Jumpstart Your Career: Advice for Students and Early Career HR Professionals
Whether transitioning careers or entering the job market for the first time, gaining your professional footing can be challenging. In this session, facilitators Claire Stroh Petrie and Nicole Garcia share insights on navigating the HR job market, tips for starting a new position, and best practices for career advancement. They will also provide anecdotes for gaining credibility and moving up the corporate ladder as a recent college graduate/emerging HR professional.
Learning Objectives:
Discuss tactics and resources for students and emerging professional to advance their careers.
Explore tools and best practices in job searching and differentiating yourself from other applicants.
Learn ways for early career professionals to distinguish themselves and earn credibility in the workplace.
In-person session offerings are on a first-come, first-served basis.
Claire Stroh
Claire Stroh, MBA, SHRM-CP is currently the Manager, of Managed Talent Services at Lighthouse Technology Services and CEO of Claire is Coaching. She has used LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and networking to build her personal brand and uncover new opportunities for herself and the companies she’s worked for. She’s passionate about helping others do the same! Claire has more than 10 years of successively diverse human resources management experience with privately-owned and publicly-traded global leaders. She is an active member and blogger for SHRM and served on SHRM’s Emerging Professional Advisory Council (EPAC) for four years. Claire was named a 2022 HR Impact Award Winner by Buffalo Business First and 2022 Community Catalyst Award Winner by HRUnite!.
Nicole Garcia
Nicole Garcia has established her career in HR by helping organizations ranging from 100 to 1,000 employees integrate their people strategy with their business strategy. As a recognized Human Resources leader by the Society for HR Management in 2019, she currently leads the HR function at a global content studio, supporting its acceleration and growth. Additionally, as the Founder of Integrate & Elevate, an HR consulting company, she specializes in enhancing the workplace culture to create a unique competitive advantage in achieving business results. In addition, she strategically aligns HR initiatives and business objectives by improving operational effectiveness and enhancing organizational culture through employee engagement efforts, talent acquisition strategy, and HR systems and processes while modeling the importance of equity, inclusion, and company values.
Some of Nicole's accomplishments include co-founding the USC HR Management Student Chapter, a SHRM and PIHRA affiliate, and receiving her Masters of Science in HR Management from the University of Southern California. Upon graduation, she was awarded the Order of Arete, the highest honor awarded to graduate students. Additionally, she holds her DEI in the Workplace Certificate from the University of South Florida and SHRM-CP certification. She plans on sitting for her SHRM-SCP this Fall. Previously, Nicole was the Communications Chair for the Professionals in HR Administration, a SHRM chapter located in West Los Angeles.
Nicole enjoys playing with her dogs and mentoring when she is not working. She currently sits on the Latina Professionals board of directors and is an Ambassador for the Masters Program in HR at the University of Southern California.