10 BHCC Magazine

From a stint as a paratrooper in Iraq,

Gregory Walsh knew how to jump out of an

airplane from 1,000 feet up. But he was a bit

apprehensive when he walked through the

door for his first day at State Street Corporation

in downtown Boston. “I didn’t know what to

expect,” said Walsh, a Bunker Hill Community

College business major who had signed up for

a new initiative called Learn and Earn in which

20 BHCC students were matched with major

Massachusetts corporations to work one or

two days a week for 14 weeks.

The Plymouth, Massachusetts, native, who

had once worn the uniform of the U.S. Army

was now wearing a sleek suit and tie as he

headed into a leading financial service

provider that administers more than $23.2

trillion in assets worldwide.

What he found working in the “talent

acquisition” area of human resources

surprised and pleased him: a welcoming

workplace in which he drew on skills learned

in BHCC classes like Accounting Information

Systems and Introduction to Business. Then

came an unexpected bonus: at the end of the

14-week Learn and Earn program he was

offered a full-time summer internship that

would boost this 28-year-old’s résumé for

employment after graduation.

“Through Learn and Earn, students get

to do something they wouldn’t be able to do

otherwise—the opportunity to prove their

value,” Walsh said.

Walsh was one of five BHCC students

placed at State Street through the Learn

and Earn program initiated at the College in

January 2012. Another was Matthew Hobert,

a U.S. Marine and BHCC business major, who

was matched with the Corporate Development

and Global Relations Management Department.

There, he was assigned to work on what began

as a two-day project intended to chart traffic at

financial web sites. He became so interested in

the data that Nidhi V. Shandilya, assistant vice

president in the Center for Applied Research,

increased the project’s scope to an analysis of

large and small investor web behavior during

market fluctuations. In July, Hobert presented

his findings to a group that included not only

fellow interns but top State Street officials.

“Matt has been absolutely fantastic to work

with,” Shandilya said after Hobert’s presentation.

“He is very calm and composed; he absorbs

a lot of information and reflects back on that.

That’s a great asset.”

Hobert, like Walsh, was also offered a summer

internship. In fact, four of the five Learn and Earn

students matched with State Street continued

with a summer internship; a fifth, who had

graduated, was hired to work part time. “The

students came in here with guns blazing, so to

speak, essentially to do a good job,” said

Richard Curtis, manager of Community

Recruiting Programs at State Street.

Apparently, they succeeded.

Barely a year earlier, BHCC President Mary

L. Fifield had sat down for a meeting with

members of the Massachusetts Competitive

Partnership (MACP), a coalition of 15

influential Massachusetts CEOs. The group

discussed creating a pilot program at Bunker

Hill Community College, replicable elsewhere,

that would prepare Massachusetts community

college students for the workplace by giving

them the chance to step into a corporate

setting at a major company. Much of the

inspiration for the initiative came from

Bill Swanson, Chair and CEO of Raytheon.

Swanson had earned an associate degree

from a community college in San Luis Obispo,

California, before graduating from California

Getting a Foot in the DoorThe Learn and Earn Program of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership takes students into some of Greater Boston’s most prestigious firms for workplace experience

State Street Corporation

Adelina Keshishian worked at EMC in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, where she evaluated requests for grants to nonprofit groups submitted by employees. At the close of the semester she was asked to return for an internship in the fall. Opposite: Student Gregory Walsh at State Street Corporation.

EMC

BHCC Magazine 11

12 BHCC Magazine

Rather, it was to provide students with

transferable experience and skills that would

help them whether they go on to attend four-

year colleges or enter the job market after

earning their BHCC degree.

For students like business major Jamal Kirk,

who had enrolled in BHCC to make a career

change after a less than satisfying career in

retail, the program was a chance to see if his

entrepreneurial spirit, creativity and ambition

would have a place amid the suits of corporate

culture. He was passionate about business

but wasn’t sure where to find the best fit. In

his previous job, he said, “They called me ‘the

visionary,’ they called me ‘the maverick,’ but

they didn’t know how to make the best use

of my innate talents.”

At BHCC, Kirk concentrated in business

and helped found the Entrepreneurship Club,

which has won plaudits for its ingenuity in

marketing and promotion. (See story, page

20.) When Kirk heard about the Learn and

Earn program, he applied. “I really wanted to

give the corporate world another shot,” he said.

He worked in a position at EMC in the

technology giant’s social media division,

where he helped write content for one of the

company’s technology blogs. Working at the

Hopkinton, Massachusetts, headquarters of

the multinational corporation—which ranks

152 in the Fortune 500 and had reported

revenues of $20 billion in 2011—he got a

front-row seat on the company’s use of social

trends. “I wanted to see how a big company

leverages social media to connect with their

customers and improve their branding,” he

said. “I wanted to see how they use tools like

Facebook and Twitter and blogs.”

He was impressed with what he saw, and

EMC, apparently, was impressed with him —

he was asked to stay on for a summer internship

after the BHCC program ended. Indeed, more

than half the students in the Learn and Earn

program were asked to stay on for an internship

after the BHCC program concluded for the

academic year.

Adelina Keshishian is one of them. An

admittedly lackluster high school student

who enrolled at BHCC several years after high

school when she realized that her esthetician

job did not engage all of her skills, Keshishian

bloomed at the College as a business major.

She jumped at the chance to be matched with

EMC. She worked in the company's community

involvement department, where the 26-year-

old evaluated requests for grants to non-profit

groups submitted by employees. She was asked

to serve an internship in the fall when she

returns to school.

“I felt the need to understand business,”

said Keshishian, who plans to get a master’s

degree and is now also considering law school.

Pierre Bernadeau, 31, who enrolled at

BHCC to study finance and accounting, was

pleased at the atmosphere of BJ’s Wholesale

Club—which operates more than 180 locations

in 15 states and employs 24,000 throughout

the eastern United States. He worked in the

company’s finance department. “It is a very

people-oriented culture,” he said. “They focus

on providing clients the best possible prices for

the products they are getting, while making

employees feel at home.”

Bernadeau had previously worked in an

area related to health insurance and now he

had a chance to “compare different models

of company culture.” He discovered that a

good atmosphere produces motivation. “The

woman I work for in the tax department is

such a great manager, I would rather leave at 8

p.m. at night to make sure the work is done. It’s

not that I’m afraid of her or her position—it’s

how she treats people.” He even got a chance

to sit down for a chat with BJ’s CEO Laura Sen.

He was asked to stay for a summer internship.

Like Bernadeau, Mike Demers came to

BHCC seeking to retool his career. He had

worked 20 years in a range of management

positions but lost his job in the spring of 2010.

“They say you should treat your job search

like a job, but after searching for 40 hours a

week for two months, I didn’t have a single

call-back because I didn’t have a degree,” the

44-year-old Demers said. “I thought long and

hard about what I want to do. I looked into

returning to school. I didn’t want to continue

in management because I wanted to diversify

my skill-set a bit.”

Demers enrolled at BHCC in the fall of 2010

to study information technology, and applied

to the Learn and Earn program, where he was

matched with Raytheon in its corporate IT

headquarters. Raytheon Company, with 2011

sales of $25 billion and 71,000 employees

worldwide, specializes in defense, homeland

security and other government markets.

Demers found his team to be welcoming and

his manager “awesome,” and while his position

was not precisely in line with his education

focus, it definitely related to what he wanted

to do in his future career. Demers was given

a capstone project for browser security

Polytechnic State University with a bachelor's

degree in industrial engineering.

Bunker Hill Community College has a long

track record of working with local industry to

provide hands-on learning opportunities for

students. Over the years it has placed thousands

of students in hundreds of Massachusetts

companies in fields ranging from accounting

and nursing to criminal justice, culinary arts

and information technology.

The new program took a different approach:

local employers—acting as a group—made

a commitment to Bunker Hill Community

College students to create workplace

learning opportunities that provide the kind

of experience that can lead to employment.

“Learn and Earn is a win-win. Students gain

valuable on-the-job training while employers

can observe them in action and make

informed hiring decisions,” said Daniel

O’Connell, MACP president and CEO.

Starting in February 2012, 20 BHCC students

were matched with positions at five of the

region’s biggest companies: State Street

Corporation, EMC, Raytheon, BJ’s Wholesale

Club and Suffolk Construction. Students

worked one day a week at the company (or,

in the case of BJ’s Wholesale Club, two days)

and were paid a competitive hourly wage.

They worked in areas like finance, accounting,

marketing, human resources, technology and

engineering. They found real-life applications

for BHCC coursework and quickly picked up

new skills. They made valuable contacts for

future networking. They gained deeper insight

into how to speak, dress and react in a corporate

environment or a highly professional situation.

“I had never worked in a corporate setting;

it was a good experience,” said BHCC business

student Daena Jeanne Lleva Goldney, 24,

who was matched with BJ’s. Likewise, “I didn’t

have much experience on the corporate side

of the work world,” said Savita Goswami, 27, a

business major, assigned to State Street, who

gained skills in presentations, teamwork and

vendor negotiations. “It was an opportunity

to go beyond the books and really challenge

myself,” said David Chambers, who worked

at Raytheon.

Hobert, who has a broad range of interests,

had hoped the Learn and Earn program would

help him decide which area of business he

should focus on. But, he said, sounding not

at all displeased, “Ironically, I’m interested in

more aspects of business. I haven’t narrowed

my focus. I’ve broadened it.”

Learn and Earn was not meant to funnel

students directly into a job at a particular

company—although that may be among the

outcomes—or into a specific career choice.

BHCC Magazine 13

GETTINGTHE JOB DONE

"Learn and Earn is a win-win. Students gain valuable on-the-job training while employers can observe them in action and make informed hiring decisions. We hope to expand the program at Bunker Hill Community College and to other community colleges."

Daniel O'ConnellPresident & CEO

Massachusetts Competitive Partnership

Suffolk Construction

BHCC business major Matthew Hobert presents his findings on small investor web behavior during market fluctuations to a group that included top officials at State Street Corporation.

State Street Corporation

BHCC student Maxim Khristenko (right) interviews for a position in the program with a representative of Suffolk Construction. Kristenko’s résumé describes him as a self-directed and enterprising business student interested in strategic marketing.

14 BHCC Magazine BHCC Magazine 15

grounds,” said Sharon Schaff, BHCC Director

of Career and Internship Programs. “The

investment by our Learn and Earn employer

partners has really given this program an edge.”

Theresa Trant, 30, an accounting major

matched with Suffolk Construction, said, “I

would definitely encourage others to try out

Learn and Earn because it helped me decide

if I would like working in the accounting field.

While I was studying accounting I was unsure

if I would enjoy working in that field, and this

program showed me that I would. It helped me

focus more on the direction I want to go in.”

All the students realized that they were

pioneers in a pilot program, a program that

will be continued because of their hard work.

Dr. James F. Canniff, Vice President of

Academic Affairs and Student Services, made

that clear in a meeting with Learn and Earn

students, saying: “This program is expanding

because these businesses were impressed

with you. I’m not sure they knew much about

community colleges. They have begun to

understand the value of the student experience

at BHCC and other community colleges.”

Representatives of Learn and Earn companies

reported to Schaff that “participating BHCC

students are enthusiastic, professional, prepared

and well-dressed. They fit in with their teams,

provide fresh perspective and ask good questions.”

Richard Curtis, of State Street Corporation,

said the company was delighted to build upon

its partnership with BHCC. “These five students

made a difference in a company of 30,000.

Their presence was very noticed—not because

of where they came from but because of their

individual contributions,” he said.

Learn and Earn itself appears set to make

an important contribution to the education

of community college students in the area.

The Massachusetts Competitive Partnership

program not only gives students a chance to

gain work experience at major companies, it

forecasts a strong and growing partnership

between BHCC and leading companies in

Greater Boston that can be replicated at other

community colleges in the Commonwealth. n

In a show of support for the new program that takes community college students into major Massachusetts corporations for hands-on experience, Governor Deval Patrick met personally with students selected for the pilot in the spring semester of 2012.

GETTINGTHE JOB DONE

"As employers, we value the unique talent and maturity of Bunker Hill Community College's student body. From students who have served in the military to those who balance coursework with jobs and family life, these motivated individuals are ready to contribute from day one."

John F. Fish Chairman of the Board

Massachusetts Competitive Partnership

Founder, President & CEO Suffolk Construction

A BHCC student discusses a position at Raytheon with a company representative at a recruitment event at the College.

Raytheon

“The Massachusetts Competitive Partnership program not only gives our students a chance to gain work experience at

major companies, it forecasts a strong and growing partnership between BHCC and leading companies in Greater Boston

that can be replicated at other community colleges in the Commonwealth.” Mary L. Fifield

President, Bunker Hill Community College

Gubernatorial Encouragement

Student Pierre Bernadeau was placed in the finance department at BJ’s Wholesale Club, headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts.

compliance. His BHCC classes in Excel helped

him create a sophisticated spreadsheet, with a

plethora of data, which he had to present to his

leadership team. He received special training

in Six Sigma—a business process improvement

standard—provided by Raytheon. A highlight of

his experience was taking this capstone project

through the Six Sigma certification process. He

recalled the nervous thrill of hitting the submit

button at 5:03 p.m. on the last day of the Learn

and Earn program that sent his data into the

Raytheon system.

But that wasn’t the end. Demers went on to

work part time during the summer at Raytheon.

“I’m getting to manage the project I created,”

he said. He’s also taking care of his daughter

and preparing to transfer to Boston University

in the fall to major in computer science.

Many students reported that their BHCC

studies dovetailed with what they encountered

at their companies. Hobert found that his work

in the accounting department of State Street

Corporation—areas like issuing stocks and

bond prices and how mutual funds work—

were being covered in his Accounting II course.

“Material that I was learning in accounting,

I was also hearing about and seeing in action

at State Street,” Hobert said. “I took what I was

applying at State Street and brought it back to

class and did a five-minute presentation four

weeks in a row.”

But working in a corporate environment is

more than acquiring a certain skill-set. Learn

and Earn students talked about the value of

picking up “soft skills,” learning how to interact,

present ideas and even dress in a corporate

culture. “I think the first and most important

thing I learned about corporate culture was

how to carry yourself—how to present your-

self in a business environment,” Walsh said.

Sherimon Harris, 22, an engineering major

at BHCC, was matched with Suffolk Construction,

Boston’s biggest building contractor, and one

of the largest private companies in the U.S. She

visited job sites and worked in project manage-

ment in the company’s headquarters. “I got a

chance to shadow a Suffolk engineer for a day,”

she said. “It is definitely good to see yourself

in places like this when you’re learning theory,”

she said. “You can ask, ‘Can I see myself working

in this place? Can I see myself doing this?’”

Patrick Rowe could. The international business

major was placed at Suffolk Construction in

the marketing department where he helped

with competitive analysis and social media

research. He was, he said, privileged to be at the

company at an unusual time, when it was changing

its branding under a “Build Smart” slogan.

“What prepared me was the Principles of

Marketing class at BHCC,” he said. “That

grounded me in what to expect. Going in, I

utilized what I learned and learned new ways

to approach certain things.”

Rowe made a major presentation on how

competitors were using social media, with

recommendations for Suffolk to consider. “I got

a lot of positive feedback,” he said. “It was great

to present to such knowledgeable people.”

The companies noticed. “As employers, we

value the unique talent and maturity of Bunker

Hill Community College’s student body,” said

John Fish, MACP Chair and Suffolk Construction

President and CEO. “From students who have

served in the military to those who balance

coursework with jobs and family life, these

motivated individuals are ready to contribute

from day one.”

Jose Ortiz, 23, who transferred to BHCC in

September with a business concentration,

worked in the immigration compliance

department of EMC. He plans to apply to

institutions such as Babson College and

Harvard University after graduation, with the

goal of working as a consultant to non-profit

organizations. He praised MACP companies

for giving community college students “the

opportunity to learn something new.”

The benefits will eventually accrue to the

businesses, he believes. “These companies

may not see the results right away. That they

planted a seed is important,” he said.

Students also plant seeds among classmates.

“They come back to the class to talk with their

peers about their experience and that has a

greater impact on other students than hearing

it from a professor,” said Paul E. Rivers, Professor

in the Business Administration Department,

who helped to identify candidates for the pilot

Learn and Earn program.

The program will be expanded in the

2012-2013 academic year. Two additional

companies, Bank of America and Fidelity

Investments, are participating; the number

of slots for students will be increased from 20

to 45 with more opportunities in engineering,

graphic arts and technology. Students will

work at least 16 hours a week and be enrolled

for a standard 3-credit academic internship

course in their major.

“This immersion in the corporate headquarters

of flagship Massachusetts companies has provided

a transformational learning experience for our

students, who come from very diverse back-

BJ's Wholesale Club