Master of Human Resources student Tori Lucyk (’21 MHR) decided to further her knowledge of the human resources field after working in accounting for more than five years.
Lucyk obtained her undergraduate degree in accounting in 2014 from Loyola University Maryland. After graduation, she started working at Ernst & Young as a financial services tax intern and then later was promoted to an associate in the Financial Services Office Tax Practice.
“During my time at EY, I focused on tax compliance and advisory work for hedge fund and private equity clients, primarily in the International Tax space,” Lucyk said.
After spending about three years at EY, Lucyk decided to pursue an opportunity as a senior accountant on the General Partner (GP) accounting team at Centerbridge Partners, a multi-strategy private investment firm focused on leveraged buyouts and distressed securities.
“I was responsible for processing capital calls and distributions and preparing quarterly financial statements,” she said. “I also worked with the HR team in preparing summaries of GP participation for departing employees, as well as calculating carried interest and waiver amounts to be included with compensation. This was definitely the part of my work that really sparked my interest in the HR field.”
Having the chance to work side-by-side with the HR team allowed Lucyk to realize that accounting was not where she saw herself working for the rest of her career. This experience helped her realize that her true passions lie in the human resources field.
“When I thought about my future profession, I looked back at the work I enjoyed the most in my experience, which included onboarding new team members, preparing summaries of General Partner participation and interest, calculating carried interest for compensation purposes and planning and leading trainings,” she said. “These interests all seemed to stem within the HR field, so going back to school for my MHR seemed like the best way for me to succeed in the field.”
When Lucyk started looking at different Master of Human Resources programs, she said the Moore School stood out to her because of the faculty’s commitment to students along with job placement rates.
“Before I even formally accepted my offer of admission, I was offered to set up a mock interview to prepare for the internship process,” she said. “This dedication to the students really set the program apart from others I was looking at. Another factor that influenced my decision was the job and internship placement rates. The program’s previous success seemed promising that I could have a great job lined up soon after graduation.”
Since beginning the MHR program, Lucyk said she has gained so much knowledge about the human resources field. She said the industry is much more complex than it seems at first glance.
“HR leaders have the chance to see across the entire organization, making them pivotal to the HR strategy but also the broader business strategy,” she said. “By coupling the more business-focused courses like finance and law with HR courses like compensation and staffing, I am developing a great foundation to not only understand what a company does but why they are doing it. I think that being able to trace this alignment from the strategy back to all of the underlying decisions a company makes is one of the key lessons I’ve learned thus far.”
Lucyk said she looks forward to directly applying these skills during her internship this summer at Prudential and in a full-time human resources position after graduating in December 2021. She said ideally, she would like to one day manage an HR team at a company where she can make a difference, both for the company and its employees.
“In a full-time human resources position, I am excited to bring more awareness of HR’s value to the company I work with,” she said. “As an accountant, I didn’t know just how many hats an HR professional can wear, and I hope that I can help rectify this by showing my future colleagues the impact that I, along with the rest of the HR team, bring to the firm.”
-Claire McGrath