Lakeland grad student growing on and off the field
Whether he’s tackling them on the football field or explaining employment benefits to them in the office, Lakeland University graduate student Justin McMahon is the consummate people person.
McMahon is channeling that passion into a career in human resources, and he’s taken full advantage of employment opportunities as part of his Lakeland experience.
An award-winning defensive back from Kyle, Texas, McMahon graduated this past May with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He’s working in Lakeland’s human resources department as a graduate assistant and enrolled in LU’s master of science in leadership and organizational development program.
On the field, McMahon, a team captain, recently completed his Muskies football career by earning First Team All-Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference honors. He led the conference this fall with 15 passes defended and was tied for the conference lead and was among national leaders in NCAA Division III with six interceptions.
It was his second All-NACC honor after earning honorable mention his sophomore season when he led the Muskies with 80 tackles, which was also good for fifth most in the conference.
Off the field, he earned 10 academic credits toward his bachelor’s degree while working two summers and a spring at Bemis Manufacturing Co. through Lakeland’s Cooperative Education program, which allows students to earn credit working full- and part-time jobs with Co-Op partner companies and wages to help pay for school.
A career in human resources came in focus in the spring of 2022. McMahon took a special topics business course that required students to interview a variety of departments at Bemis to learn more about possible career paths. He met Michael Klein, Bemis vice president - human resources and a Lakeland trustee, who helped spark McMahon’s attraction to HR.
“I love working with people,” said McMahon, “In HR, you’re working with all departments seeing people on their way in and on the way out and working with those people throughout.”
McMahon said he’s especially learned from observing Lakeland HR Generalist Corissa Eifrid. “I see how she interacts with other people,” he said. “When you talk to people you can get down to business, but you can also get closer to people. HR is like a big lifeline at that point.
“People are scared of HR at times. You have to understand how to talk to people. The perk of working at a smaller university is you know everybody. You see a name on a file and you know that person.”
This fall, McMahon led coordination of Lakeland’s All-Employee Benefit Fair, a first-of-its-kind benefits fair for Lakeland employees that brought together representatives from different campus departments and outside vendors. It allowed LU employees to learn more about the various benefits they have available.
“Justin did a great job organizing the event, spreading the word on campus, setting up the venue and coordinating the various activities and tables on the day of the actual event,” said Lakeland Vice President for Human Resources Jim Jones.
“He was starting from scratch and helped create an event that we will definitely repeat in the future.”
McMahon was recruited to Lakeland to play football. His recruiting visit was his first visit to Wisconsin and the first time he had seen snow. His adjustment to college was challenging as his initial focus was too much on football. He struggled in the classroom and fell behind in earning credits.
His academic advisor made him aware of Co-Op and the ability to earn credit by working, which ultimately played a huge role in his success and selecting a career path.
“I thought I was going to go home and give up,” McMahon said “After spring semester of my sophomore year, things started falling in line. I put in more effort in classes, I was working and I would get homework done after work.
“I had the realization my sophomore year that football is going to end when I saw the seniors were done with football and school and they were starting jobs. I needed to focus on a career path and life after football. I knew it was coming quick.”
In addition to his work at Bemis and Lakeland, McMahon is a front desk agent at the Inn on Woodlake, a Kohler Hospitality property. He is a member of the Beta Sigma Omega fraternity and served as the organization's president as well as president of Lakeland’s Inter-Greek Council.
The various experiences have helped him grow skills in leadership, communication, conflict resolution and time management.
“You’ve got to devote yourself to it,” McMahon said when asked how he balanced school, football and work. “You’ve got to focus yourself on your work, school and everything else. Getting credit for work really helped me get experience on the job and look at different angles and experiences. That was a big help.”
