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Through an externship program over the January interim session, Leslie Saint ’04 shadowed Christina Seckar ’96, human resources manager at Schlumberger in Princeton Junction, N.J.
Saint learned about a variety of human resources issues, including employee relations, performance appraisals, compensation, benefits, and general management issues for this oil field services and technology company.
“I think Leslie got a pretty full dose of the variety of tasks a human resources professional experiences during her externship,” says Seckar. “She was introduced to the legal side of the job. While she was here, we dealt with some employee relations issues, and she also sat in on a management meeting. She also saw what goes on during the appraisal process, as we were in the middle of employee evaluations.”
“I really enjoyed the externship,” says Saint, who is majoring in psychology. “Two weeks before this experience, I did a PowerPoint presentation at Lafayette’s new employee orientation, so this was a nice addition to my knowledge of the field.”
She adds, “I’m particularly interested to see how business, psychology, and law all relate in the field of human resources. There were a lot of issues that I never considered would come into play, particularly with performance appraisals and some of the legal aspects of human resources.”
Saint was also intrigued to extern with Seckar, since she is a relatively new entry into the workforce.
“It’s good to get a young person’s perspective. She hasn’t been out of school too long, so I think she remembers what it’s like to make career choices,” she said.
Seckar, who describes Saint as “very interested, very professional, and very inquisitive,” was eager to give back to Lafayette by offering an externship to psychology majors.
“I did an externship when I was in school, and I know how much it helped me,” she says. “It feels great to return the favor.”
Regarding her experience at Lafayette, Saint says, “I’m really enjoying my time here and am looking forward to expanding on leadership roles. I especially like the small community atmosphere at Lafayette.”
A graduate of Garrison Forest School, Saint is a residence adviser and participates in the After-School Tutoring and the Kids in the Community programs conducted through the Landis Community Outreach Center.
Leslie Saint ’04 worked with Jeannine Pinto, assistant professor of psychology, on research entitled “Detection of Biological Motion Displays in the Visual Periphery.”