Ken Simmons

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome to get to where you are now professionally? How did you overcome it?

The biggest challenge was the result of choosing a career area that was very volatile. Human Resources is an area that is very sensitive to the economics of a company. It is the department that many times is the first to be affected in bad times, and the last to be affected when times get better. Therefore, I had to learn job seeking skills and coping skills when I was out of work due to the economy. As time went on, I was able to develop these skills to the extent that I was able to set up a reemployment program for a non-profit organization to help people get back into fulfilling positions of employment. Also, I chose a career area for which I was not well suited, ignoring red flags along the way during my education. This, combined with the situation that I ran into too many times of a college graduate whom I recruited off of a college campus not liking the job for which he was recruited, prompted me to work with high school students to encourage them to become involved in internship, coop, shadowing, and volunteer programs to allow them to experience the career area before inappropriately committing to it.

How did you start building your network?

I started building my network when I attained my first professional position after college. I later recognized that I should have started building my network while I was still in college. As I have learned, and now teach, the majority (70-80%) of people get their jobs through people that they know and get to know through networking. People can get along farther and faster by taking advantage of natural connections such as alumni relations departments of the schools and college that they graduate from, attend, and possibly plan to attend. Who can better give information about a school, college, career, etc., than a person who has been there or is doing that about which you seek knowledge. Although the current generation considers itself to be very technically and digitally proficient, I am concerned that they are lacking in the development of personal social relationships. Developing person to person social networking will allow them to overcome this and allow them to enhance their career development.