Team Spotlight with Conor Hastings
Conor is a Research Assistant on the Healthcare team. He started at KS&R as an apprentice in March 2020 and officially joined the Healthcare group in December that year. He graduated from Le Moyne College with a degree in Business Analytics.
How did you end up at KS&R?
It was thanks to Le Moyne that I ended up working here at KS&R! Le Moyne has a job board website where students can create a profile displaying their qualifications and search for jobs posted by companies that are interested in hiring Le Moyne grads. It was through this job board that I was contacted by KS&R, and the rest is history! It’s just one of the many things I am grateful to Le Moyne for.
What do you enjoy most about being part of the KS&R team?
The thing I enjoy most about being part of the KS&R team is my team itself! I am a member of the Healthcare team, and within it, we have several sub-teams that tend to their own group of accounts and projects. I truly love working with my sub-team every day and I genuinely believe they bring the best work out of me. I’ve learned so much from them and they’ve been instrumental in my growth as an employee here.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Before the pandemic, I likely would have said earning my degree was my proudest accomplishment. But due to the pandemic and everyone having to work from home, that led me to having more free time and I needed a reason to get out of the house, so I turned to running. Since then, I have improved my overall health tremendously and have even completed a few races, including two half marathons. Something I never thought I would ever do, let alone could do! It is something I’m very proud of and I’m looking forward to the challenge of eventually completing a full marathon.
Aside from necessities, what is one thing you could not go a day without?
The number one thing I cannot go a day without is music! I pretty much listen to music all day, especially while working, as it’s always helped me stay more focused on whatever I may be doing. Paired with some noise-canceling headphones, I can pretty much block out distractions and/or background noise. Fun fact, on Spotify alone, I listened to just over 3 months’ worth of music in total in 2021!
What is the best/worst purchase you’ve ever made?
The best purchase I’ve ever made would have to be the noise-canceling headphones I mentioned above. They make reading, travel, and especially listening to music so much better! I use them daily and can’t imagine life without them at this point. I highly recommend them.
Would you rather lose the ability to read or lose the ability to speak?
I would have to go with losing the ability to speak. Not being able to speak would certainly be frustrating, but not being able to read would be so much worse. If I only lost the ability to speak, I would still be able to read and understand the things around me. I’d certainly have to clean my handwriting up, though, as I have a feeling I would be doing a lot of that!
