Category Archives: Careers

Riverset Credit Union and Community Relations

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What is community relations and what is it like working in the community relations field?  Patrick Flynn of Riverset Credit Union tells us a bit about his career to help us learn more.

Patrick Flynn & Lisa Florian

Patrick Flynn & Lisa Florian

RA: Please tell us a bit about yourself.

PF: I am a born and raised in Western Pennsylvanian.  I graduated from Pennsylvania State University, The Behrend College in Erie, PA in 2000, with a Bachelors Degree in Marketing with a Minor in Management.  I moved back to the Pittsburgh area after college to pursue my career opportunities.  I currently serve on the Advisory Committee for the Regional Internship Center and work as a District Director for Delta Sigma Pi, Professional Business Fraternity, at the University of Pittsburgh, where I serve as a mentor to Business students.  In my personal time, I’m a season ticket holder for the Pittsburgh Penguins and avid traveler and disc golfer.

RA: How did you come to Riverset?

PF: I’ve currently been working at Riverset for three years.  I was unhappy with the career path presented by my former employer so I began a job search and I found an ad for this job with Riverset on the Post Gazette/Monster job search engine.  I thought it was a natural fit for me as I’ve been a member of a credit union since my parents opened my first ever savings account.  I love the idea and the mission of credit unions and just went for it.  Best decision I’ve ever made.

RA: What is it like to work at Riverset?

PF: It is a wonderful working environment at Riverset.  Being that credit unions are “not-for-profit financial cooperatives”, it is a smaller workforce (only 32 employees).  Coming from a Fortune 500 and another large corporate organization, it is very refreshing.  I have an understanding boss who allows me to be me and do what needs to be done to make my position successful.  The best part is that it is always stressed that we do what is in the best interest of the member or potential member.  I love that aspect.

RA: What is community relations to Riverset?

PF: As we transitioned to a community chartered financial institution in 2009, we recognized that it was now more important than ever to reach out and help local businesses, organizations and individuals in the community.  That’s when the Community Relations part of my title was created.  I am tasked to research and schedule monthly community service events for our employees.  I try to find a nice mix of organizations to work with to make sure that we keep employees engaged.  I also will find opportunities, if available, on our end for us to make charitable or financial donations.  We have sponsored events for the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Habitat for Humanity and made charitable donations to Toys for Tots, Family House and Children’s Hospital.

Patrick Flynn with Riverset Awards

RA: What kinds of things do you do within a typical week?

PF: A lot of my time may be spent on visits to our “partner” companies to meet with their employees or researching new possible partner groups.  It is also spent looking over websites, reading local papers and searching out new opportunities for volunteering and community outreach.

RA: What other departments do you work with at Riverset?

PF: My job spans two different areas:  Business Development and Community Relations.  It is my job to go out and find businesses and organizations that would like to partner with Riverset and then schedule times where I can meet with their employees to educate them on our products and services.  It’s a wonderful balance of “business-to-business” and “end consumer” sales.

RA: What is a cool project you are working on currently?

PF: One of my favorite community relations projects, which is ongoing, is Dancing Classrooms Pittsburgh, a program of Mercy Behavioral Health.  Dancing Classrooms is a program placed into local elementary schools to help build social awareness, confidence and self-esteem in children through the practice of social dance.  The movies “Mad Hot Ballroom” and “Take the Lead” were based on this program.   The children are taught ballroom dancing during their gym classes for 10 weeks.  At the end, 6 couples are chosen to represent their school at a “Colors of the Rainbow Semi-Final” competition.  Those that are chosen are not just based on their dancing abilities but on their discipline and respect and hard work in school.  Currently, I am working on an upcoming fundraiser for the program to help keep the program moving forward in the upcoming years.  I am receiving the same dance lessons as the children did and will be dancing with my co-worker and 5 other couples in front of a lot of people to help raise funds.

RA: What else should people know about your job?

PF: Well, that  my job requires a lot of networking and the ability to be professional and know how to talk to anyone.  I have conversations with everyone from front-line staff to organization leaders and CEOs.  You have to know how to be able to work with everyone to develop community relations.  One of the most important things that anyone should know as they move forward in their education or career path is how to network.  This is a key aspect to me finding companies to work with both in the business and outreach levels.

RA: What great things do you have on the schedule at Riverset that we should be on the look out for?

PF: I am constantly tweaking and working on our outreach programs.  Upcoming, we will be volunteering with such wonderful organizations as The Bradley Center, Family House, Emmaus Community of Pittsburgh and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.  We are constantly updating our website with upcoming and completed events.  If you know of a great organization that you feel could use some help on the volunteer level, don’t hesitate to let me know.  I will always research any suggestion to see if it is a viable fit for our employees.

Thanks Patrick for giving us a glimpse into a career path in Community Relations! Don’t forget, The Regional Internship Center has partnered with Riverset on many occasions!  If you have a profile with the RIC, you are eligible for membership to Riverset.  Contact Patrick at pflynn@riverset.com

The RIC Helps Recruit Talent in High Demand Occupations

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now hiring high demand occupations

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The RIC seeks to recruit employers in industries experiencing high employment rates in southwestern PA.  You may ask yourself: What are the high demand occupations in Southwestern PA?  According to research conducted by the Pennsylvania Economy League and Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board, there are high demand occupations in our region throughout several industries which are experiencing high employment rates.

High demand occupations not only present high employment rates, but are projected to be available in southwestern PA for years to come.  High demand occupations are:

a) careers experiencing a high employment rates and demand for qualified professionals
b) careers that offer “living” and “family” wages

Interestingly, these high demand occupations are experiencing difficulties in recruiting employees to take on these jobs.  Often, the industries that have these high demand jobs see lower rates of people entering into training programs (2-and-4 year colleges) that would provide them the skills necessary to know the job, and often, students are not exposed to the careers these industries have to offer in the first place.

  • Does your company sometimes have difficulty finding employees that are trained and experienced?
  • Does your company have trouble recruiting the top talent because of the unique rate at which you recruit talent?
  • Does your company compete with larger companies across the country for top talent, and do you have difficulty recruiting at the national level?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you may belong to one of the many industries that are in need of high demand occupations.  The RIC wants to help your business recruit the best talent.

If your company seeks talent in the following high demand occupations and you would like the RIC to work with you, we want to hear from you. We can help you recruit talent by building or strengthening an internship program unique to your company, please contact Regina Anderson, Regional Internship Center Director at 412.258.2685, mailto:randerson@coropittsburgh.org to learn more.

High Demand Occupations
in Southwestern PA

TECHNICAL JOBS

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Manufacturing Production Technicians

Machinist

Solar Hot Water Heater Manufacturing Technician

Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay

Electro-Mechanical Technicians

Welders, Cutters, Solderers & Brazers

ENGINEERING JOBS

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Engineering Technician

Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technicians

Aerospace engineering and operations technicians

Industrial engineering technicians

Environmental Engineering Technicians

DRAFTERS

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Architectural & Civil Drafters

Electrical Drafters

Mechanical Drafters

INSTALL & REPAIR

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Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists

Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics

Telecommunications Equipment Installers & Repairers

BROADCASTING

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Audio and Video Technicians

Sound Engineering Technicians

Broadcast Technician

SCIENCE

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Biological technicians

 

LEGAL JOBS

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Court reporters

Paralegals & Legal Assistants

Legal Secretaries

HEALTH CARE JOBS

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Medical Secretaries

Occupational Therapists Assistants

Veterinary Technologists & Technicians

Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians

Medical Records and Health Information Technicians

Radiologic Technicians and Technologists

Registered Nurses

Respiratory Technicians

Dental Hygienists

Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians

Physical Therapist Assistants

Emergency Medical Technicians & Paramedics

Surgical Technologists

Licensed Practical & Licensed Vocational Nurses

Medical Transcriptionists

Medical Appliance Technicians

Pharmacy technicians

Home Health Aides

Nursing Aides, Orderlies & Attendants

Dental Assistants

Medical Assistants

Veterinary Assistants & Laboratory Animal Caretakers

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

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Computer Support Specialists

ADMINISTRATIVE

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Bookkeeping, Accounting & Auditing Clerks

Billing & Posting Clerks & Machine Operators

A Career in Arts Administration with Jessica Schmidt

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I had the opportunity to talk to Jessica Schmidt, Senior Director of Community Programs at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra about her career path.  This is the first of three blog posts where Jessica talks about her career path, landing her position at the PSO, and what it’s like having a career in community outreach and arts administration.

 

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

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RA:  Tell us a little bit about yourself

JS:  I was born and raised in Minot, North Dakota.  I am very proud of my upper Midwest upbringing, as any of my friends/colleagues will tell you (as they roll their eyes at me when I share, for the 45th time, the story about how I missed my senior prom due to a blizzard…).  I began playing the French Horn when I was 10.  Music and the arts were a very important part of allowing me to establish my identity and to connect with both my local world and a world beyond my hometown.

I chose the arts as my area of career focus in college, attending Indiana University in Bloomington, IN as a music major with a political science secondary focus.  Even as a musician in college, I knew that the arts administration side of the field was an area that I was interested in and passionate about.  As someone from a smaller town that was located ten hours from the nearest big city, I was appreciative of the impact the arts had on me and how the arts broadened my perspectives and experiences.  I wanted to be a part of creating greater access to that diversity of experiences for others, and arts administration gave me a chance to do that.

Jessica SchmidtI spent a summer after graduation interning with the Austin Symphony Orchestra.  That experience helped me to be sure that arts administration was truly the route I wanted to take in my career path, and it gave me practical experience that proved to be invaluable during graduate school.  I then went to Southern Methodist University for my graduate work, where I received my MA in Arts Administration as well as my MBA.  During my graduate school years, I was fortunate to have regular practicum/internship experiences that helped to shape the specifics around my areas of career interest and to connect me to people in the arts administration field that would prove to be important to my development. Specifically, I spent a year interning with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in their Education Department, a semester working with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Development Department, and a summer working for the Communications Department of the Dallas Theater Center.  After grad school, I had the great fortune of acquiring an arts administration job with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Education Department, where I worked for three years under the leadership of my grad school mentor.

RA: How did you come to Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra? (PSO)
JS: I moved to Pittsburgh from Dallas in 2005 to take the Director of Education and Community Engagement position at the PSO, and have since become the PSO’s Senior Director of Community Programs.  I manage community programs for the PSO as well as our diversity work.  Finding administrative jobs in the orchestra field–and in the arts administration world, in general–tends to be a lot like finding jobs as a professional musician: you have to wait for a rare opening that fits your skill set and interests, and then you must be prepared to make a physical move across the country if you are lucky enough to “land the job.” In the case of the PSO position, I was fortunate enough to find a position that fit my passions for arts administration, allowed me to grow in my experiences, and be happy at a world-class organization with great colleagues…all located in an amazing city.  I’m a lucky person!

Learn more about community outreach and arts administration from Jessica in our upcoming blog posts!

 

Let’s Talk about Our Career Path

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Community Engagement and Outreach career path

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The RIC loves exploring career paths.  We also love asking people how they came into their current positions.  If there is one thing I know is that very few people have a clear career path.  Opportunities to follow a career path present themselves and through various factors such as our decision-making, our personalities, luck, failures and our overall goals, we end up at our current positions and when we look at our career path trajectory, we wonder how did we get from here to there?

Be on the lookout for our various posts about career paths of various people, and various jobs on the RIC blog.  We have a whole section called “Careers” on the blog dedicated to talking about career paths to help give some resources, tips, and guidance to help you along the way when making decisions about your career path.  We’ll be adding more resources and stories, and of course we want to hear from you, too.

 

Why I Want a Career in Sports

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career in sports

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My name is Nicole Runac, I am currently a student at California University of Pennsylvania and I am studying Sports Management with a concentration in Wellness and Fitness.  I chose this major because of my love for sports–the exhilaration and adrenaline found in a game, plus the desire to see the team I love win–as well as my love for science–knowing the anatomy of a human beings, animals and plants.  I find it so intriguing to see objects at a closer perspective inside and out.

My future career in sports will hopefully consist of being at the top of the line health care for professional athletes all around the globe.  I plan on diagnosing injured athletes to any specific rehabilitation that they need in order to preserve and reverse their injury.  I would like my day to consist of working with patients on repetitions to rebuild their weak muscles, as well as working with athletes to ensure healthy eating habits while they are on injury reserve, to keep their bodies strong to get back to their game.

The coolest thing I have learned so far in my program is that anywhere I decide to settle down, there will always be a career in sports waiting for me and that is a huge confidence booster to know that I have that security in today’s economy.

My dream internship would be at UPMC or Allegheny General Hospital because I would get to meet the best of the best in the Pittsburgh area and have the honor of working beside someone who expresses the same love for what we do everyday.  Being the best is something that I try to accomplish everyday.  It makes me feel not only so much better about myself, but knowing that I have done all that I can to help someone in need.  I’ve always cared about other people ever since I could remember.  Helping someone fulfills my aspirations because that is what I live for.

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My advice to students who are considering Sports Management and a career in sports would be to just take a few classes and see if the major interests you.  I went into California University of Pennsylvania as a liberal arts student.  I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to pursue.  I went through many different classes to see what I like and what I didn’t like.  My Professor Dr. Yarbrough shined the light on sports management and stressed to sports management students what we’re  able to accomplish as a group.   My admiration for Dr. Yarbrough has increased over the semester because he was right there when I needed help when I did not accomplish as much as I wanted to achieve that week.  He has taken me so far already in one semester by showing me what he has accomplished in his  life and for that I will be forever inspired as well as grateful.  I love all of my professors, for they have shown me the exact same attention that every student deserves.

Nanofabrication Internship Experience

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The RIC team loves nothing more than hearing back from students or employers about successfully completed internship programs.

 

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We also love when we get to see our interns in action. We were lucky enough to get a behind-the-scenes tour from a current intern to catch a glimpse of his internship in progress.

Jake Young came to the Regional Internship Center from California University of Pennsylvania, where he is working toward a Bachelor of Science with a minor in Biology and a concentration in Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology. Completing internships is a requirement for many students, including Jake.

After searching for nanofabrication internship opportunities to no avail, Jake reached out to the RIC team.

Our challenge: find an nanofabrication internship program that would meet his internship program requirements and provide valuable work experience toward his interests in the scientific and manufacturing field. I set to work, (first by finding out what a nanofabrication internship entailed). It wasn’t long before Jake was matched and began his internship at Cosmos Technologies.

Once I heard about the success Jake was having at his new internship, I had to learn about the day-to-day events of an intern at Cosmos Technologies that I helped bring together.

 

Frequently honored and fast growing Cosmos Technologies has more than quadrupled in size since 2005.

 

Cosmos Technologies is an engineering, environmental management, construction management and energy consulting firm based in Pittsburgh’s Northside. The company’s founder and Jake’s supervisor, Frederick Douglas, graciously let me inside his offices to see how the company was successfully using the help of interns. Mr. Douglas sees his decision to host interns as part of the role of Cosmos Technologies in their commitment to social and civic engagement saying, “A Cosmos bedrock principle is in finding a way to give back to society. Helping interns with their education is a great way to give back.”

Jake is gaining hands-on work experience carrying out chemical reactions and taking detailed notes and learning broader lessons about his personal strengths and career goals.

When talking with Jake and Mr. Douglas,  each touched on a common theme: the importance of internship programs in providing sills and learning independence by gaining work experience. Mr. Douglas urges Jake to think through problem solving for himself with guidance from the experts at Cosmos Technologies.  Through practice,  Jake began to trust his own analysis of what constitutes sound scientific inquiry.

As time progressed Jake was better able to define project objectives, and craft strategies for solving independently developed hypotheses.

Jake noted, “Being able to work on your own teaches you to think independently and try new things. The independence is different from my class experience.”

Jake will graduate this December and says he definitely wants to pursue a career that allows him to do work similar to what he did at Cosmos Technologies.

For more information about internships with Cosmos Technologies and other exciting companies,  keep checking our live feed on the RIC website or contact the RIC team for more details.