During my time in Israel, I had the opportunity to work with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as well as the legal clinics of Hebrew University.
During my time at IBM as a Human Resources Generalist, I had the opportunity to experience the creation and transition of a new business unit, Watson Health
In Fall’17, I worked for the National Indian Education Association. My main project was to develop and create an interactive media campaign for National Native-American Heritage Month.
I had the opportunity to work as a Labor and Employment Legal intern for Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller, & Shah which is a midsize law firm specializing in various areas of the law.
The first semester of my junior year, I worked as a Human Resources intern at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) which is a multinational Japanese bank based in Tokyo. From the start of my internship in NYC, I was given exposure to all of the functions of HR, including Compensation and Benefits, Talent Acquisition, Learning and Development, Employee Experience, Operations and Planning, and the HR Business Partners.
During my second semester of my junior year, I worked as an Analyst intern for Compensation Advisory Partners (CAP) which is an executive compensation consulting firm that works with boards of directors and management teams to help clients make informed decisions about executive compensation.
As a Global Markets HR intern at IBM, I had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects across a breadth of Human Resources groups, mainly dedicated to aiding in IBM’s skills transformation in Sales and Distribution.
I had the amazing opportunity to work as a Global Total Rewards and Medical intern at American Express which is a global services company that provides credit card, financial, and travel services.
At General Electric (GE), I had the opportunity to intern in the GE Power division that made steam turbines and generators that power electricity for cities. While I was there, I balanced about five to seven projects, but my main task throughout the semester was to lead all talent acquisition for GE’s plant in Schenectady, New York from full-time hires to intern hires.
In spring ’17, I interned at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in New York City. There I worked on important and interesting research projects related to wage rates, discipline, and production information. I had the opportunity to sit in on several contract negotiations, notably NBC and Thirteen television networks.
My time at University College Dublin was everything that I wanted my international experience to be. From the very beginning, I was surrounded by not only Cornell students, but students from all different countries and states.
I have dreamed about working at the White House for as long as I can remember, but I did not seem like a foreseeably attainable goal until I learned about the internship program.
When I first heard about the ILR Credit Internship Program, I was interested in the nontraditional learning experience and thought it would be a fresh alternative to spending a semester taking classes at Cornell or studying abroad.
Coming into ILR as a transfer, I was not expecting to have the opportunity to study abroad. I was worried that I would not have enough credits or would be too far behind to take a whole semester away from Cornell. However, the UCD Semester in Dublin Program not only gave me the international experience that I was looking for, but the classes also coincided with what I was studying in ILR.
Throughout my time at Cornell, I have heard many people say that college students should study abroad at some point during their undergraduate careers. Before participating in the ILR/UCD Semester in Dublin Program, I was largely indifferent to the whole idea and believed that I would not have any regrets if I passed on studying abroad.
Coming into ILR as a sophomore transfer, I didn’t think that I would have the ability to study abroad and receive ILR credit. Shortly into my first year at Cornell, I learned about the ILR/UCD Semester in Dublin program and I knew I had to apply. I applied as soon as I could and I never regretted my decision to study in Dublin the fall of my junior year. My time spent studying at UCD was one of the best experiences of my college career.
Participating in the ILR/UCD Semester in Dublin Program has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. After I got used to the time difference, stores closing at different hours, drinking terrible coffee, and the unreliable Dublin Bus schedules, I began to thoroughly enjoy my ti
As a senior, studying abroad for a semester did not seem like a realistic option if I wanted to graduate on time and in good standing. However, I could not have been more wrong. Studying abroad through the ILR-UCD program in Ireland was one of the best decisions I made during my four years at Cornell and I would strongly encourage that all ILR students look into participating in it during their college career.
The ILR/UCD Study Abroad Program is incredibly enriching for students of both ILR and life in general. Academically, studying labor relations in Ireland meant that I was able to observe the labor relations system of the European Union on a first hand basis with people who have experienced its impact, including my professors and fellow students.
UCD 2010, ILR 2012, Recipient of the Clete Daniel Memorial Medal - My semester in Dublin was, by all accounts, unusually snowy. The average December snowfall in Dublin totals about 3 inches. By Christmas of 2010, there were about 10.5 inches of snow piled up in Casement Aerodrome, 10 miles outside of Dublin.
UCD Fall 2012 - I have always wanted to study abroad and Ireland has always seemed to be the place for me (my last name is O’Brien and the only way I could be more Irish is being from Ireland)! However, being a transfer, I was not sure whether I would be able to study abroad at all. However, with the classes taken during the ILR/UCD Semester in Dublin transferring over as direct ILR credit, I was able to have one of the most amazing experiences of my life!
