The beautiful Rocky Top Student Center at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT was the site for the 2019 Tri-State SHRM Student Case Competition.  Quinnipiac was this year’s host university and sponsor of the event, held in partnership with the Connecticut SHRM StateCouncil and SHRM National, the organizing body for HR professionals.

Six student teams from CT, MA and RI competed in a student competition on April 13, 2019 and one Connecticut and one Rhode Island university took first place in the Undergraduate and Graduate Team Divisions.  

Placing first in the Undergraduate division was the Quinnipiac University (CT) team of Jena Hook and Taylor Martin;

first in the Graduate division were the Johnson and Wales (RI) team of Zenobiya Khambarti and Antonilia Anthony.  Fisher University of Massachusetts won second place in both categories with two teams: Undergraduates Eugenie Coste, Jacob Gavin and Zihul Zhang and Graduates Ilia Barg, Osvaldo Borrero and Plenary Shah.

Winning teams took home a $500 cash prize for their University. 

The competitions involved a case study that teams analyzed and then presented their case solutions that included preparing a written executive summary and a 15-minute oral presentation.  Teams were required to use integrated HR thinking and knowledge gained through their studies to develop and present their case solution.  Preliminary and final oral presentation rounds were judged onsite by a panel of SHRM members; as requested last year, all attendees were able to view the final rounds.

The all-day student conference was attended by 19 students and 6 faculty advisors from the three states as well as some 30+ HR professional volunteers and judges and SHRM national Field Services Director Susan Post, SHRM-SCP. Workshops were offered to attendees, as well as a Career Zone, where students could meet one-on-one with HR professionals to discuss their job search, HR career opportunities and other career tips.  Myra Quick, Western New England University Director of HR and Employee Development offered a workshop titled “You’ve Landed that First Job . . . Now What?”, which was well-received by students about to enter the workforce. Professor Nicholas Smith of Quinnipiac presented a workshop on “Ally-Building”, focusing on building real-world skills in supporting marginalized populations.  A lively panel of HR professionals took to the stage at lunch to talk about their careers in HR: Gary Convertino, Ed.D, SHRM-CP/PHR and Consultant; Karen Eichstaedt, MSIR, Event Planner from CT State Council, and Susan Post, SHRM-SCP. SHRM National Field Services Director.

The day ended with a networking event for students and HR professionals; on all students minds’ was breaking into that first HR job and managing their careers.

Next year, the planning team will be headed up by the Massachusetts SHRM State Council; the Tri-State area rotates among Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts councils.

“The Student Case Competition and Career Summit offers a unique opportunity for HR students to apply in-class learning to real-world HR scenarios and showcase their knowledge to seasoned HR practitioners” said Susan Post, SHRM’s Field Service Director.  Co-Event Planner Karen Eichstaedt commented that “ it was a joy to see the next generation of HR professionals getting their start in the field. They are miles ahead already in understanding the importance of HR in attracting, retaining and developing human capital.”