attend the ceremony.

But those who know her know exactly why she won the award. Jamie Voyle, Chair of the Employee of the Month Committee, said, “She has worked diligently to expand the kind of careers that come to campus so as to provide opportunities for our students. She’s developed, I think, very good working relationships with many corporations and businesses out there and that’s what it takes.”

Craig may be all about work, but she is no wet blanket. She is in charge of developing creative programs to help students figure out how to launch into their careers. She has done spin-offs of reality TV shows for students to participate in, and even brought in an entrepreneurship group widely acclaimed enough to have been on the Today Show. “We try to do fun events,” she said.

As someone who has already been through the maze of finding out her own niche in the world, she does everything she can to help students.
“A lot of times, students don’t realize that we do more than just helping them find a job,” she said.

She also helps students decide on a major or focus their interests.

“A lot of times people may know what they want to major in but they really don’t know how that connects with their career path and so we have all different types of resources to help do that. And once we can help the students connect, students become a lot more motivated… we have them look at it in kind of a different light.”

Craig said the most meaningful part of her job is helping the students. “Watching those ‘ah ha!’ moments when you finally see them connect with what it is they want to do…hearing all those success stories once they go out and come back and tell us all about it.”

As someone who has worked in the mental health profession she has had her share of rewarding jobs, but nothing is quite the same as this one. “You don’t [always] see the immediate gratification that you do with career counseling. So, it’s got a different flavor to it.”

Craig grew up in Washington, Indiana. She enjoys spending free time with her daughters and traveling, although she has been so busy helping students she has not had much time for the latter. Growing up, she wanted to be an elementary school teacher, but she went on to earn a graduate degree in Human Development Counseling. She has worked at UIS for nine years.