A year ago I was working as a Recruiting Consultant for a banking company in San Francisco
and was still trying to figure out where I would be in the fall. I knew that I wanted to continue working in a Human Capital related function but that I needed to expand my business skills and knowledge in order to move into a more strategic management role. I had narrowed things down to just a few MBA programs that had concentrations in this area. What really stood out about The Johnson School were the additional resources that the greater Cornell community had to offer. For me, this made my final decision easy. I had the opportunity to complete a second Masters degree through Cornell’s Industrial Labor Relations School in just one additional semester.It didn’t take long for me to arrive on campus and realize just how valuable this collaboration among schools really is. Within two weeks of orientation, I found myself at a CAHRS (link below) sponsored networking event, getting to know CHROs and SVPs of HR at several very reputable Fortune 500 companies. By early October, we were full-swing into the HR recruitment season, and while at first it was intimidating to go through interviews before I felt like I had really learned anything new, having two separate career centers to turn to for advice definitely eased the process. Even though I haven’t actually started my coursework at the ILR School (this will happen next fall), I have had the opportunity to get to know many other students in the MILR and dual degree programs, and I am very grateful to be in a place that has such a strong community of people who have similar interests. This sense of cross-collaboration is common among the entire Cornell community. In my current classes (through the SSO practicum), I am partnering with Masters of Engineering students on group projects and learning about service operations from a PhD student in the Hotel School.
In addition to taking advantage of the unparalleled career and academic resources that this place has to offer, I have had the opportunity to take on a leadership role within SHRLOE, a cross-school club focused on Strategic Human Resources, Leadership, and Organizational Effectiveness, competed in the National MBA Human Capital Case Competition sponsored by Deloitte in Nashville, and am currently working with a local non-profit organization on a consulting engagement. Oh yeah, and I’ve managed to find some time to have fun during my short time in Ithaca too!
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/gradDegreePrograms/ps/degrees/mba.html
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/CAHRS/
-Nicole Johnson
MBA / MILR Class of 2011
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