Shaq Harris

At Tesla, I manage full-cycle software recruiting across some of the most competitive internship programs in the country, partnering with 40+ engineering and product teams across multiple sites. If you know anything about Tesla, you know that innovation is at the forefront of everything we do. In my time here, innovation has been key to fostering unique relationships with each hiring team, enabling me to help them successfully fill their allocated headcount for three cohorts per year.

At Gallagher, I was brought on as one of the company’s first-ever campus recruiters with a goal of building something that didn’t exist yet. With a two-person team and LinkedIn recruiter, we placed 150 entry-level professionals in 90 days, and by the end of year one, we had hired approximately 250 employees. An accomplishment I am most proud of is designing an interview guide and two-part interview training, part one covering the purpose of the interview guide and part two covering unconscious bias. The training was beneficial in ensuring interviewers provided a consistent experience and gave language around the bias we all hold.

At BKD, I managed full-cycle campus hiring across multiple universities with the goal of hiring both interns and new grads. One accomplishment I am most proud of is redesigning our early talent exploration program, Explore BKD. Explore was a multi-day experience that let us get to know students outside of a traditional interview setting. Operating under the same budget as the original program, we saw our ROI more than double.

I taught a course designed to help freshman students navigate college successfully. We covered self-reflection, communication, and academic excellence. A 96% attendance rate told me something I already believed: when people feel seen in a learning environment, they'll keep showing up. While this course had a specific purpose on the surface, the underbelly was a sense belonging.

By far, one of the most rewarding jobs I've ever had. At OU, I coached a caseload of students through one-on-one sessions across their freshman year, supporting everything from academic planning to personal goal setting. The work that stayed with me most was the students who kept coming back, not because they had to, but because they wanted to keep growing.

Orientation and transfer student programs