Exciting news for students across the EELISA Alliance: the EELISA Student Career Ambassador Programme (EE-CAP) is now launching. This innovative initiative offers students the chance to become EELISA Ambassadors, gaining hands-on experience and developing essential career skills. Beyond personal growth, participants will help build vibrant networks connecting students, alumni, employers, and partner institutions, creating opportunities that bridge academia and the professional world.
To find out more, we asked Dr. Nihan Yıldırım, EE-CAP Coordinator, and Dr. Idil Vedia Evcimen, member of the EELISA Internships and Employabililty workgroup, about the initiative’s goals, key details, and the participant selection process that is now getting underway.
Q1. Can you briefly explain the EE-CAP programme, who it is aimed at, and which groups are expected to be most actively involved?
A: The EELISA Career Ambassador Programmeis designed to accompany students in their transition to the labour market. It provides training, mentoring, and peer-to-peer guidance to help students build career readiness, leadership, and intercultural skills. The programme is primarily aimed at undergraduate students in the 2nd, 3rd year and first semester of 4th degree who are motivated to develop their careers and support their peers.
The most actively involved groups are the student ambassadors themselves, their peers who benefit from peer advising and support, also from the events that will be organized by ambassadors, as well as career centres, alumni, and employer partners from the industry, across the EELISA alliance.
Q2. Can you briefly explain the EE-CAP programme, who it is aimed at, and which groups are expected to be most actively involved?
A. Career Ambassadors act as peer leaders and as liaisons. They provide one-on-one and group career support, organize events and workshops, and actively promote opportunities from career centres, employers, and alumni.
They also represent the student voice, bringing feedback into programme design. They will be following up the skill demands from the industry as well. By collaborating across EELISA campuses, they strengthen engagement and create a transnational student career community to support their peer student community for their career preparedness and development.
Q3. How does the EE-CAP programme create value for the different groups involved, from Career Ambassadors and their peers to partner institutions, alumni, and professional partners?
A. The programme creates shared value for all parties involved. Career Ambassadors get the chance to grow as leaders, gain visibility, and build their professional skills. Their peers benefit from relatable, down-to-earth guidance on jobs, internships, and career choices.
EELISA Universities can expand the reach of their career services and keep students more engaged, while alumni and employers get to meet motivated talent and collaborate on new career initiatives. It’s a collaborative system where every group both contributes and benefits.
Q4. Could you walk us through the student selection process, from application to becoming a Career Ambassador?
A.The process begins with a call for applications circulated across all partner universities. Students submit a CV and fill an application form. Each EELISA partner university assigned a Career Ambassador Program Coordinator in their institutions. These coordinators screen the applications, and selected eligible candidates are invited to join the program which also considers diversity and inclusion criteria.
We will give an orientation and Soft Skills training in this program to the on-boarded ambassador candidates. Successful applicants complete training and orientation sessions covering career services, ambassador roles, and intercultural skills. After completing training, they officially become Career Ambassadors and begin their peer support and event activities.
Q5. How does the programme connect with EELISA’s broader mission and offerings, and how does it enhance the student experience across the Alliance?
A. The programme directly supports EELISA’s mission of creating a European learning ecosystem that combines academic excellence with societal and labour-market impact. It enhances the student experience by embedding employability and mobility opportunities into campus life, linking students with alumni and industry, and strengthening the sense of belonging to a European university.
It also transforms students into active contributors, not just recipients, of career services, reinforcing the Alliance’s vision of co-creation and inclusivity. Each ambassador will receive a certificate for their participation in the programme, and also will have opportunities in EELISA student mobility activities as well as recognition from the industrial partners of EELISA network.
Dr. Nihan Yıldırım
She is an Associate Professor in Management Engineering at Istanbul Technical University. Her research focuses on technology and innovation management, MIS, project management, social and sustainable innovation, entrepreneurship, and business data analytics. She also serves as ITU’s ABET Programme Coordinator, social impact analyst, and entrepreneurship mentor, and is part of the EELISA Voices Network.
Dr. İdil Vedia Evcimen
She is a Senior Lecturer at Istanbul Technical University, Department of Management Engineering. Her research focuses on leadership, organizational behaviour, human resource management, and cross-cultural management. She has published in international journals and conferences and contributes to global collaborations such as the GLOBE leadership project.