MSU I/O Update - Minnesota State University, Mankato

Winter 2011
After graduating from MSU, I returned home to Southern
California and worked as a technical trainer with SAIC. I delivered
and helped develop operator training for the Vehicle
and Cargo Inspection System, a gamma-ray imaging detection
device used to screen vehicles and cargo containers for
weapons, drugs, stowaways, and other contraband. For the
next year, I traveled three or four weeks a month to locations
around the US and other countries. Most destinations
were border towns and remote military bases. Not quite
pure I/O work, but it was a great experience with unique
travel opportunities.
Alumni
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I applied to PhD programs that year and was fortunate to
receive a few offers. I was persuaded by a friend I met at the
Consulting Challenge to go to the University of Tulsa, where he was completing his
PhD. I moved to Tulsa in August of 2005 and began the PhD program. Fortunately most
of my credits from MSU transferred, so I only had a couple years of classes to take plus
comprehensive examinations and the dissertation, of course. I completed a PhD in I/O
Psychology in March of 2008.
After being at the University of Tulsa for only a semester, I interviewed for an internship
at Hogan Assessment Systems. I began as a Research Assistant at Hogan in January
of 2006 and have been working at Hogan ever since. I spent the first three years at Hogan
on the research side of the house. Early on, most of my work centered on client
validation studies, establishing custom selection profiles for clients using Hogan's personality
and values assessments to hire "better" employees. After the first year or so, I
moved into the international side of research where I devoted all of my time to establishing
analyses and processes for a) assessing the equivalence of translated forms of the
assessments and b) creating local norms. A couple years ago I transitioned to the consulting
side of Hogan where I continue to work as an International Consultant today.
My primary role is to support distributors of our tools who operate in countries
primarily throughout Latin America and Europe. I consult with them to position our
tools for use with their own clients. I regularly travel around the world to conduct
workshops, deliver seminars, present at conferences, and meet with clients. In addition
to supporting distributors, I also maintain relationships with several direct clients, both
domestic and global. Although I do not have as many opportunities to "play with the
data" as much on the Consulting side, I am still a regular presenter at conferences both
domestic and international, and I try to steal away some time with SPSS to explore the
random and inane research questions that come to mind.