On January 20th, 2017, 25 students from the Information Systems Association (ISA) along with Professor Barry Floyd, IS Concentration Coordinator, visited Workday headquarters in Pleasanton, CA.

The all-day event kicked off with a light breakfast and a presentation by Mindy Hicks, University Talent Acquisition Partner, who discussed the history of Workday and how it earned its presence in industry. Sol Bechtold, VP of Integration Services, then spoke about Workday’s culture and life in the world of technology. Pedro Chiang, Director of Integration Services, filled in details about the various types of Workday consultants, the process of a Workday implementation project, and the importance of teamwork.

The day continued with a lunch where Cal Poly alumni who are currently employed by Workday joined the students creating a wonderful forum for students to learn what the keys to success are at Workday and life as a Workday Consultant. Attending the lunch were Emi Morales, Jenny Phu, Lauren Parris, Marek Zhang, Matt Dobbs, Stephanie Poleman, all Cal Poly alums. The afternoon was filled with tours of the Workday campus, a presentation by Kate Dey who discussed the importance of soft skills in the tech industry, and then moved into a presentation by Tom Quach, Senior Manager, Integration Services Programs, on Enterprise Integration Technologies.

Tom and his team at Workday are sponsoring a senior project opportunity for 12 Cal Poly IS students to learn via hands-on how to connect third party applications to the Workday platform via enterprise integration. Students participating in the senior project include some who have accepted full-time jobs with Workday upon graduation in June, some who have accepted summer internships, and some who are simply interested in these technologies. The senior project runs from January to May with guidance and support from Tom and his team.

Thanks to Tom for initiating both the tour and the senior project and to Mindy Hicks in organizing such a successful tour!

Some comments from student participants include:

“Workday did a magnificent job at hosting Cal Poly IS students. They told us about the ins and outs of their company, examples of how they serve their clients, their unique culture and what roles IS students fall into their company. I would definitely suggest future tours for all IS students, even if they have internships and jobs at other places.” — Joanna Amezcua, ISA President

“I loved touring the campus and learning about the Workday culture in a much more intimate, in-depth way than I could have gathered from reading about the company on so much more dynamic and insightful to be on the company grounds.”  — Matthew Cornelison, ISA Director of Professional Relations