Alumni Spotlight: Yuanjie Shen

Yuanjie Shen (she/her)

Major: PSY BS (Spring 2018)
Position: HR Specialist and Global HR
Employer: Corigine

What is your work like?

Under the supervision and direction of the CEO and Senior HR Manager, the HR Specialist is responsible for preparing and reviewing compensation and benefits packages, administering existing HR policies, and enhancing training and development plans based on business needs. Global HR is responsible for coordinating global HR practices to ensure compliance to local legal requirements and organization policies. 

What are your duties?

• Coordinate HR responsibilities between Corigine global offices and Corigine China corporate
• Help create organization guidelines and policies, including compensation and benefits, performance evaluation, legal compliance, training and development, and payroll systems.
• Organize company quarterly and yearly performance evaluation processes.
• Forecast hiring needs and develop recruitment plans and activities.

How would you say your psychology degree has helped you with your current job?

My psychology degree with an emphasis in I/O psychology has led me to my Master's degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations, and thus to my current HR Specialist in my company. Besides the obvious help in building up my professional knowledge about the field, it also helps me decide my career path between being a practitioner or a researcher. Through different exploring opportunities, such as research assistant, campus job, internships, and on-campus activities, I determined it was best fit for me to do real work in the field before considering the possibility of going into academic full-time.

In what way has your major complemented your current job?

It provides the backbone of a lot of practices in my current job as an HR professional. For example, being an HR professional means learning daily on what would be the best practice dealing with people and handling interpersonal relationships at the workplace and I/O psychology provides the reason behind a lot of workplace human behaviors and tendencies. 

How did you find your current position? Please include any resources you may have used (UMN or otherwise)

UMN alumni, UMN Carlson Graduate Business Career Center, Personal network, Professional network

What advice do you have for our current psych students and recent grads?

Take advantage of every resource UMN provides, which means talking to your academic and career advisors about your concerns and questions regarding career choices, listening to their advice and comments, and most importantly making decisions for yourself.

Also, job search is a long and ongoing process and requires lots of preplanning. It is important to stay in the know about what's going on in the current job market, such as what employers are looking for, what job or industry is most popular, and what you need to reflect on your resume to demonstrate your skills and abilities.

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