Rebecca Rucker knows what it takes to find a job. As a senior career consultant and training professional at CareerWorks, a full service career development company she began in 1998, she has made a career out of career planning. Rucker assists her clients with resume writing, career focus, and strategies for a job search, including how to interview and negotiate a salary.

Beyond running CareerWorks, Rucker is a frequent national and statewide speaker in the mental health field, drawing upon the master of arts degree she earned in clinical psychology at Wayne State University. She provides mental health services to hospitals, schools and individual clients as a part of her private practice. She is also an adjunct faculty member teaching psychology at the University of Phoenix. She also is an active volunteer at her church.

In addition, Rucker co-sponsors a weekly job club in Austin, The Career Resource Club, as a community service for job seekers interested in networking and developing stronger job search skills. She also is an active volunteer at her church.

For the past two years, Rucker has volunteered her time and expertise as a member of the Alumni Association Networking Committee whose mission is to encourage Southwestern alumni in the same field to continue present relationships with one another and to establish new ones in the SU community. The committee also seeks to foster opportunities for personal and professional development and mentoring. Eight networking guilds have been developed for alumni and students: business, communication, education, fine arts, high tech, law, medicine/science, and psychology.

"I was drafted by Nettie Ruth Bratton (alumni association president), and she is a hard person to say 'no' to," says Rucker. "It has been a great experience to meet wonderful alumni working hard to better Southwestern's committee."

While Rucker has helped countless people with career transitions, she has had significant transitions of her own. After graduating from Southwestern, she began teaching special education in Round Rock. She spent three years teaching there as well as in Austin before deciding to pursue graduate school. Later, she worked as a licensed psychotherapist before moving into career consulting. Her most unique job offer, though, came in Detroit in the early 1980s.

"A pimp offered me a job. I've said this before, but I really got two educations at Wayne State University. One was in clinical psychology and the other was living in downtown Detroit after the riots of the early '70s. I had led a pretty sheltered life until then."

Rucker worked in Houston for ten years after leaving Detroit, but moved to Austin five years ago to be closer to her parents. She currently shares her home with three cats and a new puppy named Mystic.

Ironically, Rucker almost never made it to Southwestern. Although she loved the school, no special education program existed at the time. She was awarded a music scholarship to Southwest Texas State, a university that offered the program she wanted.

After attending her first orientation meeting at Southwest Texas, with thousands of other entering students, she says she cried out of regret on the drive home to Monahans. She discovered in a last-minute call to Southwestern that the University had decided to start a special education program. She enrolled soon after.

"There are three things I really appreciate about Southwestern. First, I received an outstanding education. Second, I made lifelong friends as a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. Finally, I appreciate the opportunity to have an ongoing relationship with SU. It gave me a lot, and I want to give back. I consider it a privilege to stay involved with Southwestern University."

"I always tell people, you’ve got one life. Use it or lose it. I love meeting and talking to people."