Monday, August 29, 2016

Intern Words of Wisdom - by Shae

“This is goodnight and not goodbye.”

This last week consisted of everyone getting out their last urge to say ‘Intern Shae.’ Today is my last day as a State Personnel Department intern. My farewell did not come long after Payton’s. This goodbye is much less bitter, because I am transitioning into a full time role! Everyone can now refer to me as Shae, HR Generalist!

About a month ago, the Director of SPD, Denny Darrow, set a meeting to talk about my growth throughout the internship and my future moving forward. Personally, I highly respect Denny so I was excited to chat with him. Little did I know he would be recommending me for a full-time role within the agency! I was completely honored and excited to join this wonderful team full time. As I participated in the hiring process, I had so much support. During these moments, I
knew  I was making a great decision. Everyone is so genuinely happy for me to join the SPD family. This gives me reassurance I have the support system I need to excel in my upcoming role with the Indiana Department of Transportation. I want to thank everyone who has congratulated, encouraged or read my blog along the way. You are all wonderful! All the agencies that allowed us to complete projects for them, thank you for taking the time to be such great resources. This internship would not have been as valuable if I had not received the opportunity to work for you. Lindsey, you have been the best supervisor I have had thus far. Thank you for teaching me that we can remain professional while building a friendship. I could not have had a better mentor than you. By constantly pushing me and encouraging me to do my best, I have adopted great habits. You truly made this opportunity worthwhile. I am a better person for knowing you.
To everyone that doesn’t work within SPD, now is your opportunity to join the team. Currently, there are some vacancies within the State Personnel Department. I suggest you apply right away! It is a very rewarding experience to serve the State of Indiana.

My final words of wisdom skate along the lines of “plans change.” Remain flexible and great things can happen. You may know where you want to end up, but half of the fun is not knowing how you are going to get there. Life is just an adventure. Be kind while exploring it. Be a person that people want to be around; there is a better chance they will ask you to stay.

“This is goodnight and not goodbye.”- Lawrence T. Grothouse

-Intern Shae


Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Payton's Intern Guide to SPD

Hi everyone!

It’s been bittersweet wrapping up my last few weeks in this internship, but they have definitely been exciting! I spent a week at the Hoosier Youth Challenge Academy, which is a pretty unique organization with so much history. It was pretty interesting to hear about the program they have to help put structure and discipline into kid’s lives who have dropped out of high school.
My last week, Shae and I got the opportunity to conduct a salary survey for the Indiana Department of Transportation. This was an interesting project because we actually contacted all 92 counties in Indiana and the 10 largest cities and got to analyze the differences between their salaries and benefits for a single position.

During this last week Shae and I also took a trip to three different Pendleton jails. We met the human resource employees and learned how much work and time they put into the jails. We got to tour the three jails, which was very fascinating. I was definitely impressed with how many different programs and classes these jails offer their offenders.

As I leave this internship I think back to the beginning of the summer and realize how much I have truly gained from these past three months. Not only have I learned more than I thought I could in one internship, but I also gained great professional experience, meeting some amazing, hardworking people along the way. I had the opportunity to collaborate with Shae all summer. We found that we worked very well together, and I was able to learn so much from her as well as my supervisor, and all my other coworkers. It was an unforgettable internship. I’m looking forward to whatever next summer brings me!

Payton Reardon
HR Intern

Friday, August 19, 2016

Intern Words of Wisdom - by Shae

Travel Bug

I caught a travel bug the last few weeks! Being an intern has its perks in the State Personnel Department! In order to build my public sector acumen, I have been out of central office visiting different agencies. My first traveling assignment was for the Adjutant General’s Office at the Hoosier Youth Challenge Academy located in Knightstown, IN. This volunteer program hosts young men and women between the ages of 16 and 18 who have dropped out of high school or are severely deficient in credits by bringing structure and discipline to these unfocused lives. My favorite part about the program is that it is offered to residents of Indiana 100% tuition free, with no cost to parents or participants.  It was a wonderful experience being able to learn about the history of the land. This campus has been used by the Navy and was once an orphanage. Now, it is a home to young adults for six months at a time. Cadets are encouraged to continue their education in college, trade or technical school or military environment. The program matches each cadet to a mentor who keeps contact during the session and after for a total of one year. It was wonderful to understand firsthand the change this program is making to Indiana residents.

My next assignment was at the Pendleton Correctional Facilities. I was especially excited for this visit to receive a realistic job preview for a position that I am interested in pursuing.  During my time there, I sat in on a very interesting unemployment hearing. I found it aspirational that our Human Resource Generalist, Casey, represented us right from her office. It is definitely something I would like to be doing some day. We met with the superintendent, networked with employees and learned about the facility’s daily operations.  Also, Payton and I received a tour of the three different facilities that make up Pendleton Correctional. It was a very interesting and eye opening experience. As a HR representative, you do not encounter inmates on that personal of a level, but it gave me a better understanding of the correctional officer position? The entire experience was very rewarding.

The Governor’s Summer Internship Program ensures plenty of opportunities for the interns to network and meet each other. To help aid in this experience, I coordinated a tour of Bankers Life Fieldhouse. I scheduled this tour in hopes that our interns would fall in love with Indianapolis, move here and work for the state. My favorite part of the tour was the opportunity to shoot around in the Pacers practice court. I had no idea that so many different events are hosted there. They can transform the floor to accommodate for swimming meets, ice-skating shows, rodeos, sand volleyball tournaments or the circus. It was so fascinating and defiantly worth the walk through downtown.

Remember, being an intern has its perks. Look for Payton’s final goodbye next week! We hope that you are enjoying reading about our experiences. Stay with us!


Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Payton's Intern Guide to SPD

Good Morning!

This past week, Shae and I have spent a lot of time wrapping up our past projects so that we can be prepared to start our projects with the Hoosier Youth Challenge Academy! We spent the beginning of our week submitting our projects and going over our social media plan to propose new ideas after looking at our social media metrics.

Shae and I had a fun opportunity this past week to go on a Credential Tour Journey with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). We walked around and saw all the different processes that went into accepting and approving driver’s licenses. An exciting part of this tour was going up to where they actually manufactured the licenses and seeing how much work really goes into it. They have people that actually manually check every single license printed, which is about 7,000 licenses a day!

We also had a cool opportunity to go on a tour with all of the other interns to the Banker’s Life Fieldhouse! We learned about Indiana’s rich basketball history through its retro-style and traditional Indiana Basketball Fieldhouse design. It was so interesting to see the ins and outs of the Pacers’ and the Fever’s home. I find it crazy that the fieldhouse hosts so many different events from Disney on Ice to wrestling and swimming competitions!
I can’t wait to spend our next two weeks at the Hoosier Youth Challenge Academy!
Payton Reardon

HR Intern