Rider Students, Alumni Part of the Family at Johnson & Johnson
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From left to right, Jennifer Arnell, Matt Cardia, Mike Dill and Kevin Mazzella. The seniors were accepted into J&J’s Financial Leadership Development Program. |
Between spring 2007 and fall 2008, 35 Rider students completed co-ops at J&J, while five were accepted in the Financial and Sales/Marketing Leadership Development programs, and eight graduates have received full-time positions. So far, two students have been placed in co-ops for spring 2009.
More recently, six seniors were accepted into the Financial Leadership Development Program: Finance majors Jennifer Arnell, Matt Cardia, Kevin Mazzella and Kevin Orlofski; and Accounting majors Mike Dill and Jeanny Le. One recent graduate, Russell Mareno, who received a Marketing degree, was also accepted into the Sales/Marketing Leadership Development Program. All seven of these students had originally completed co-ops with Johnson & Johnson and, because of their hard work and dedication, J&J has accepted them into these training programs, which then lead to full time positions with the company.
Through the leadership development programs, individuals gain experience in consumer products, pharmaceutical, medical devices and diagnostics, and corporate finance and auditing by completing three eight-month rotations under the guidance of mentors.
“We have the highest retention rate at Johnson & Johnson – 92 percent,” said Anne Mandel, associate director of Career Services at Rider, adding that the organization recruits from eight other universities and colleges, including Penn State University, The College of New Jersey and Rutgers University. “Students from Rider are strong performers at J&J and compare to any other university they recruit from. That is why J&J has focused its energy here.”
In addition to receiving his M.B.A. from Rider in 1977, Stephen Cosgrove, vice president and corporate controller of Johnson & Johnson, has been the senior J&J Rider finance liaison for the past 13 years and is responsible for the entire J&J Finance Leadership Development Program.
“Johnson & Johnson looks for candidates who have strong leadership, communication, interpersonal and technical skills,” Cosgrove explained. “Rider University’s strengths in those areas are evident in the quality of students and alumni it produces.”
Synergy between Rider and the company have been beneficial as well. “I think a large reason that Rider’s retention rate is so high at J&J is the partnership that’s been created between College of Business Administration and J&J,” said Dr. Steven Lorenzet, associate dean of the CBA. “Many of the students who get hired by J&J have already worked there either as interns or co-ops and as a result have developed an affinity for the organization.”
Many Rider students also hail from the area, and the idea of working for a company of Johnson & Johnson’s esteem without relocating is appealing. Dill, a resident of Hamilton, N.J., transferred to Rider as a junior with an eye on remaining in the Northeast following graduation, simply because of the number of business opportunities. While Dill’s father and aunt attended the University, which also employed his grandmother, Dill ultimately selected Rider because “it’s the best business school in the area,” he said. During his co-op at Johnson & Johnson, Dill said he felt well prepared to perform the tasks because of his studies at Rider.
Rider also fully utilizes the opportunities the partnership offers in and out of the classroom. For example, CBA is gearing up for Johnson & Johnson’s Business Case Competition in the spring, where Rider University students will compete with students from Bucknell University, Florida International University, University of Florida, University of Illinois, LaSalle University, Penn State University, Rutgers University (New Brunswick/Newark), Seton Hall University and Villanova University. During the competition, student teams are given four weeks to analyze a case study of three products and make recommendations to the organization.
This year, CBA has invited about 20 students from a diversity of business majors to participate in the Business Case Competition. Selected students will eventually round out three teams vying for a spot in the competition under the watchful eye of J&J representatives during an event on the Lawrenceville campus. The winning team will then represent Rider at the Johnson & Johnson headquarters in New Brunswick, N.J., in the spring.
As Dr. Cynthia Newman, chairperson of the Marketing Department, explained it, the competition is a prestigious opportunity that not only gives the students experience making real business decisions and feedback from J&J executives, but also gives the students high exposure and a chance to score co-ops or employment opportunities within the company.
The competition is just one example of Rider’s outreach relationship with the global pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer goods manufacturer. A number of Rider alumni now working for Johnson & Johnson not only excel at their jobs, but they play an active role at their alma mater as well. They serve as recruiters, mentors and educators for current CBA students, and provide guidance for the University as a whole. Dennis Longstreet ’69, a former J&J employee, served on the Rider Board of Trustees, as well as on the Business Advisory Board. More recently, Karen Licitra ’81, Company Group Chairman of J&J, became a Board of Trustees member.
Cosgrove also maintains an active presence within the College of Business Administration, chairing the Accounting Advisory Council at Rider for 12 years and as a member of the CBA’s Executive Advisory Board. He participates in panel discussions at the University, and speaks at Rider’s leadership development program for scientists.
This symbiotic relationship between the University and the Johnson & Johnson has even sparked advances in Rider’s curriculum. In fact, it was feedback from Johnson & Johnson, along with the help of a team of field executives like Bob Derosier, a recruiter from J&J, that helped convince Rider’s CBA to create its Global Supply Chain Management Program, scheduled to launch in the Fall of 2009. The recently approved interdisciplinary program is designed to provide students with an understanding of the topic, which focuses on manufacturing, production and distribution of products or services.
To jump start the program, Rider hired visiting Harper faculty member, Tan Miller, himself a former executive at Johnson & Johnson, to teach supply chain management classes. Miller, who was previously an executive in global supply management at Pfizer, said knowledge in logistics and supply chain management can also help students looking to enter the corporate world, whether in marketing, finance or other major corporate functions because almost all areas of a corporation have regular interactions with the supply chain function.
“From a hiring perspective if you see a talented student and further down on their resume you see that they took a couple of classes in logistics and supply chain management, you know that the student is well along the learning curve in that critical area,” Miller explained.
