The professional world – how we work, where we work, when we work – is changing rapidly. Some of these changes are due to globalization. Others are due to technological innovations. Still others are due to a renewed understanding of what is most important to us in the midst of a once-in-a-century global pandemic. Jacob Marconi ’22 is fascinated by this evolution. A marketing major at Le Moyne, he plans to pursue a master’s degree in industrial labor relations at Cornell University, then to build a career helping organizations ensure that their employees are happy and productive.
A native of Cazenovia, N.Y., Marconi arrived on the Heights in the fall of 2019 eager to learn and grow. He did just that. In fact, he is graduating a year early. Marconi credits mentors like Professor of Practice Renée Downey Hart, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Management and Leadership Jared Law-Penrose, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor of Marketing Margie Ierlan, Ph.D., who served as his adviser, with motivating him to think about where his skills and talents aligned to meet the world’s needs. Their classes in particular were “life changing,” he says. They provided him with the opportunity to put what he’d learned in the classroom into practice. For example, in Law-Penrose’s class, Marconi and his classmates operated a mock coffee shop and, when as issue arose with one of the shop’s employees, they had to decide how to best handle it. It was “great hands-on training,” he said.
Marconi acknowledges that the field of human resources has changed and evolved even in the short period of time that has lapsed since he first arrived at Le Moyne. The Covid-19 pandemic, for one, has upended much of how what we have always understood and assumed about the world of work. In addition, there seems to be a renewed interest in unionization at some of the nation’s most well-known employers, like Amazon and Starbucks. That makes it an even more exciting time to enter this field, he says. When he arrived at Le Moyne, he knew that he wanted to make an impact on the world. Now he knows how he wants to make that impact: by making them feel good about and to take pride in the work that they are doing.
His hope for the other members of the Class of 2022 is this:
“Get out there, do what you love, and make the world a better place.”