9
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A Conversation with Cindy
Rubino, HR/Benefits Manager
at Contractors Register
QUESTIONS
By Thomas Zamiara
Confero Magazine: What has attracted
you to work in human resources?
Cindy Rubino: Well, actually what
attracted me was working on our 401(k);
it’s what drove me to go the HR route.
I really enjoy working with employee
benefits and working on the 401(k)
was my first real exposure to employee
benefits. I just really enjoyed working
with the plan, the administration of the
plan, and plan design—I just really
enjoyed all that.
CM: What has your career path looked
like up to this point?
6 | January-March 2012
CR: I went to school, undergrad for
accounting, and I started working in a
big six accounting firm and discovered
very quickly that public accounting was
not for me. I went into the private sector
and I worked in various accounting roles:
I worked at an investment firm, I worked
in a private accounting firm, I worked
for IBM, Readers Digest and then I
landed here [Contractors Register] as a
supervisor; it was my first supervisory
role in accounting. During the course of
that , I did get a masters degree in Internet
Business Systems. Unfortunately, I
graduated right around the time when
the bubble burst so I never was able to
use the degree for much, until I came
here. That degree helped me when I was
looking for HIS and I was able to be a
part of that team when we were looking
for an HR system. I always was trying
to get out of accounting, so when I came
here and I had the exposure with 401(k),
I thought that employee benefits and HR
would be a good transition. Plus, with
my accounting background it helps with
budgeting; I can look at benefits from a
financial perspective as well.
CM: I envision the human resource
department with two doors: the
hiring door and the firing door.