In this Q&A, Swift, new president of the nonprofit Education at Work, shares how her organization is working with colleges and corporations to help students gain valuable, and paid, real-world experiences—plus what she thinks career centers and educators must do to better prepare students. Jane Swift—whose résumé includes leading public, private and not-for-profit institutions; advising entrepreneurial education companies; partnering in a venture capital fund; turning her family’s farm into an education and rescue center; and even serving (as part of her 15 years in state government) as governor of Massachusetts—initially paid her way through college thanks to Pell Grants and work-study.