Patricia Rusin: Best Career Coach in Indiana of 2026

The recognition reflects a professional journey spanning more than two decades across human resources, career coaching, adult education, higher education, employer engagement, and workforce development. Through each stage of that career, Patricia Rusin has maintained a consistent focus on connecting people with the skills, resources, employers, and experiences that can help them move toward sustainable careers.

A Career Built Around Workforce Development

Best of Best Review selected Patricia Rusin for the Best Career Coach in Indiana of 2026 recognition based on the breadth of her workforce development experience and her practical approach to career education.

She joined The Crossing School of Business and Entrepreneurship's Hammond Campus in October 2025 as an Instructor of Record and Career Pathway Instructor. Her responsibilities centered on helping students explore career possibilities, develop professional skills, and prepare for opportunities beyond graduation.

After her first semester, she was promoted to Assistant Site Leader. The expanded position added responsibilities involving daily operations, staff mentorship, and school culture while allowing her to continue working directly with students.

Bringing Real Workforce Experience Into Education

One of the defining strengths of Patricia Rusin's career coaching approach is the connection between education and actual workforce expectations.

At The Crossing's Hammond Campus, she works with students as they identify interests, consider career goals, and develop workplace skills. She also oversees the school's School Based Enterprise Facilities and Hospitality Team, where students receive structured work based instruction and practical experience.

She has taught Principles of Business and helped students connect classroom concepts with community projects. Her work demonstrates an approach to career coaching that goes beyond discussing possible careers. It gives students opportunities to understand how their education can translate into workplace responsibilities.

Building Employer Connections For Students

Employer engagement has become an important part of Patricia Rusin's work. She has reached out to local businesses and workforce organizations to identify work based learning opportunities and bring industry perspectives directly into the student experience.

Zarach Logistics has spoken with students about career possibilities within logistics, creating relevant exposure for students studying supply chain management and related subjects. Powers Health, Buona Beef, and Gora Plumbing are also partnering with the school to participate in career conversations with students.

These relationships help students understand workplace expectations while giving them an opportunity to learn directly from professionals working in different industries.

Experience At Ivy Tech Community College

Before joining The Crossing, Patricia Rusin developed extensive employer engagement experience at Ivy Tech Community College's Lake County Campus, where she served as Talent Connection Manager.

In that position, she worked with students, faculty members, workforce organizations, and local businesses to develop work and learn opportunities. She also spearheaded the first Tool & Torch employer engagement initiative for the college's Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering and Applied Science School.

The initiative introduced students to career opportunities with regional employers including BP, Linde Gas & Equipment, American Bridge/ISC, Hammond Machine Works, Sterling Solutions, and Finkl Steel.

She also researched employment trends and wage data to help career coaches identify opportunities to improve student employment outcomes. That combination of employer relationships, labor market awareness, and student support continues to inform her work in career education.

Supporting Different Career Pathways

Best of Best Review also considered the range of career pathways supported by Patricia Rusin. Her experience demonstrates that career development does not have to follow a single route.

At CWI Corp., where she served as a Career Path Advisor and Adult Basic Education Teaching Assistant, she worked with adult learners to identify career options based on their interests, employment histories, transferable skills, and long term goals.

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 at the Tri Town Adult Learning Center.

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

Helping Students Understand Their Options

At The Crossing, Patricia Rusin continues to introduce students to different possibilities after graduation. Express Employment of Schererville has discussed local employment opportunities with students, while WorkOne is scheduled to speak with students approaching graduation about logistics credentialing programs.

Ivy Tech has also introduced students to dual enrollment opportunities, helping students understand that their next step can include college coursework alongside other career preparation options.

These connections give students greater exposure to college, industry credentials, apprenticeships, work based learning, and direct employment. For a career coach, that breadth is significant because students can make more informed decisions when they understand the range of pathways available to them.

Combining Corporate And Career Coaching Experience

Another important factor in the Best Career Coach in Indiana of 2026 recognition is Patricia Rusin's experience on both sides of the employment relationship.

Her career includes more than two decades at GlenStar Properties, where she supported C suite leaders in workforce planning, employee engagement, organizational development, training, and human resources operations.

As a self employed career coach, she has also worked directly with clients on career mapping, resumes, networking, interviewing, personal branding, and job search strategy.

That combination gives her an understanding of what individuals need when pursuing employment as well as what organizations consider when developing their workforce.

Turning Career Preparation Into Practical Experience

At the Hammond Campus, Patricia Rusin has introduced practical initiatives designed to help students prepare for real employment situations.

She initiated a Career Closet to provide students with interview appropriate clothing. She also helps students develop resumes and conducts mock interviews to strengthen employability skills.

Her work also includes experiential learning opportunities that allow students to support organizations including Haven House, Phil's Friends, and veteran organizations.

These experiences reinforce an important part of career readiness. Resumes and interviews matter, but so do communication, accountability, problem solving, workplace exposure, confidence, and the ability to understand how individual skills can contribute to an employer.

Connecting Business Education With Community Impact

In her Principles of Business class, Patricia Rusin mentored students as they developed a project plan for a community event scheduled for spring 2027. The project was selected as the winning plan, giving students an opportunity to apply business concepts to practical planning and community engagement.

For students, experiences like these can make career education more tangible. Instead of simply learning about business concepts, they have an opportunity to apply those concepts to an actual project.

This practical approach is consistent with Patricia Rusin's broader career coaching philosophy, which emphasizes exposure, preparation, experience, and informed decision making.

Why Patricia Rusin Receives This Recognition

Best of Best Review recognizes Patricia Rusin as the Best Career Coach in Indiana of 2026 based on her extensive workforce experience, career coaching background, employer engagement, educational leadership, practical student support, measurable work in adult education, and continued commitment to connecting learners with career opportunities.

Her work demonstrates the value of career coaching that extends beyond conventional job search assistance. Through employer partnerships, classroom instruction, mock interviews, resume development, career exploration, work based learning, community projects, and workforce connections, she helps make career pathways easier for students and learners to understand.

A Career Focused On Building Bridges

For Patricia Rusin, career coaching is ultimately about building bridges between people and opportunity.

At The Crossing's Hammond Campus, that work now brings together decades of experience across human resources, education, workforce development, and career advising. Students are introduced to employers, exposed to industries, encouraged to develop professional skills, and shown that there can be multiple routes toward their goals.

Best of Best Review recognizes that continued commitment through the Best Career Coach in Indiana of 2026 award. Her work represents a career education model grounded in practical experience, employer engagement, and a belief that informed career decisions begin when people are given meaningful opportunities to explore what comes next.

Explore Career Pathways And Workforce Connections

Learn more about The Crossing School of Business and Entrepreneurship and connect with Patricia Rusin on LinkedIn to follow her work in career readiness, employer engagement, workforce development, and building stronger connections between students and regional career opportunities.