Download - ILR School - Cornell University

Jeffrey J. Pargament ’80
Partner, Piliero, Mazza & Pargament, PLLC
Terry Popkin
ROAD TO ILR: I was a transfer student to
Cornell. I chose it because of its academic
excellence, beautiful campus, and, most
importantly, its ILR program.
I knew that I wanted to pursue a
career in industrial and labor relations;
I understood that the ILR
School offered the best program.
Alumni
MEMORIES: It is difficult to
choose a single favorite memory
of Cornell and ILR so I will offer a few -
wonderful friends, Catherwood camaraderie,
State Diner runs, intellectual challenges and,
yes, the Cornell Bowling Team.
TAKE-AWAY: The most important thing I
took from my ILR education was the ability
to engage in critical thinking. My ILR education
has greatly influenced my career path.
Through ILR, I had a summer internship with
the National Labor Relations Board. That
internship introduced me to the agency and
to the Washington, DC, Metropolitan area,
which has been my home for the last twentythree
years. As a result of the summer internship,
I participated in the ILR-NLRB Co-op
program for a semester and another summer.
Having successfully completed the program,
I was able to obtain a field examiner position
with the NLRB following graduation.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE
FIELD: I went to night law
school at George Washington
University while
working for the
NLRB during the
day. In addition to receiving my
law degree from GWU, I met Jill
Siegel, who later became my wife
and mother of our two children.
Based upon my NLRB experience,
I developed relationships with
many employment lawyers in the District of
Columbia and ultimately joined Akin, Gump,
Strauss, Hauer and Feld, where I was employed
as an associate for six years until I
joined my current firm twelve years ago.
spot
light
LOOKING FORWARD: My classmates and
I benefited greatly from our internships.
Based upon these experiences, consideration
should be given to making internships
or work-study programs a mandatory part
of the ILR education. At a minimum, there
should be sufficiently funded internships to
meet the needs of all interested students.
These internships would likely strengthen
the relationship between the ILR community
(students, alumni, educators, and administrators),
and sponsoring organizations (corporations,
labor organizations and governmental
agencies). Everyone would benefit!
ALUMNI NEWS
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son ’93 (working in Neilson Media’s HR department);
Josh Cherry ’97 (a former union
organizer currently employed as a tech coordinator
at Citigroup); Sylvia Ponce ’95 (in
human resources at JP Morgan); and Michelle
Fries ’01 (a recruiting coordinator at
Bear-Stearns). The panel was moderated by
Carolyn Jacobson ’72, former president of
the ILR Alumni Association and chair of the
Student Affairs Committee. Panelists shared
their academic and personal experiences
with the audience. There was general agreement
on a number of issues, including the
value of the Career Services Office, the importance
of participating in internships
(semester, summer, and during intersession),
the necessity of maintaining relationships
with faculty and administration, the value of
mentoring, the importance of adopting good
work habits, developing the ability to communicate
succinctly, and understanding the
value of working cooperatively with co-workers.
The panelists also agreed that their ILR
education had been an excellent foundation
for work, even though some panelists noted
that their careers had taken a different direction
than originally anticipated. Finally, all
agreed that the world is small and it pays to
recognize that managers and colleagues will
remember your accomplishments—and any
shortcomings—long after you stop working
together.
Reaction to the event was so enthusiastic
that the Association will be exploring with
the ILR Office of Student Services the best
time and place to repeat it. The panel discussion
is the first in a series of programs
sponsored by the Alumni Association, along
with the ILR Student Government, ILR Minority
Alumni Network and Minority ILR Student
Organization.