LER recently caught up with online MHRIR 2019 graduate, Tomika Jackson, and we loved hearing about her success since graduation.
Tomika started in the online program in 2017. Tomika reminisced on the time she had working with unions and realized between her experiences and seeing the experiences of her father who was heavily involved in union work for 20+ years at Good Year, that working with unions was where she wanted her career to go. “Union work is in my blood,” she says.
This encouraged her to apply for the online MHRIR program. Once accepted, Tomika worked tirelessly with the program Career Consultant to make her way back to employee relations, working directly with unions. After graduating Tomika pursued her SHRM-CP certification and passed her exam during her first attempt. It wasn’t long after she finished both her MHRIR and SHRM-CP certification that she was hired as the Employee Relations Specialist with Alvis Incorporated. Alvis is a non-profit human services agency that assists vulnerable populations with a variety of services from substance abuse treatment to housing, and services for individuals with developmental disabilities.
Just months into her work with Alvis, Tomika was sought after for the role of Human Resource and Development Coordinator for Service Employee International Union (SEIU). This role is newly-developed and will be responsible for building out the HR department and training union organizers. This new opportunity was described by Tomika as “her dream job.” She is going to stay on at Alvis Incorporated on a consulting basis as needed. She is thrilled to continue in that role; she loves working for non-profits and finding ways to help others.
LER is thrilled for Tomika as she takes on her new role at SEIU. Tomika is a great example of hard work and determination and she encourages others interested in making a career shift to HR to check out LER’s programs.
“I could not have done it without the University of Illinois,” says Tomika.