Kennedy Beams has made the most of her Auburn experience. During the last four years, the senior in management has stepped outside her comfort zone and taken up leadership positions with two Harbert College of Business organizations—positions that she’s certain helped her land a dream job with aerospace giant Boeing.

Last year, Beams served as vice president of external relations with the Women in Business (WIB) student organization, where she led the planning and implementation of the group’s first-ever Exclusive Career Fair, which she said, attracted 18 companies and provided networking opportunities for WIB members and employers the evening before the event.

“The event was a big hit,” said Beams, who is minoring in human resources management. “Not only did our members love it, but I received feedback from the majority of companies asking to participate in the event again [next year].”

This past year, Beams served as president of Auburn’s student chapter of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), a group she has been involved with since freshman year. Working with other members of the group’s executive board, Beams arranged external speakers for the monthly meetings.

She also helped the Auburn SHRM chapter earn another Superior Merit Award from the national SHRM organization for providing its members with outstanding activities and professional development opportunities.

“Kennedy has the ability to rally a team behind her cause or initiative with her great organizational skills,” said SHRM faculty advisor Megan Sumners. “I give a lot of credit to Kennedy and our executive board for being able to maintain that superior merit status.”

According to Beams, these leadership roles helped set her apart from other candidates when she applied for both a summer internship with Boeing (summer 2022) and full-time employment after she graduates this May.

“SHRM and Women in Business…have developed my character and leadership exponentially,” said Beams, who will be moving to Charleston, South Carolina, in July to begin work as a Boeing HR professional.

Growing up in the small town of Madison, Alabama, which is about 30 minutes from Huntsville, Beams knew she wanted to work in the aerospace industry, which is why she applied to Boeing.

As an HR generalist intern last summer, she worked on a project to streamline Boeing’s I-9 employment eligibility verification process. That work was often interrupted with trips to Boeing job fairs around the southeast, where she helped promote the events and contributed to the logistics of interviewing large numbers of job candidates.

“It was exciting to have all these different events occur because they kept me on my toes,” said Beams, who learned to avoid procrastinating any tasks. “I needed to work on my projects as soon as I got them because I never knew when the next thing would occur.”

Sumners will miss interacting with Beams.

“She has been a tremendous ambassador for the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship and college-wide organizations, as well,” said Sumners. “She’s done it all and done it with a smile.”