Sophia Alessia is energized by finding and overcoming new challenges. She’s earned two degrees at Purdue that prepared her with experiential learning, including an internship assisting the CEO of a start-up.
Alessia is a 2020 Human Resource Development (HRD) graduate who now works for Haas Technical Writing, a Colorado-based company that creates training materials for clients based on their standard operating procedures. Alessia is a training and development specialist for Haas, and she’s also stepped in for a start-up client as their human resources manager.
Since she earned her bachelor’s degree, Alessia has returned to Purdue and earned her Master of Science in Corporate Training and Communication. All of her degrees have fueled a successful career in human resources (HR), but she started her education with considerable uncertainty.
“I was overwhelmed freshman year at Purdue and almost transferred to Purdue Northwest. I looked at a list of majors at Purdue Northwest, which was significantly smaller, and found Human Resources. I took it to my advisor for Exploratory Studies who referred me to the HRD program’s team, and when I got there, I realized one of them was my dad’s friend. It was super comforting, like I was making the right decision.”
COVID-19 was still causing restrictions and social distancing when it was time for Alessia to complete her internship. Companies weren’t hiring as many interns at the time, but she found her way into a Chicago-based company called Digital Factory and worked closely with the CEO as a human resource assistant. It involved a hodgepodge of duties, but it exposed her to the varied roles and duties within HR and the pace of a small start-up company.
After graduation, she translated her experience into talent acquisition until she completed her master’s degree in August 2025. Her goal was to move into communications, learning and development, employee training or change management.
“At Haas Technical Writing, we basically take a handbook and iron it out to make it readable for employees and turn processes into training,” Alessia said. “We also work on onboarding, key HR training, inclusivity and more, essentially turning a mess into a smaller mess. In my day-to-day work right now, one of our clients needs recruiting and staffing for their warehouse, so I built out all of their HR processes and have been hiring for general labor roles.”
She also had the opportunity to build out an entire employee handbook for a client, something she felt confident in doing thanks to her Purdue coursework.
“At Purdue, my biggest challenge was the course load and managing multiple priorities. But now in my professional life, it’s accepting new tasks and things I feel like I might not know how to do. Purdue has definitely taught me that I can do whatever I put my mind to, and the only thing stopping me is me.”
Now that she’s been in the field for a few years, Alessia says students and new graduates should start making connections as soon as possible. She recommends perusing LinkedIn, listening to other people doing the job you aspire to do and being courageous enough to reach out with your questions. She’s also intentional about creating a healthy balance between work and personal endeavors with a variety of hobbies and activities planned after hours.
“Having achieved both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree has really proven to me that I can handle anything I put my mind to,” Alessia said. “It’s rigorous and the study is never-ending, but I’m super proud of myself. I can confidently tackle any challenge that heads my way.”