Maroon SHRM Welcomes Sarah Pitt
On September 10th, Sarah Pitt, Vice President of Human Resources at Associations International, visited EKU’s Maroon SHRM chapter to discuss recruiting, HR roles, and answer student’s questions. Sarah has over 30 years of HR expertise and is the former Chief Human Resources Officer at EKU. Sarah spoke with the group about the importance of connections and networking in recruiting and job hunting, as well as the role of HR in an organization.
She demonstrated that recruiting was about more than just posting an ad; it is about connecting with people and building your professional network. “Companies are looking at the workforce in a different way than they have in the past,” Sarah stated. Companies are going digital with their recruiting search and taking to places like LinkedIn to find qualified candidates. She stressed that students should use this opportunity to sell themselves on LinkedIn; build up their resumes by including transferable skills from previous jobs, including all their previous work experience, leadership roles, student organizations, and even volunteer events that they have been involved in.
While it is important to show who you are and what you can bring to an organization through your LinkedIn profile, students shouldn’t stop there. Find an organization or a job you are interested in and make connections within that organization. Reach out to those people by introducing yourself and expressing your interest in the job or company - put a human connection to your job search and you will stand out to recruiters.
Sarah also spoke on the importance of Human Resources within an organization. HR is not just operational, but it is now considered a strategic part of the business. It is about more than just employee relations and relationship building. Even if you are not in the Human Resource field, build up your network with HR professionals because they are the people who will be able to find career opportunities for you. It is important to understand their role in the organization because all aspects of a business need HR.
After the presentation, Sarah opened the floor to questions from over two dozen students in attendance.
The EKU Maroon SHRM chapter is open to any student interested in people issues at work. For further information contact the club’s advisor, Professor Allen D. Engle at allen.engle@eku.edu
Pictured above, l-r: Abby Sanders (Maroon SHRM CEO; Greenup, KY), Anna Haas (CLO, Louisville, KY), Sarah Pitt, Abigail Parker (CFO, Paducah, KY), Martha Sowders (CIO, Frankfort, KY)
Published on September 11, 2019