SPD Welcomes Intern Ryan Lattimore!

My name is Ryan Lattimore, and I grew up in Rensselaer Indiana, where sports and good grades were practically the only things I focused on growing up. By my senior year, I had confirmed my passion for a career in business, which I am still pursuing today. I am currently a junior at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) pursuing a duel major in Human Resource Management and Business Management. I plan to graduate during May of 2017.


I heard about Indiana State Personnel's HR Spring Internship opportunity through the Kelley School of Business on their online platform KelleyCareers.com. Being in my third year of college, I found it essential to search for internships prior to graduation. After applying to multiple internships in various areas of business, I stumbled upon a opportunity with the Indiana State Personnel Department (SPD). After doing some research, I soon realized the great opportunity that stood before me. The Indiana State Personnel Department is the second largest Human Resources (HR) department in the state. This internship offers interns a first hand look into the large scale public sector of HR. I immediately submitted my resume! After multiple phone calls, online screening, and a panel interview, I was offered the internship.

I chose this internship because of its potential to experience large scale HR in the making. Compared to other internships, I found the Indiana State Personnel Department to be the most competitive and desirable, due to their rotation program, variety of projects, and job shadow opportunities! I had a few other options to choose from, even some internships that were paid. However, I chose the experience over the salary and decided to make Indiana State Government my home for the semester! My goal is to constantly increase my HR experience prior to graduation. I felt that  SPD would give me a great opportunity to learn about the public sector.


My first week at SPD has been pretty outstanding. From day one I was put right to work. I spent almost all of my time in the Talent Acquisition division, where I shadowed multiple coworkers and got introduced to their everyday tasks. After going through my standard training sessions, I was assigned the Web Developer Internship to recruit for, which is part of the Governor's 2016 Summer Internship Program.  Check it out: http://bit.ly/1VkWA5K I often hear about internships where, as an intern, not much really gets accomplished. I have been blown away by the amount of independence I have to really work in the fashion that suits me. I work 24 hours a week, and never find myself wondering what else I could be doing! This internship is extremely interactive, and I am looking forward to what is yet to come!


Ryan Lattimore
State Personnel Department
HR Intern

The Indiana Veteran's Home Welcomes Intern Haley!

Hello State of Indiana!

  

My name is Haley Arndt, I am a Marketing Major at Purdue University and this summer I am part of the Governor's Public Service Summer Internship program, with the Indiana State Personnel Department (SPD).  I am working directly with the Human Resources Director and Generalist at the Indiana Veterans' Home (IVH) in West Lafayette IN. It is just the end of my first week and so far it's been a blast.

My internship experience started in Indianapolis for Onboarding with the delightful Melissa Thomas, with the communications team. She was fantastic, helpful, and taught a room of 200 interns how to complete their employment tax forms, so I was impressed. She also helped us acclimate to the internship program, and reviewed the exciting options we as interns have, such as the Speaker Series which will include the Governor. Then the rest of the day I was in the capable hands of Dawn Hay, the Lead Senior Recruitment Consultant with the Talent Acquisition Division. We toured the Government Center South Building, reviewed all of the HR specialties, and finished our duties as far as online training/enrollments is concerned. 

In the course of my first few days I have learned so much. There is a whole new vernacular here. I have been catching on, but the language barrier is a little bigger than expected. IVH, SPD, INDOT, FMLA, SOI, HRD, IVA, CNA, QMA...and so on. I have never seen so many acronyms in my life. Don't worry though, because I am getting the hang of it! It's like a study abroad experience, but Cheryl Lutey and Kaycie Laughner, the Human Resource Director and Generalist at IVH are getting better at spotting my "clueless, please explain more" face.

And so the week went on, filled with tours, orientation, and lots of new faces. My expectations have been met and exceeded with every new day here. I love the hands on analysis and research I am doing and I am excited to get to see the end result of my work. Here at IVH we are working on recruitment and compensation which are areas that really intrigue me. The community here is great, and the residents have provided me with a warm welcome. We are "serving those who have served," and I appreciate the mission that the Indiana Veterans Home is carrying out. I look forward to the projects that await me, even if they are labeled by mysterious alphabet soup.