HR Spotlight: Katie Campbell

Name: Katie Campbell

Year: 2016

Internship: Management Search

Major: Human Resource Management

How did you get this internship?

I met my boss Tony at Bryant when he came to speak at a Bryant SHRM meeting my freshman year. The president of SHRM at the time was interning with him and told me that she really liked the internship. After hearing him speak twice at SHRM meetings and learning a little bit more about recruiting, I knew I wanted to intern with him at Management Search.  So when I got back from studying abroad I reached out to him to see if he was still running his internship program. I was pleasantly surprised when he immediately responded saying he remembered me from SHRM and quickly followed up with a phone call to set up an interview.

What were your responsibilities at your internship?

I actually interned at MSI for two semesters, the second semester of my junior year and first semester senior year. The great thing about this internship was that Tony tailored the internship experiences to what I wanted. My first semester at MSI I spent a lot of time learning about recruiting and all of the different steps in the process, this involved sitting in on meetings, doing research, helping out with job descriptions and even interviewing candidates. Once I became familiar with the process I was given more and more responsibility. During my second semester there were four other interns from Bryant at MSI as well. I was in charge of training them and helping them throughout the semester. I also led a project that all five of us worked on and then presented to the college relations board of the RI chapter of SHRM, which was a lot of fun. Most importantly, I worked with Tony on a recruiting project of my own. I was way more involved and got a ton of great experience actually making recruiting calls and working with clients.

What was your favorite memory/experience at your internship?

My favorite thing about working at MSI was the people. Everyone in the office welcomed me with open arms. They were incredibly supportive of me throughout my experience there, answering all of my questions and offering help even when I didn’t ask for it. I was so nervous on my first day, I had never really worked in an office before and I wasn’t sure how they were going to take to me, the new intern. When lunch came around I sat down with my new co-workers, and they quickly alleviated all of my fears (these lunches turned out to be one of the highlights of my day). The best part is that I know that I can still reach out to them at any time and they will be there to help me in any way that they can.

What was the most challenging part of your internship?

The most challenging part of my internship was definitely just the fact that my boss never let me settle. He gave me the time I needed to master a task and then he would push me on to conquer something new. Which was so great because it really got me out of my comfort zone and made me try new things, and I can definitely say that I learned a lot because of it.

How will this further your career?

As an HR major I am looking into recruiting as a possible career path and during the interviews I have been on so far, a lot of companies have been very impressed that I actually have some real recruiting experience. And even if I don’t choose to work at a recruiting firm, pretty much any HR job I get will require me to understand the importance of staffing and all of the steps that go into hiring a new employee. Another huge thing that I got out of this internship was leadership experience. Working with the other interns on the SHRM college relations project was difficult with all of our conflicting schedules, and this is something that I know I will face in my future and I am glad that I have this experience to guide me in the future.

What is your best piece of advice for underclassmen?

My best piece of advice for underclassmen would be to take advantage of your opportunity to get an internship. I learned so much more from getting this real-life experience than I could have in the classroom. You can also make so many great connections, and often times they will turn into a full-time offer!