S1E4: Liz Hergert, Iowa State University

We are wrapping up Season 1 of the podcast with an interview of the new incoming president of CPI! Liz Hergert is originally from the Amana Colonies, but attended Iowa State University for college and is now a Career Education Coordinator at ISU in the LAS Career Services office. Listen in as Liz discusses her CPI goals for the next year including increasing ways for CPI members to build a network and increasing data driven employer feedback tracking.

 

 

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the career professionals Iowa College to Careers Podcast. I'm your host, Robert Frederick. I currently serve as the President of the Career Professionals of Iowa, or CPI, and also serve as the Director of Career Services at the University of Northern Iowa. Career Professionals of Iowa members include career services professionals from Iowa's community colleges, iowa's private colleges and universities, and Iowa's Regent Universities. The goal of our podcast is to explore the world of work, how it connects with colleges and employers, the pathways to post graduation success, the nature of recruiting internships, full time jobs, and concepts, ideas, and practices that help students go from college to career. In this episode, and it's going to be a great one. I have the pleasure of talking to Liz Herger, the incoming President of CPI. Liz is a career education coordinator at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University. Welcome to the podcast, Liz. 

 U2 

 1:20 

 Thanks so much. I'm really excited to be here, Robert. 

 U1 

 1:24 

 Oh, I'm excited that you are here, and thank you for stepping up to become President of Career Professionals of Iowa. It's nice when people volunteered to commit to continuing the success of this wonderful organization. 

 U2 

 1:37 

 Well, I feel like I've seen some excellent presidents in the past, so I think I got some big shoes to fill. 

 U1 

 1:43 

 Your shoes are the right size. Hey. A little about yourself. Just kind of like your background, where you come from. Sure. 

 U2 

 1:50 

 Yep. So I am from the Amana colonies, and if anyone on the podcast is from Amana or the surrounding area, I feel like the first question I always get asked is, are you Amish? And so I'd like to just set the records straight here today. Explain that every room from Amana has modern technology and we are not Amish. So yeah. Grew up in Amana. I have a twin sister. She lives in Cedar Rapids, works as a nurse. 

 U1 

 2:19 

 Yeah. 2s Well, when you say Amanda colonies, 1s I went to the University of Iowa as an undergrad and going out to the 1s what's? One of the colonies? 

 U2 

 2:31 

 Okay, great question. Yeah. So I live in Middle Amana, so that giant lily lake is in my parents'backyard. It's just like two minutes from Main Amana. 

 U1 

 2:42 

 That is so do you do the old Oktoberfest action while you're there? 

 U2 

 2:48 

 You bet. I feel like you cannot grow up in Amana and not go back for 2s my so my dad managed the meat shop in Amanda for like several years and we are all into it. Like broth sauerkraut. Some people choose to dress up that's not me. But respect it. I respect the people who do. 

 U1 

 3:10 

 We have a huge Oktoberfest celebration every year in Waverley. Actually, my wife is the co founder of and I am a perpetual volunteer of and. So I do like to throw on the later hose in once in a while. So good for you. 2s So give us a little background. What do you do at State University? 

 U2 

 3:32 

 Yes. Yep. So my job title is career education coordinator, which you've already mentioned, which essentially means that I oversee the required career prep course for all liberal arts and sciences students at Iowa State. 1s So this is an eight week course that's offered online in person, and it pretty much walks them through anything from application material, job internship tips, salary negotiation, interview prep. And the reason we kind of actually created this class is we've heard a lot from students when they're submitting their grad outcomes information and they're like, oh, I wish I had a class that taught me about resume. I wish I had a class that helped me understand how to find an internship. And so it's been a process. It wasn't required. It just got approved to be required for students. And so all students starting fall 2024 will be required to take it in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. 

 U1 

 4:28 

 Right, yeah. I know the curriculum process at universities is a little complicated. Yes, that sounds great. 2s Along the way, does that mean students met with you besides just the follow up data and their input was part of the design, or did you meet with other places on campus that already do this? Yeah, that's a really good question and I should have prefaced this in my last response. So I am like about two months into this 1s from Tessa. She's the director now, and I know that Tessa has met with several people who do have required courses and has taken a lot of their insight to develop the class previously. Before Tessa was in it, there was another person, Angela Wagner, and she really was the first one to set it up. And she came from Business Career Services where they've had a required course. 

 U2 

 5:23 

 I would say it's just been this constant, which I think all classes should know. Teach the class, get feedback from the students, evaluate, make changes as necessary. Yeah, 

 U1 

 5:33 

 that sounds great. Really exciting work. Yeah. 1s So with respect to CPI, talk about your activities, engagement, thoughts about career professionals of Iowa. Yeah, 

 U2 

 5:46 

 I should tell you, I think gosh back when I would state for six years and I've worked in several offices there. So the first time that I went to a CPI conference was like fresh out of college and I was in my first real job and I remember going and I was like, this is so like you have those needs, large scale. Right. But it doesn't really feel like. 1s Iowa's home. I feel like we all are kind of doing the same thing here, but we're all so close too. So I think I've attended every single CPI conference except this year I think will be my first one that I haven't. And 2s I've done the CPI mentor program, so I've been a mentee, now I'm a mentor. I've done the networking, the PDP networking. I think that's so fun just to meet people and then now I'm going to be moving into the President role. So, yeah, really excited. I think this is a great organization. What I love most about this is just the opportunities for you to network with people in Iowa who are doing similar things. And I often say we don't need to reinvent the wheel. Probably someone else has had this problem in the past, we should be talking more. And I think the P to P networking and the CPI mentor program, I feel like all of those are in the conference as well. Just great ways to kind of just learn from each 

 U1 

 7:06 

 other. Yeah. I've always deeply appreciated the opportunity to connect with colleagues. 2s It's not a huge number of people who have the privilege of doing career counseling and working in this space and it's fun to meet people who are experts in their field with respect to careers as well. So I agree 100%. It makes it a lot of fun. So you're coming in, you somehow got talked into being president and here you are. So what are you thinking? Are your goals and ideas with respect to the new role you're about to begin in 

 U2 

 7:42 

 July? Yes, I have a lot of ideas. I'm not sure if they're going to come to fruition, but I think one of the first things that I feel like I'd really like to do is just get some feedback from the members and just kind of learn where they're at, what resources, what topics do they feel like CPI can help them with. So to anyone listening, I would say probably expect a survey coming out just to get a little bit more about how they feel like CPI can support them. But outside of that, and I think that will also kind of help the executive committee decide what projects, trainings, whatever to kind of pursue to help our members. But I think some other really cool things. And again, I'm not sure this is like big topic, so we'll see what happens. But I think something that Nace does that's really cool, that I would love to see CPI maybe take on is a little bit more of. 

 U1 

 8:41 

 A little bit more of the data and the employer interactions and interface. So, again, not sure if it's feasible, not sure if it will come to fruition. But I think it'd be really cool to kind of do more surveys and get more of that feedback from employers in terms of anything such as, like sometimes we even get questions. It'd be something simple, like a question about 1s do you prefer, like, a professional summary on a resume or do you not? Or tell us, does your organization use an applicant tracking system? To what extent? I think that this can really help us as career professionals deliver that feedback that we're hearing from employers that are currently in the field right. Trying to recruit students. So something like that, I think would be really cool. Still kind of thinking through it. And then I'd also like to 1s kind of do a similar event to what we did. Gosh, oh, man, how many weeks ago was it? Maybe like a month ago in Des Moines with the Greater Des Moines Partnership. 

 U2 

 9:39 

 The connection with career professionals, with employers, I think is so important. And I know it takes a little bit of planning, but events like those where you can hear again from those employers about what they're seeking, I think is just critical to us as experts in the field. Right. And so I would love, love to try and do that in the Cedar Rapid Diva City area and. 2s I think that it's going to take a little bit of planning, maybe. I'm not sure if there's ever been one in the past. Do you know if there's ever been? 

 U1 

 10:10 

 Yeah, there has. And also there's ongoing conversations, right? 2s Yeah. Because obviously 1s the Greater Debut Development Corporation really got this kicked off and 1s Kristen Diesel was the first one to really get that's going. Mandy dolson now does it in dubuque. And then just talking with Janae Sikik over the spring and really encouraging her and sending her information about how this is done other places, and then having Des Moines do that. Des Moines partnership do that. I mean, you obviously saw the value of think I think the second largest city in Iowa is Cedar Rapids. So it's like the corridor should probably do something like this. Quite frankly, I'd love to see something out on the western part of the state as well, whether it's the Sioux land area or Council Bus Omaha area and even the Quad Cities. But you're right, when you get 20 employers plus in a room and you can meet with all of them in just one day, it's two really important things are happening there. One is from an employer development side. I love connecting with all the employers I can, but the second piece is just the information share the current state of employment talent acquisition onboarding, how they recruit, who they recruit. 1s I think probably there's a third thing that I always try to do, which is I try to inform the employers, too. Right. 1s Because a lot of times I've talked to employers like, oh, we're looking for certain kinds of people we want to recruit. 1s I think it's important to give them feedback as well, like who you send to the fair matters and when you only select certain majors instead of all majors, you're eliminating some incredible talent and skill sets are changing. So I think CPI has a great role to play in this is as a collective of career professionals. I agree. I think we have a voice that can be used to not only understand what's happening on the employer side, but also influence employers, as you know. Hopefully, Liz, you'll get the opportunity to have a career day down at the Capitol. We were hoping to get that this past year, but obviously our idea of doing it didn't coincide with how early you have to register a spot. 1s So I will be happy to share that with information with you so you can try to secure a table in the Capital when they're in session, which is an incredibly busy schedule, as it turns out. 

 U2 

 12:44 

 Yeah, I have this giant list of, I don't know, it's just on my desktop right now. It's called CPI info dump. And like, yes, the capital is on there too. So these are just ideas bouncing around, excited to get the whole executive team together and just kind of. Start laying out some plans. 

 U1 

 13:01 

 Yeah, there's amazing people over the years, great people involved in the organization, but also in leadership. And it's been really fun to see people from different types of institutions, different levels of experience, but passionate about helping young people with careers, and that's been really fun. 2s When you think about the next year and being involved with CPI and some of your ideas, what's your kickoff going to be? You're going to give us, apparently, a video? Because you might want to tell the listeners, like, why won't you be at the conference? Where are you going to be? 

 U2 

 13:41 

 Yes, I know. I'm so sad. I feel like, again, I think I've been to every single conference and then the one that I think really matters. Right, I won't be. So I'm attending the Nace Management Leadership Institute, which Robert, have you been to it before? Have you sent some people? 

 U1 

 13:57 

 So I have sent people, 

 U2 

 13:59 

 yeah. That's what I thought. Yeah. It's just I think a really 

 U1 

 14:03 

 I existed long before it existed, so people since 

 U2 

 14:10 

 shoot, they just unfortunately overlap. So I will be at the Naise Management Leadership Institute when the conference is happening this summer, but instead I'm going to send a short video in again, kind of similar to today, talking about myself and kind of what my goals are as far as what I want to kick it off with. Oh, gosh, I'm not sure if I super duper have that answer, but 1s I think probably what listeners should just be prepared for is just to expect that survey to come out and we just want to hear a little bit from them, right. So that the team can serve them in the best way. Right. That's kind of my vision as president, just to give back to the members and make sure we're doing things that they want us to do and that they need help 

 U1 

 14:56 

 with. Yeah, I agree. That's great. 1s I was thinking back a few minutes ago, you'd mentioned the P to P program, and I have loved that myself. I've really enjoyed that time to connect with somebody who I don't know, sometimes 1s just to have an hour to chat with someone. Wow, that's been really fun. So 1s it's a cool way to network, isn't it? 

 U2 

 15:20 

 It really is. And it's interesting because it. I would say kind of like our counterparts at Uni or at Iowa. I'm like, wow, this is the first time I've talked to you and we are doing very similar things. And then I talked to one person, right, and they're like, well, you should really connect with this person. At Iowa they teach one of the careers courses and I'm like, oh, that's so great. And so networking often leads to more networking. 

 U1 

 15:45 

 Super. So how can people get in touch with Liz, obviously beginning in July becoming President, if someone wants to reach out and connect with you, what's the best way for that to happen? I 

 U2 

 15:57 

 mean, they can certainly connect with me on LinkedIn, but I'm also open to just sending me an email. 1s So my email is Ehert at ifstate.edu and then I think my LinkedIn is Elizabeth Hergart or Liz Hergert. Liz Hergt. I'd have to double check. 

 U1 

 16:16 

 Yeah. 1s Awesome. Yeah. Well, Liz, first off, thank you again for your willingness to serve as President. Thank you for the opportunity to spend some time chatting with you this morning. It's been always fun. Your upbeat positivism is going to know just wonderful throughout this next year. Looking forward to the many things you're going to be able to accomplish as our next CPI President and I hope you have a lovely time and learn a lot at the Management Institute as well. Enjoy your summer and thanks a lot. 

 U2 

 16:48 

 Thanks so much Robert. This has been super fun.