METRO Career Day 2010, Part II
"How the External World Looks Today"
The second panel at Career Day featured external consultants from various firms in the area describing the various paths they took in their careers.
Pete Rutigliano, a consultant at Sirota Survey Intelligence, received a doctorate in Clinical and Health Psychology. He began his career in industry, focusing on putting his statistical skills to use. After working in several businesses, he wanted a more direct connection to the I/O world and took a position in academia. After several years of teaching, he decided to return to the business world and, through his contacts at Metro, found his current position at Sirota.
Charmaine Swanevelder, a consultant at SHL, began her career as a junior lecturer while completing her Master’s degree in South Africa. She found her first consulting job while taking her students to a local job fair. After several jobs in industry, including a global consulting position with South African Airways, she started her own company, Leadership Dynamics Consulting Firm, specializing in career counseling, executive coaching, and cultural understanding. After running a successful business, she joined SHL where she works on a range of projects including setting up assessment centers and applying psychometric assessment.
Julie Weintraub is currently a personnel research scientist for the US Office of Personnel Management. She works in the consulting arm of the department, providing leadership and talent management solutions to other federal agencies. She found that the federal government offered many entry level I/O positions and has progressed quickly in OPM and become a project manager.
John Harnisher is a consultant for Caliper Profile. He began his career working for Kaplan Test Preparation Center after graduation. With a strong background in quantitative analysis, he then got a job at SPSS developing training programs. After a few years, he moved to Caliper to pursue a more quantitatively-oriented position. He stays connected to academia by teaching part time at Columbia University.
Each speaker pursued his or her own unique path to their current positions, showing the breadth of skills I/O students develop. All the speakers agreed that research skills, such as literature reviews and quantitative analysis are highly valued in many I/O jobs. The panelists advised job seekers to be flexible in their job search as there are several avenues one can pursue when trying to secure a job in the I/O field. They also advise young people to conduct informational interviews with people already in the field as both a networking tool and to find out what kinds of jobs are available under the umbrella of I/O. Finally all the speakers encouraged job seekers that, when offered an interview, do your research on the company so you can tailor your answers to that company’s needs.
Reported by: Laura Sywulak