Alumni Spotlight

UT Tyler Soules College of Business

Name: Kristi Ebey

Degree/Degrees: B.S. Human Resource Development

Year of Graduation: 2014

Tell us a little about you.
My name is Kristi Ebey and I am a Sr. Functional Consultant for Workday. I live in Fort Worth with my husband, two daughters, and chihuahua. I’m a total foodie, love college football, and traveling.

What did you do right after graduating?
I worked as an HR Assistant for Heartland Security Insurance Group in Tyler. In that role, I processed payroll and helped move the organization to a new HR system.

Tell us about your current job and what you do.
I am a Sr. Functional Consultant for Workday. In my role, I consult Large Enterprise customers who have made a decision to change their HR systems to Workday. Not only do I help guide them to decisions on how to best maximize their Workday investment by utilizing Workday functionality, but I configure their requirements in their instance of Workday. The primary functional areas I assist with are Recruiting, Talent & Performance, and Learning.

How did your Soules College of Business degree help you with your current position?
My Soules College of Business degree helped me understand HR regulations which are beneficial when guiding customers into their system decisions. In addition, for a while I was a recruiter, so the mock interview experience helped me understand how to be on the other side of the interview table when meeting with candidates.

What was your favorite Soules College of Business class and why?
Definitely Capstone. I feel like the work we did there to build our portfolio and participate in mock interviews really helped me have the tools I needed to be successful in my job search after graduation.

Any Soules College of Business/ UT Tyler memories you would like to share?
So, my journey at UT Tyler was my 2nd time to attend college, with the first time being 8 years prior to me starting UT Tyler. The classroom had changed a bit and I remember on my first day I was in an in person class and was the ONLY person writing out notes. Everyone else had laptops or iPads. Needless to say, that was the only time I wrote out my notes.

Were you involved in any student organizations while a student here?
I was a member of SHRM and even served on the Leadership team.

What advice would you give current Soules College of Business students?
Network, network, NETWORK. It is never too early to begin building your professional network. Take little pieces of everyone you have the opportunity to work with and learn from them – good and bad. Keep in contact with your network as well. You never know when you may need to lean on them or when you may can allow them to lean on you.

What insight do you have for Soules College of Business students that are about to graduate on how to land their first job?
Take the skills you learn in Mock Interviews and USE them. Also, research the company you’re interviewing in. If they have values listed on their website, review them.