Structured for Success
Last Updated May 12, 2023
Finding himself between positions, Matt Moss started thinking about continuing his education, and “the most important factors for me in choosing the program was that I would be able to use everything I learned and apply it to future positions for myself,” he explains.
After looking at several graduate programs, Matt “became aware of the MSU Executive Development Programs [and] I became very interested and was very eager to enroll.”
“I felt that this was a better option for me rather than to enroll into a master’s degree program,” he says. “I was in between positions and had a very good instinct that the courses would help guide me to my next endeavor…”
The human resources courses of Michigan State University’s online Strategic Leadership & Management Certificates proved to be the perfect fit.
Making a Career Pivot
A proud son of Detroit and Spartan alum, Matt was an undergraduate major in telecommunications at MSU who interned for the Detroit Red Wings and then the Florida (now Miami) Marlins with his “main objective during those years…to work for ESPN in Connecticut.”
In 2011, Matt made it to the Mecca of cable sports broadcasting in Bristol, Connecticut, when he became a Production Assistant for ESPN.
“It was during my tenure with ESPN that I gained a better insight as to how a large corporation operates and all the departments that make everything come together,” he explains. “This made me very intrigued with human resources, recruiting, staffing and company procedure.”
Matt pivoted into human resources in 2015, joining Farmers Insurance as a Corporate Agency Recruiter. “This was a great experience and gave me insight into recruiting for a corporation and reaching out to candidates who would be interested in opening their own business as an insurance agent,” he says.
After working in staffing within multiple industries, Matt felt he had gained “tremendous insight into the essentials of staffing and what hiring managers are looking for in candidates that they will want to interview and, ultimately, offer positions.”
While Matt “was consistently learning new industry information, techniques, processes, procedures and practices” on the job, he eventually came to what he calls a “recruiting crossroads.”
“I felt that I was missing an educational foundation of the core pillars [and] fundamentals of the recruiting/staffing industry,” he says. “Looking for educational guidance and stimulation, I found the MSU [program] and knew that it was exactly what I was looking for at this moment in my career.”
Applying Coursework in the Workforce
In continuing his education online with MSU, Matt says the certificate courses “have given me academic insight, knowledge and stimulation into…respective industries” that complement his professional experience.
Matt has been both surprised and pleased by “how much I’ve been able to relate to the context of the courses through my professional experiences and how everything being taught has held true for me throughout my positions.”
His goal of using “the knowledge attained in these courses in future positions” is already being realized, as Matt is no longer “between positions.”
“Effective September 2020, I am on assignment as a Recruiter for General Motors in Manufacturing Engineering,” Matt says. “I am excited to use all of my knowledge from the…courses to grow my career with General Motors.”
His coursework focused on workforce management and development “could not have been a better segue into my role at General Motors as a Recruiter,” Matt says. “Knowing that there are best practices for corporate recruiting has been very instrumental from the course…”
Those best practices include “the four pillars of Integrated Talent Management: ENGAGE, ALIGN, REWARD and DEVELOP”—key principles Matt says he will always carry with him in his work.
In gaining new practices and immediately applicable methods, Matt has also gained a greater appreciation of the role of human resource management as “truly the lifeline to any organization,” with his most valuable takeaway from the certificate program being, “that order, procedure and justified reasoning all have validity for how companies make decisions and how they are structured for success.”
When it comes to structuring success, Matt has “developed a solid studying system that has helped me attain and successfully remember the terminology” of the courses, aiding him in applying the course concepts. “A lot of the definitions are intertwined in various ways,” he explains.
Besides devising an effective system to retain and apply his newfound knowledge, Matt also recognizes the value in sharing what he has learned with those closest to him, like his girlfriend Rachel who was his source of inspiration and support throughout his studies in the online certificate program.
Rachel works in recruiter services for a non-profit, and, as Matt explains, “I’ve been able to share many lessons with her, along with sharing ideas and insights that I’ve learned while taking the courses.”
Looks like the couple that learns together, stays together.
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