Society of Human Resource Management – How to Get Hired
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Elizabeth Morgan, President of the Society of Human Resource Management at CSU[/caption]
Elizabeth Morgan, president of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) student club at CSU, had a brilliant idea on how to achieve a SHRM Merit Award. The importance of receiving a Merit Award is in the potential growth and an opportunity to create a bigger organization. According to the Merit guidelines, the more initiatives the organization completes, the greater the chance they have to receive recognition.
After collaborating with the Career Management Center and talking to various professors within the Department of Management, members chose to engage both professionals and students by creating a new, two-hour event called the “How to Get Hired” Workshop. They modeled the workshop structure based on an HR conference Elizabeth attended with fellow SHRM members.
The workshop featured six different high-caliber professionals including Maggie Hirko, HR Manager at Wolf Robotics; Wayne D’Atoni, HR Consultant at MSEC; Justin Cross, New Belgium Brewing Recruiter; Lorie Humphrey, CSU COB Career Management Center Counselor; Peter Boyle, Director of HR at HP; and Mike Kohler, a Leadership and Workforce Development Trainer in Larimer County.
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Colorado State Society of Human Resource Management group[/caption]
There were three sessions held, each featuring two speakers. Students and professionals had the ability to choose which speaker to attend according to the topic that best fit their needs. Topics from planning your job search to comparing work environments were presented.
“The goal of the evening was to connect and empower students by giving them the opportunity to create professional relationships with those who can help them in their career and future,” said Elizabeth. Nearly 60 College of Business students turned out and many came out of the experience with a new mentor to call upon as a resource.
With succession planning in place for the SHRM club, students and alumni can expect this event to continue for years to come.
John Weber, CSU College of Business alumni[/caption]
John Weber came to CSU to be a member of the track team, study engineering and participate in ROTC. Although his time running track was short, the welcoming environment and his newfound friends kept him at the University. He also became very involved with a fraternity on campus, Sigma Nu. As a member, he created lifelong friendships with his brothers and continues to keep in touch with them today.
Shortly after starting college, he changed his major from engineering to business to pursue a concentration in strategic management. One major difference between the college experience that Weber remembers as compared with the campus today, was having many of his business classes in the Clark Building and the buildings surrounding The Oval.
Senior year, he applied and was hired as a communications intern for the Poudre School District. There, he quickly became the public relations guru for the school district. He anchored and recorded a weekly radio show, wrote articles for the school newsletter, and accomplished various other tasks. The internship drastically improved his writing skills and helped him overcome a fear of public speaking.
He worked in various other positions throughout his college career. Many of his work opportunities came directly from the College of Business including his internship. Weber worked for Professor Edward Prill his junior year, who taught real estate.
Only a few credits short of a minor, he planned to get into commercial land development after graduation, but economic conditions at the time made it difficult for him to pursue that career path.
Upon graduation, Weber joined EDS, a large systems integrator based in Dallas, Texas. He was hired into their Systems Engineering Development Program. Throughout the three-year program, participants of various backgrounds had the opportunity to learn and practice technical and customer-facing skills. Utilizing his business degree from CSU, Weber built a foundation for a career-long focus on technology leadership.
Weber later left EDS to join a smaller company, MetaSolv Software, which was focused on telecommunications. During his time, he experienced the company's rapid growth, an IPO and the eventual sale of the company to Oracle.
Weber, along with a few other team members, eventually left MetaSolv and went to Calpont Corporation, a startup that developed and released the open-source analytical database engine InfiniDB. Weber joined as the head of technology, and during his time at Calpont, he expanded his role beyond a technology focus into leadership and management.
The skills he developed along his career path and within the College of Business prepared him for his current leadership role as CEO and CFO for LRS, a global provider of technology solutions. Weber applies the management principles he learned at CSU and along the way to his everyday technical and corporate experiences. LRS’s goals are currently focused on growing its customer base and international presence.
As an alumnus, Weber also maintains strong ties to the University, and even created a scholarship with his wife, Julie, for College of Business students. The scholarship is geared toward out-of-state students who participate in club sports during their time at Colorado State University. The Webers focused their scholarship in this way to help CSU meet its enrollment goals and target more out-of-state students.
Last Labor Day, Weber and his wife, visited entrepreneurship and human resources classes and shared their knowledge and expertise with students. Expressing how thrilled he is by the growth he has witnessed at the school Weber stated, “The time you spend in college makes an enormous impact on you. To continue adding to the quality education CSU provides not only adds value to my own degree, it also helps the students.”
Four students, Alexis Applegate, Anastasia Pjevach, Doug Gaillard, and Jonathan Schulein (see photo), competed in the 5th Annual 2017 International Undergraduate Supply Chain Competition at the end of March at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. Students competed against 29 other universities and were one of eight schools that received recognition. The distribution/retail case involved perishable items for the case sponsor, Land O’ Lakes. The CSU team placed 2nd in their flight, beaten out by the overall champion. Their performance was so strong, however, that they were recognized at the awards banquet for their excellence.
Denver Transportation Club Operations Stimulus Case Competition
Thanks to APICS Northern Colorado and the Forum Partners, Colorado State students competed in the Denver Transportation Club Operations Stimulus Student Supply Chain Management Case Competition, and once again distinguished themselves as one of the top teams at this event. Jens Aaron, Douglas Gaillard, and Jonathan Schulein had to develop a global sourcing, manufacturing and distribution strategy for a kitchen blender, taking into account the costs and risks of their decision. CSU’s team competed against Wayne State, Syracuse, and Georgia Southern universities in the first round. Wayne State won the pool, edging out CSU by a nose, and advanced to the finals. Dalhausie University was the overall winner this year. As has become the norm for CSU students at these events, other faculty members and executives of the Denver Transportation Club spoke highly of the CSU students’ professionalism and knowledge. Congratulations to the team members for their outstanding efforts and for representing CSU in such a positive and professional manner!
National Undergraduate Supply Chain and Operations Case Competition
In November, CSU participated for the first time in a case competition hosted by Arizona State. This was a highly competitive competition sponsored by Starbucks, Oracle, C.H. Robinson, CSCMP. The students were given a real-world problem to solve and had the exciting opportunity to tour a Starbucks distribution facility. Sage Davis, Charlie Huminski, Erica Youngdahl and Jordan Hammond (see photo) represented CSU in the competition and impressed the judges with their creative solutions. Although they did not place in this competition, the students came away with some interesting insights and a better understanding of the complexities of perishable goods supply chains. The team was coached by Zac Rogers, a recent graduate of Arizona State who is looking forward to another chance this fall to take down his alma matter!
Supply Chain Management students tour the Walmart Distribution Center[/caption]
These tours enabled students to see a variety of supply chain practices from lean manufacturing and 5S methodology, to large scale automation and breakbulk management. The club has more exciting events on the horizon with Otter Products, Wolf Robotics and Horse & Dragon Brewery in the coming weeks. The club is looking forward to building more relationships with local companies, continuing to provide more events, and connecting more students with employment opportunities.
Please email the club President,