I became interested in the field of HR during my undergraduate studies and came to Cornell directly after completing my BS. I chose the MILR program at Cornell primarily because of its reputation with the faculty at my undergraduate school. The MILR program at Cornell was a great launch point for my career. The program provides a strong foundation in the broad areas where Human Resources supports an organization. Building upon this foundation, the curriculum is designed to teach you how to take business strategy and apply HR systems for business success. Since graduation, I have also benefited from the broad network of colleagues and professors that I developed relationships with during my academic studies. Our alumni organization is active and strong within the HR community.

During the Cornell campus recruiting process, DuPont offered me an opportunity with their HR Rotational Leadership Development program. Being new to the HR profession, this program interested me as I could gain experience in a variety of HR roles and better determine which path I enjoyed most. DuPont, in particular, interested me because of the company?€™s strong commitment to its core values of Safety, Environmental Stewardship, Respect for People, and Business Ethics. HR is often seen as an ethics champion, and working for a company with internalized values makes my job so much easier.

To date, I have worked in four different assignments with DuPont in both specialist and generalist roles. Initially, I worked in the company?€™s Talent Acquisition group as a Recruiter developing and deploying search strategies for both college and experienced new hires. This role gave me a great overall introduction to the company as I recruited for each of our main business platforms. Then, I moved to an HR Generalist role at our Hotel du Pont and DuPont Country Club supporting these businesses with their compensation, staffing, training, and employee relations needs. After this assignment, I went to work in our Employee and Labor Relations group analyzing national and global labor trends to shape our strategy. This assignment was great preparation for my current assignment as a Generalist at one of our industrial plant sites. I have found that I love working in an HR Generalist capacity because I am able to use my creativity and pull from all of the different HR functions to help the business achieve its goals. After I graduate from the HR Leadership Development program, I will probably work in a Six Sigma Blackbelt assignment and, thereafter, an HR Manager role at one of our Operations sites. 

- Micky Candia, MILR '03