New partnership will help students connect their education to career possibilities, communicate their value to employers, build professional relationships and manage the search process, while supporting Merrimack’s expanding Warriors at Work co-op program and new Agenda for Excellence.
North Andover, Mass. | July 2026 | Merrimack College has partnered with RAIN Careers, a career preparation platform built for higher education. Beginning in the 2026-27 academic year, the O’Brien Center for Career Development wil introduce RAIN as a centralized place for students to explore career paths, strengthen application materials, prepare for interviews, build professional relationships and manage their searches.
The partnership reflects a straightforward priority for Merrimack: make it easier for students to complete the work career readiness requires. Instead of asking students to move among disconnected resources, logins and processes, RAIN brings the major parts of career preparation together so students can move from exploring an idea to acting on it without losing momentum.
“We chose to partner with RAIN because it is going to make our students’ lives that much easier. In 2026, we have to reduce how many clicks students need to take to do the work. RAIN brings pieces that would otherwise live in different places together so students can keep moving.” Shannon Zelek, Sr. Director of Career Development
The platform will also help with career exploration and assist students in connecting their academic interests with possible professional directions. Students can explore how a degree such as marketing may lead to a range of roles and industries, helping them recognize options they may not have previously considered and better articulate the value of their education.
That ability is especially important in the competitive Greater Boston employment market. Merrimack students benefit from proximity to one of the country’s most active professional centers, but they are also competing with candidates from institutions across New England. Success requires more than discovering opportunities. Students must build relationships, communicate their strengths and remain organized throughout increasingly complex recruiting processes.
One of the partnership’s most immediate applications will be Merrimack’s Warriors at Work program. Relaunched in recent years, the program gives students the opportunity to complete a full-time, six-month, paid and credit- bearing co-op while remaining on track to graduate in four years. The first cohort is now preparing to pursue placements for 2027.
The partnership also supports Merrimack’s new strategic plan, the Agenda for Excellence. The plan includes an emphasis on elevating the student experience through career development and internships, strengthening career and academic coaching and demonstrating the return students receive from their education.
By helping students complete more foundational preparation independently, RAIN can make meetings with career professionals more valuable. Students can arrive having already explored pathways, reviewed their materials or organized their searches, allowing conversations to focus more intentionally on industry-specific questions, personal decisions and strategies that require human judgment.
“Merrimack has already created a strong culture around experiential learning, career preparation and student outcomes. Our role is to make the work surrounding those strengths easier for students to navigate and sustain, while giving the O’Brien Center more capacity for the individual guidance and relationships that can meaningfully influence where a student goes next.” Elliot Carlson, Co-Founder of RAIN Careers
ABOUT RAIN CAREERS
RAIN Careers is a career preparation platform built for current students and recent graduates as they explore paths, prepare their materials, and take their next step. Since launching in October 2024, RAIN has partnered with more than 60 institutions, and individual students from more than 1,000 college and university campuses nationwide have used the platform. Built alongside career services professionals, RAIN is designed to reflect the real needs of advisers and students alike. To learn more, visit raincareers.com.
