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Now is the ideal time to be involved in the people issues
in organizations.
HR is an investment in people, and that was right up my alley.
I love that being able to take those interpersonal skills
that I have from leadership activities that I've done
and use my finance and analytics to merge them together.
I really like the fit between business and people,
and I really wanted to bridge that gap.
I love the stability that, right now, you find in HR.
If you like people, and you want the primary part of your job
to be interacting with or about people,
then HR it's probably for you.
I think there are several things that
are really unique about our MSHR program here at Utah State.
When I took over as director of the program in 2008,
the first thing I did was benchmark our curriculum
against the top schools, top HR schools, in the country.
And I can tell you that our curriculum now matches up
course-for-course.
I think we may be the only school in the country that
have the dual degree options where
you can get an MSHR and an MBA.
So many people, as they enter the HR profession,
they're saying, well, should I do an MBA
with a little bit of HR, or should I
do a human resource degree where I get a lot of depth in HR?
I think what we've done here at Utah State is created
a yes/yes option on that, which, from a strategy standpoint,
I think that's a winning package.
And that's very advantageous as I've
interviewed over the past summer for internships
and also for jobs, companies love the fact
that I will have a strength in human resources,
but I will also understand the business side.
It's one of the best in the West.
And the small class sizes are really
what set it apart from probably any other program
in the country.
And the interaction that you have
and the exposure to your professors and classmates
just makes it unbeatable in value and in experience.
So I think that one of the things that
sets our program apart from other programs
is our high touch and the involvement with the professors
and the students.
Professors here who have opened their phones to me--
if you're having problems with the homework,
you're not getting something, call me.
You call me up until 9 o'clock at night.
We'll work through it.
And they really build that relationship with you.
And they actually really help you
in the internship hunt as well as
well, as well as finding jobs.
They care about you.
You're under their wing until you land those type of things,
which is very beneficial.
Most of the classes include group projects
with real companies.
So you're not just learning about HR;
you're actually doing HR.
And you so you're able to put these things on your resume.
I think, from the beginning of this program,
we've designed it to be a competency-based program.
By that, what I mean is that it isn't
enough just to know things or to know about
or to study in the classroom.
You have to actually be able to take these principles
and apply them in real-life settings.
The Huntsman School program really
stands out as giving you more opportunities that you
can't see anywhere else.
We have more hands-on experiences, more assignments
that are real-world experiences rather than just book work.
So they'll tell you, hey, this is a C project.
This is what needs some revisions.
Do it, bring it back to us, we'll adjust it.
And that's what we did.
So now I'm leaving this program with a bunch of A projects
that I've worked on.
They are really good projects that I can really hold and show
other companies that I'm proud of.
The classroom is 60% of your education,
and the other 40% is corporate visits, mock interviews,
those kind of things that get you ready to get out
in the workforce.
Our percentage is over 95% on job placement,
and we're very proud of that.
We put a lot of emphasis on your internship
and getting a great internship.
I think the reputation that we're
trying to project to the companies
is a mix of blue collar and white collar.
Companies, they want white-collar professionals.
They want people with the skill sets,
the knowledge to be able to succeed at that high level.
But they also want people who aren't primadonnas,
people who will dig in and work, and they're not spoiled brats.
And so at Utah State, what we pride ourselves on
is having a blue-collar work mentality
with a white-collar education.
I think that's something special and unique
that we bring that other schools don't have.
Cache Valley is one of the most beautiful places
that I've ever been.
We have obviously, skiing, snowboarding.
But in the summer, our hiking is phenomenal.
You'll never get anything as fun as our hiking here.
It's gorgeous, and we really do have one
of the most beautiful summers.
One of the most amazing moments that I have in the program,
it happens every year in August, when our students come back
from their internships-- totally phenomenal
to see how much growth has happened in a year.
As they've gone through the courses,
gone through the experiences, worked through the projects,
we're really excited about where our students are going.
We're excited about the kind of internships
they're landing, the kind of jobs that they're finding.
They're really getting in some incredible companies
and organizations, both nationally, internationally,
and in the state of Utah.
That's what makes me excited.
It's what makes me get excited about coming to work
and meeting a new group of students and say--
to think about where they're going to be a year from now
and five years from now and 10 years from now.
And to know that here, at the Huntsman School,
they'll get that skill set that will
enable them to have a very successful life
in their careers.
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