CAHRS Executive Roundtables
One unique and valuable aspect of the CAHRS partnership is the opportunity for CAHRS executives to interact with future HR professionals pursuing their graduate studies or finishing their undergraduate studies at Cornell, to shape their educational and career choices. Since 1997, CAHRS has offered our partners an opportunity to be involved in the annual orientation held for incoming and returning graduate students and undergraduate seniors in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR). The CAHRS Executive Roundtable is not a recruiting fair, but is meant to provide students and executives an opportunity to exchange questions and ideas about the field of HR, the most important issues facing individual companies, the skills needed by future HR professionals, and what companies look for in recruiting entry-level professionals.
Details
This event will provide an opportunity to meet and exchange questions and ideas with executives from very prominent companies and first and second-year graduate students and seniors from Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
The roundtable sessions will last 30 minutes each rotation with 4-6 students and one corporate HR executive per table. Over the course of the afternoon, students will have had the opportunity to meet with 5 different corporate HR executives.
Following the roundtable sessions, there is a reception where students and executives are able to converse in a more informal setting. Company information will be available as well as a resume drop box.
Due to space limitations and the popularity of this event among our partner representatives, we will be limiting the number of executives involved in this event to 15. We will begin collecting table reservations in late May, so be sure to let us know if you are interested in getting involved in this event.
More Information
If you are interested in participating in this highly popular, interactive event, HR executives from our corporate partners are encouraged to contact us early as table reservations are collected in May. Students will receive announcements about this event, and are encouraged to RSVP.
For more details on this event or to reserve a table, please email Jo Hagin at jap7@cornell.edu or phone 607-255-9358.
Further Information for Partner Representatives
So that the executives attending can tell a little bit about who they will be talking with, the students will be wearing nametags with color stickers identifying them as follows:
- Blue: Seniors
- Orange: Invited ILR Juniors
- Red: First year MILR students
- Green: Second year MILR students
- Yellow: All other students (MPS, PHD, MS, BS, MBA, etc.)
Recommended Information Packet
As stated above, those attending the roundtable sessions will be asked to provide information on their company that the students can pick up and take with them. Below is the recommended list of things to provide. You may also bring gifts for the students if you wish. These will be handed out at the reception following the Roundtables.
- Company Annual Reports
- Company Information on Careers
- Company Newsletters featuring you or HR
- Your Bio
- Articles about your company published in business or local presses that present a perspective on your values, mission, and working environment
- Appropriate contact information
Suggested Topics
In the past, partners have asked what topics they should cover when speaking with the students. We have compiled a list of recommended questions that our partner representatives suggested, and we have distributed to the students. Below is the list that we will be providing the students in an effort to help them prepare. If would like to change or add to this list of topics, please contact us at cahrs@cornell.edu.
In the Field:
- How does HR add value to your organization? Do non-HR people believe that HR adds value?
- What is HR’s role in helping your company attain its strategic goals?
- In many companies, quality management is part of HR. Is this or isn’t it a good idea?
- Why use temps, how should they be used, and to what extent should they be integrated into the company? What are the pros and cons of using temp labor?
- How is compensation being used to achieve competitive advantage at your organization?
- What are compensation issues in a bear market? How do you attract and retain excellent people if stock is no longer an incentive?
- What is the impact of dynamic benefit structures in your company (eg. Domestic partner benefits for unmarried or unable to marry employees)?
- What does your company do to address family/work life issues?
- Do you use alternative work arrangements (eg. telecommuting, job sharing, flextime, etc.)?
- What are the advantages/disadvantages of a rotational program versus hiring directly to a specific job?
- How do you manage and measure intellectual capital?
- What are some specific initiatives in HR in your company that you are really excited about?
In Pursuing an HR Career:
- Classes that might be helpful to take?
- What are the biggest business challenges facing new hires just out of school?
- What does it ‘take’ to make it to your level of responsibility?
Further Information for Students
This is a session that will give you the opportunity to meet and exchange questions and ideas with executives from very prominent companies. Please visit our web page frequently to see what companies plan to be involved in this event. If would be appreciated if you could RSVP to reserve a spot for the roundtables.
So that the executives can tell a little bit about who they will be talking to, we will ask that you pick up a nametag when you arrive with an affixed sticker that corresponds to you. First Year MILR Students will have tables reserved just for them to sit at. All other students can go to another table within the room. The colors indicate the following:
- Blue: Invited ILR Seniors
- Orange: Invited ILR Juniors
- Red: First year MILR students
- Green: Second year MILR students
After the roundtable sessions, you are invited to attend the reception along with the company executives. You will be able to pick up information on the companies attending, and there will be folders for each company where you will be able to drop off your resume for any that you are interested in.
To help you prepare for this session, below is a list of recommended questions you may want to ask the participating company representatives.
In Pursuing an HR Career:
- What are the major business challenges your firm faces and what is your firm doing to meet those challenges? How is HR involved in meeting those challenges?
- How do you think the field of HR will change over the next 5 years? What will be different about HR in the future?
- What do your think are the 3 most important competencies that an HR professional has to have, or will have to have, in order to be successful in contributing to the firm? How can we build those competencies during our time here at Cornell?
- What did it take for you to reach your level of responsibility? What experiences did you find most helpful in developing your skills as a HR professional?
- What are the advantages/disadvantages of a rotational program versus hiring directly to a specific job?
In the Field:
- How does HR add value to your organization? Do non-HR people believe that HR adds value?
- What is HR’s role in helping your company attain its strategic goals?
- In many companies, quality management is part of HR. Is this or isn’t it a good idea?
- Why use temps, how should they be used, and to what extent should they be integrated into the company? What are the pros and cons of using temp labor?
- How is compensation being used to achieve competitive advantage at your organization?
- What are compensation issues in a bear market? How do you attract and retain excellent people if stock is no longer an incentive?
- What is the impact of dynamic benefit structures in your company (e.g. Domestic partner benefits for unmarried or unable to marry employees)?
- What does your company do to address family/work life issues?
- Do you use alternative work arrangements (e.g. telecommuting, job sharing, flextime, etc.)?
- What are the advantages/disadvantages of a rotational program versus hiring directly to a specific job?
- How do you manage and measure intellectual capital?
- What are some specific initiatives in HR in your company that you are really excited about?
- What does your HR function do that could be considered a "best practice", i.e., something that other organizations might consider trying to imitate?
