Patricia Rusin Builds Career Connections For Hammond Students

For some students, knowing what they want to do after high school begins with a career they have already seen or heard about. For others, it begins with learning about career opportunities they may never have considered.

Patty Rusin is working to create more of those discoveries at The Crossing's Hammond Campus.

As a Career Pathway Instructor and Assistant Site Leader, Rusin has been reaching out to local businesses, industry leaders, colleges, apprenticeship programs, and workforce organizations to bring students closer to the world of work.

Her goal is practical: expose students to more possibilities, help them understand how those possibilities connect with the workforce, and prepare them to pursue opportunities when they appear.

Turning Career Exploration Into Real Conversations

Career exploration can be difficult when students have limited exposure to different industries. Rusin is addressing that challenge by bringing professionals into the school and creating opportunities for students to hear directly from employers.

One example is Zarach Logistics, which spoke with students about career paths available within the logistics industry.

The conversation connects with The Crossing's existing curriculum. The school's 2026 to 2027 handbook identifies Supply Chain Management as a Career Pathway and explains that Career Pathway courses incorporate practical experience and instruction through Work-Based Learning.

For students studying supply chain management and logistics, hearing directly from an employer can create a connection between classroom instruction and the occupations that exist within the industry.

Rusin has created similar opportunities with other local employers. Powers Health, Buona Beef, and Gora Plumbing are also partnering with her to introduce students to career possibilities within their respective industries.

Her ability to develop those relationships comes from years of working at the intersection of education and employment.

As Talent Connection Manager at Ivy Tech Community College's Lake County Campus, Rusin partnered with faculty members and local businesses to develop work and learn opportunities for students. She also spearheaded the first Tool & Torch employer engagement initiative for the college's Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering and Applied Science School.

That initiative connected students with regional industry employers including BP, Linde Gas & Equipment, American Bridge/ISC, Hammond Machine Works, Sterling Solutions, and Finkl Steel.

Now, Rusin is applying that employer engagement experience to younger students who may still be discovering which industries interest them.

Connecting Classroom Learning With The Workforce

Rusin has also incorporated practical activities into career exploration.

Students recently participated in a bridge building simulation while learning how infrastructure affects supply chain logistics. The activity helps prepare them for a visit involving ISC Bridge, where students can learn about career training and opportunities connected with the field.

The sequence gives students several ways to understand the same career concept: classroom instruction, practical experience, and direct exposure to professionals.

That approach reflects Rusin's broader philosophy about workforce readiness. Career preparation is most useful when students can see how skills, education, employers, and actual occupations connect.

At The Crossing, she also oversees the School Based Enterprise Facilities and Hospitality Team, providing structured work-based curriculum and practical learning. As a Principles of Business instructor, she has helped students apply business concepts outside traditional coursework. Her class developed a project plan for a community event planned for spring 2027, with the students' proposal selected as the winning plan.

Rusin has also sourced experiential learning opportunities that connect students with organizations including Haven House, Phil's Friends, and veteran organizations.

Together, these experiences allow students to practice responsibility, communication, planning, and problem solving while seeing how those skills translate beyond school.

A Workforce Development Career Built Around Connections

Rusin's current work represents the latest chapter of a career centered on connecting people with opportunities.

Before joining The Crossing, she worked with adult learners as a Career Path Advisor and Adult Basic Education Teaching Assistant at CWI Corp. During the 2023 to 2024 program year, she facilitated a 75% HSE graduation rate, representing a reported 181% improvement over the previous year's graduation rate.

She also mentored graduates who earned the top two places in an IAACE statewide essay competition involving more than 50 entries. The winners were invited to read their essays during Indiana's Adult Education Day at the Indiana Statehouse.

In that role, Rusin also developed business relationships, sourced employment opportunities, encouraged employers to support workers pursuing their HSE diplomas, and provided career exploration based on students' interests, employment histories, transferable skills, and goals.

Those experiences strengthened an approach she continues to use today: career development works best when education and employer needs are connected rather than treated as separate systems.

Recognized as Best Career Coach in Indiana of 2026

Patricia Rusin has been recognized by Best of Best Review as the Best Career Coach in Indiana of 2026, honoring her more than two decades of experience across career coaching, human resources, adult education, higher education, employer engagement, and workforce development.

The recognition reflects her practical approach to career readiness, including connecting students with employers, expanding work-based learning opportunities, supporting career exploration, and helping learners develop the skills and experience needed to pursue meaningful employment.

Introducing Students To Workforce Resources

At The Crossing, Rusin's outreach extends beyond individual employers.

Express Employment of Schererville has spoken with students about the companies it works with to source local talent, helping students understand another part of the connection between prospective employees and businesses.

WorkOne is also scheduled to present to students approaching graduation about logistics credentialing programs.

Rusin's experience at Ivy Tech also taught her to use labor market information as part of career planning. There, she researched employment trends and wage statistics and shared findings with career coaches to help improve student employment outcomes.

The common thread is helping students make career decisions with more information, more exposure, and a clearer understanding of what employers need.

Showing Students More Than One Route Forward

College remains part of that conversation, but it is not presented as the only path.

Ivy Tech has spoken with the Crossing students about dual enrollment opportunities, giving them information they can use while considering their educational plans.

At the same time, students are learning about credentials, employment, work-based learning, apprenticeships, and industry specific training.

A student's next step might involve college coursework. For another student, it could involve an industry credential, apprenticeship, employment opportunity, or a combination of education and work.

Rusin's role is to help students understand those possibilities so they can make informed decisions about their futures.

That perspective is informed by experience on both sides of workforce development. Before moving more deeply into education and career services, Rusin spent more than two decades at GlenStar Properties, where her responsibilities included human resources and office management. She supported senior leaders in workforce planning, employee engagement, organizational development, training, and employee relations.

As a career coach, she has also worked directly with individuals on career mapping, job searches, networking, resumes, personal branding, and interview preparation.

Preparing Students Before Opportunity Arrives

Exposure to careers is only useful if students are prepared to act on what they discover.

That is why Rusin's work does not stop with employer introductions.

She helps students develop resumes and conducts mock interviews to strengthen professional communication and employability skills. She also initiated a Career Closet, sourcing interview appropriate clothing so students can present themselves professionally when employment opportunities arise.

The reasoning is simple. A student may hear an employer speak, discover a new industry, or learn about a training program and decide it is worth pursuing. Preparation gives that student a better foundation for taking the next step.

Building A Network Around Career Possibilities

The partnerships Rusin has developed represent different parts of the workforce development process.

Employers introduce industries and occupations. Workforce organizations explain employment resources and credentials. Colleges outline educational pathways. Career Pathway instruction connects academic learning with practical experience. Resume development, mock interviews, and professional clothing help students prepare to pursue opportunities.

Rusin's role is increasingly about connecting those pieces.

Her promotion to Assistant Site Leader after her first semester at The Crossing expanded that responsibility. In addition to teaching, she now supports daily operations, mentors staff, and contributes to a school culture centered on student development and accountability.

Yet she has remained in the classroom.

That combination is important because Rusin is not simply coordinating occasional career presentations. She is building connections among students, education, employers, and workforce resources while continuing to work directly with the young people those partnerships are intended to serve.

Most importantly, they can begin preparing before those opportunities arrive.

At The Crossing's Hammond Campus, Rusin is bringing together lessons learned across more than two decades of workforce development, corporate HR, adult education, higher education, and career coaching.

One employer, classroom experience, credential, resume, and conversation at a time, she is helping students see not simply where they might go after graduation, but how they can begin getting there.

Explore More

Learn more about The Crossing School of Business and Entrepreneurship and connect with Patty Rusin on LinkedIn to follow her work in workforce development, career readiness, employer partnerships, and creating practical career pathways for students.