Phi Theta Kappa Honors in Action/Leadership Conference speaker review

by Ackeem Nugent

On 10-16-15 I had the opportunity to go to Syracuse, to be apart of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors in Action project Conference. The weekend was such an inspiration to me; all the guest speakers were phenomenal. I left the weekend feeling empowered and motivated to execute my aspirations of becoming a board certified physician

One guest speaker that really spoke to me and inspired me to do my best was Dr. David Van Arsdale. Dr. Arsdale is a sociology professor at Onondaga community college. He opened his presentation speaking about the paradox of how employment agencies, like Office Team and Robert Half are making greater profits than Apple. What is so fascinating about this statistic is that an employment agency is designed to help unemployed individuals find a job. Yet a company like Apple is designing products that are sold for human consumption. How is it possible that a company created to find individuals a job making such out standing profits? What is the secret?

Professor Arsdale found in his research that employment agencies gain the most profits by keeping their clients “temporary”. For example if you are a candy corn manufacture then your revenue increases dramatically when Halloween approaches. That being said you will need more seasonal workers during the months of September and October to keep up with the demand. The manufacture will out source their workers from a third party. The employment agency will dispatch a group of workers each day to fill the labor requirements of that day. However the agency does not guarantee their clients a contract or full time position. The employees work for the recruiting agency not the candy corn manufacture. The agency keeps their clients temporary so they are able to increase their profit, as soon as Halloween is over the manufacture no longer needs the excess labor. Since the employment agencies are not assuring their workers long-term employment they can dispatch them to another field of work as soon as the demand of candy corns returns too normal.

In all the conference was truly remarkable, it is amazing for me to see all the faculty and key note speakers so interested and devoted to their field of work. After Dr. Arsdale spoke I felt so motivated to be a researcher in the medical community, to explore the unknown. I felt so inspired to take charge of my academics and be the best individual I can be. I would just like to thank the entire staff and faculty of Onondaga Community College for hosting this years Honors in Action (HIA) Conference. They did a stellar job of planning the keynote speakers and having exciting fellowship events for Phi Theta Kappa members. If there was one thing I took away from this conference was to follow what interests/inspires you. You will be the best at what you love doing!