Article archive / November 1, 2016
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 11. Source pages: 10.
The Southeastern Louisiana University Industrial/ Organizational Psychology Graduate Program hosted Dr. William Costelloe of Metairie, Louisiana as an invited speaker on October 4, at the Southeastern campus in Hammond.
Dr. Costelloe is an Industrial/Organizational Psychology Consultant and President of Costelloe & Associates Inc., with 40 years of experience working with local and national clients. Dr. Costelloe spoke to the group about his experience as an organizational development and assessment specialist.
The Southeastern program is directed by Assistant Professor Suzanne M. Booth- LeDoux, PhD. Dr. Booth- LeDoux earned her doctorate in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, and she studied under Dr. Tracey Rizzuto.
Dr. Booth’s research interests include Work-Family Issues, Dual-Earners, Stress, Occupational Health, and Organizational Benefits.
Graduate students attending the professional training session were Madeleine Broussard, Holly Kliebert, Bryce Lott, Eric Mahoney, Ian Mattix, Lacie Tramonte, Keely Villar, Casey Waters, Samuel Rodriguez, and Jenna Zeringue.
Dr. Costelloe told the Times that the students asked a variety of questions, including: “What do you do on a day-to-day basis as a consultant? How did you get to this point in your career? What steps did you take to become a consultant? What challenges did you face in starting your firm and how did you overcome that.”
They also asked, “Did you have any issues with buy-in from companies? And if you have, how did you handle these concerns?”
Costelloe said to the Times that the told the students, “You have to get tangible results in what you do.”
“You can be theoretical but you have apply the concept and document its impact,” he said. “Find a dependent variable that you want to make an impact on and then apply the intervention to make an impact on that area.”
He said in an interview with the Times that the graduate students know about these research and scientific areas, but that “they don’t know how to put it together.”
“We spent a lot of time talking about how to put it together,” he said, “Don’t try to explain to people what you do, tell them what those dependent variables are.”
“I improve the effectiveness of teams; I help companies hire more productive employees; I help managers become more effective leaders––tell them about the dependent variables,” he said.
The students also asked him what recommendations he had for aspiring IO individuals. And, Dr. Booth related at the time that her students were just looking for some insight into the consulting side of things.
Dr. Costelloe said that he knows that IO is one of those careers that will expand in the future, and he said that the career is “really a lot of fun because you are helping people.”
Dr. Booth-LeDoux noted, “It was so great to have Gig chat with my students. He was able to offer insight into the process of becoming a successful consultant. My students were able to get an idea of what it is actually like to be a consultant and all that it entails.”
“They were very excited about the opportunity,” she said. “Gig recounted his early experiences and how they influenced his ultimate success, and I believe seeing the whole picture from the beginning was useful for them in charting their own progression.”
Costelloe said he was “super impressed with their enthusiasm. It was invigorating.”
He was also surprised when the graduate students told him that he was the only IO consultant they had ever seen. “It made me realize how much of a need there is for psychologists to make face to face contact with students,” he said.
Dr. William Costelloe speaks with IO graduate students at Southeastern. (L to R) Dr. Costelloe, Samuel Rodriguez, Ian Mattix, Eric Mahoney, and Casey Waters. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Booth.)
Southeastern graduate students in Industrial-Organizational psychology, and students of Dr. Suzanne Booth-LeDoux, enjoyed speaking with IO consultant, Dr. Costelloe, recently. First Row L to R: Holly Kliebert, Keely Villar, Lacie Tramonte, Casey Waters. Back Row L to R: Bryce Lott, Jenna Zeringue, Madeleine Broussard, William Costelloe, Samuel Rodriguez, Ian Mattix, Eric Mahoney. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Booth.)
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