Christie Phelan, BA, MA

Human Resource Management Certificate (2009)

"I think others recognized I was serious about my pursuit of a career in Human Resources when they saw I was willing to take on more education in this targeted area," says Christie Phelan, an HR Analyst with Cenovus Energy and a recent graduate of Continuing Education's Human Resource Management Certificate.

"When I began thinking about a career change, I targeted HR professionals at EnCana to see what working in this field was like. I weighed that against my previous educational background and experience," explains Christie, a U of C alumna, who already had both her BA in Psychology and an MA in Educational Psychology.

Christie also researched HR programs. "Reputation-wise, in HR, U of C came out on top. That was important to me. I felt that if I enrolled in the HR certificate at U of C, I would be more equipped to take on an HR position." As it turned out, Christie had just begun the program when she was offered a job.

While working and pursuing other activities at the same time, Christie was able to fast-track her program, and complete all of the required learning in just 10 months. She was taking up to five courses in varied formats each session--including evening and weekend classes, and online. "I was able to dedicate the time I had available and shuffle my life accordingly," she says, adding she particularly enjoyed the "freedom of online."

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