HR Competition Helps with Job Hunt

While the job market is still not what it used to be, not since the Great Recession occurred and basically ruined the economy in the United States, there are still some graduate students who are making moves and getting that competitive edge that will be needed for finding future employment. Five students from the University of Tennessee recently won a human resource competition and it seemed to brighten their spirits and their perspective. One of the members of the team, Jeffrey Arnold, said that each of the individuals, including himself, are entering into a tough workforce, one that is very competitive and hard to get into, in which they will be competing with other people, just like them, who want the same job. But with the competitive atmosphere, these students got a good idea of what to expect and it added on to their experience. Arnold also says that the team had an advantage because they had a strategic approach to what they were doing.

Throughout the competition, there were nearly a dozen different teams being challenged by the judges, having been asked to solve a problem that was related to human resource. Each of the teams had about four hours to figure things out, set up a two-page paper, and prepare their presentation, which would last for approximately 15 minutes. Another team member, Kate Reiger, says that this prepared them for the future because in the workforce, the chances of only having a couple hours to come up with a major decision will more than likely happen at any given time. Reiger says that when working in the human resources field, you pretty much never know what could happen and what amount of time you will have to solve these issues.

Aside from winning and getting that experience under their belts, the team also won $3,000 in cash as a prize, along with a trip to the Human Resource Management Student Conference, which will be held during the month of June. At the conference, each of the team members will receive recognition because of their achievements and accomplishments. The member of the team were each Human Resource Master’s students, all of whom come from different backgrounds and have different experiences. One of the team members is from Beijing, China while another is from Middlesboro, Kentucky and another from Paresh Patel of London.

Another team member says that human resources was once known for being a job in which people are dealt with but in this day and age, it is also about being prepared and knowing what to expect for the future and how to deal with different situations. All team members agree that by participating in such a competition, they have been able to develop the skills that they need to be competitive in the workplace and to have the drive they need for working in the human resources field.