Human Connections in Human Resources: Adria Dias, 25

When Adria Dias ’25 was first looking for potential summer internship opportunities, she was driven by a question all too familiar to most college students: What should my career path look like? “I was incredibly stressed over what I was going to do with my life,” she says.

Now, far from feeling stressed, Dias has gained new clarity. This past summer, she has been working as a human resources specialist at Positive Masculinity Now, a nonprofit organization that attempts to combat the ideas of toxic masculinity and replace them with positive masculinity. The organization does this by offering private groups and workshops for masculine-presenting individuals to address how societal expectations and conditioning have affected them.

Dias’ role as a human resources specialist includes recruiting potential employees, conducting first interviews, collecting and keeping track of documentation, conducting the onboarding process, and overseeing the employee departure process. In just a five-month period, she has hired graphic designers, digital video specialists, communication specialists, public relations specialists and brand marketers.

Dias first learned about the position on Handshake, an online job recruitment platform for students offered by Le Moyne’s Career Advising and Development Office, and was intrigued by the list of job duties. She applied and landed an interview. Later, after attending an event hosted by Ritmo Tropical (Le Moyne’s student Latin dancing club) and which featured the Career Advising and Development Office, Dias learned about the Ignite Fellowship. However, the deadline to apply was in 24 hours. She immediately filled out the application, receiving a stipend in order to complete the summer internship.

A psychology major, this was Dias’ first foray into the human resources field, a career path that deeply interests her. “I’ve always known I wanted to help people. I just didn’t know how or what I wanted to do,” she says. “And for me, being involved in human resources is helping employees.”

Now, Dias has been making the most of her internship, learning what a career in human resources might look like. She’s also learning the importance of connections, saying, “The lead [supervisor] that I have had this whole time, she not only taught us about our jobs at Positive Masculinity, but she also is trying to help us for the future … She’s informed me of different certifications I should seek out if I want to continue down this path. She told me about this grad program that is offered for people in my position who are psychology students but they want to be human resource professionals … so it’s really been helpful to make a connection with someone who is a lot more knowledgeable about the field than I am. That way, I can learn from them and also look into it myself and see if it’s something I want to go for.”

She recently accepted another internship with Positive Masculinity Now as a lead human resources specialist. Her additional responsibilities will include leading a team of human resources interns as well as conducting second interviews with job candidates.

Dias credits her psychology background as helping her with her role in human resources, saying, “Studying psychology opens your eyes to what people could be going through, and I think it makes me more empathetic as a person … You have an easier way to connect with people.”

This internship was supported through the College’s Iginite Fellowship, which provides financial support to students interested in undertaking internship and research experiences that may have costs associated with them. The fellowship student to pursue their personal professional goals without undue financial burden. .