Intern Words of Wisdom - Shae

As promised, I am going to share words of wisdom that I have received from my colleagues during my summer internship with the Indiana State Personnel Department. This past month has given me such rewarding and valuable experiences. I am unsure if I can really capture it all in words. For you, I will try. In the past few weeks, I was sent to several different agencies to complete human resource type projects for them, such as I-9 audits and documentation of past employee relations investigations. This allowed me to job shadow HR Generalists, HR Managers, and Employee Relations Managers. Given I just graduated, it is time to start figuring out which avenue I would like to take in my career path. Sitting in with these individuals gave me insights and first hand experiences that have really swayed my decisions. It has also opened my eyes to the fact that there are so many opportunities in State Government. All of these individual agencies need personnel to sit in the central office as well as some in the field all over Indiana. Many of the individuals I have met started in one agency, say Department of Corrections, and then moved to an HR Generalist role for Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Lateral moves happen all the time which allows these individuals to grow and understand a completely different avenue of the public sector, growing their public sector acumen.  Employees are aiding in the efforts to make the State of Indiana a better place to live and work. From my seat, they are succeeding.

During each meet and greet, my colleagues left me with some insight into the professional HR world. I would like to share some paraphrased accounts of them with you.

2.       Business Acumen

One must understand the business that they work for during their employment. You should understand the key metrics and performance measures that drive the company.  You should know the goals of your colleagues, which may mean adapting to their behavioral style in order to learn. This is important because not one gear turns the wheel. In order to gain this tacit knowledge, you must build relationships. This will include creating, cultivating and fostering relationships with many different colleagues.  Gaining their trust will excel your knowledge sharing even further. How do you gain this trust? You must jump in, stay accountable, get feedback, get better and top yourself. You will have shown your worth by building and showing your personal brand. Whatever you are, be a good one.

I am here to say, I am jumping in and ready to top myself. Are you willing to do the same?

Shae