Wrapping Up My Time With SPD - Amanda Yoder

My name is Amanda Yoder. Currently I am a Senior at the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis, studying Human Resources. My time here with the Indiana State Personnel Department has been great! I have loved every minute of my time spent with everyone throughout the agencies. I have learned so much about Human Resources, especially about recruiting. With this internship, I was able to move from agency to agency in order to gain more insight in what a HR generalist would do.

                I started out my time with the Talent Acquisition team. I had one big project during my time with SPD. It was to hire for the next HR Intern. This meant that I had to post the job onto different job boards. A few examples of the job boards that I worked with were; Indeed, Indiana Intern, IUPUI, IU, and many more! Along with this I also worked on smaller projects from the other employees within the SPD office. As I began to receive resumes from different potential candidates, I had to go through them and began to narrow it down to the ones that I thought would be good. One fun project that I got to do was create different flyers and advertisements for the different agencies within the State of Indiana. I learned how to use Canva during this project. While I was with the Talent Acquisition team, I was able to meet with the different HR departments, like Benefits and Employee Relations. I was able to learn more about what each department does and what a typical day looks like for them.   

                The next agency that I went to was the Indiana Department of Transportation. While I was there I was given the opportunity to work on a big project regarding job descriptions. I had to email different employees asking them to send me an update version of different positions that they oversaw. This was a like a giant puzzle. Once I received the job descriptions, I then had to find a way to organize them on Sharepoint. This provided other employees within INDOT to access the information quickly and easily. I also was given the opportunity to shadow the HR personnel there as well. I really enjoyed my time there!

                I then went to the Department of Revenue. When I arrived they were getting ready to host a big interviewing event. This event was to look for potential candidates to fill the positions in a customer service type of environment. I helped them call the different candidates informing them of the event and to extend an invitation to attend. I also had to do different background checks on different candidates as well. Before coming into this role I never did this before, so it was nice to learn how to conduct a background check. I also helped put together the onboarding packets for the new hires. While I was with DOR I was able to attend an employee development talk. It was cool to see this since I could potential have to do this in my future career. I really enjoyed my time here as well!

                Throughout my time with INDOT and DOR, I still was looking over different resumes and calling those that I wanted to bring in to interview. After I was done at DOR, I came back to SPD for a week. During this time I helped conduct the interviews for the next HR Intern. This was a learning experience and I was able to have a hand in the whole selection process.

                The last agency that I worked with the Department of Corrections. My big project was to create a new website for them. They wanted a website that was easier to navigate and job seekers could find careers available with DOC easier. I was able to just create a layout for the website. This involved me during research on the different positions offered and coming up with a layout that would be easy. I had lots of fun putting together a PowerPoint presentation in order to show them how it would look when it was all done. I also was able to shadow the HR Generalists at DOC and help them with different tasks. I really enjoyed my time with DOC as well!

                For my last 2 weeks in my internship. I was back with the Talent Acquisition team. While I was there I did different tasks for them, like posting jobs, doing reference checks, and creating new advertising ideas. Overall I really enjoyed my time working with SPD and getting to know everyone that worked with. Walking away not only did I gain so much more knowledge about HR but also I made so many new connections and friendships. Throughout my time with SPD, I was able to apply what I was learning in school, to what I was doing with SPD. I would highly recommend this job to anyone who is interested in HR. Through this internship you are able to learn so much about HR. 

SPD Welcomes Intern Taylor Pharr!

5/17/17

After completing my first few days as an intern for the Indiana State Personnel Department (INSPD), I am excited to gain more experience in all areas of Human Resources (HR) and gain more skills specifically in the areas of talent acquisition and recruitment. I am going to be a senior at Indiana University in the fall, where I am studying Human Resource Management. I have acquired a passion for HR through past internships I have had. From these experiences I have learned that HR is a driving factor to any successful organization and I am excited to have a new experience with INSPD this summer!

I believe that working with INSPD this summer will further enhance my current skills and knowledge and prepare me for a future career in the HR field. So far, I have had the opportunity to shadow members of the Talent Acquisition team, attend an INDOT recruiting meeting, and sit in on a weekly talent acquisition meeting.

 From shadowing the Talent Acquisition team, I have been able to get insight on what each member contributes to INSPD and the various duties they perform on a day-to-day basis. I have specifically learned how to use PeopleSoft for recruiting purposes and how to utilize social media in the recruiting process. I was also able to go through many online training sessions where I learned about Family Medical Leave and the Americans with Disabilities Act, the selection and interviewing process, and how to use PeopleSoft Talent Manager.

Further into my internship, I am looking forward to working with the different agencies of the State and learning more about what they do and how they function. This gives me hands-on work experience in different areas of HR and lets me experience a range of work atmospheres all in one internship. I am excited for the opportunity to learn about recruitment and employee relations from these agencies. 

5/26/17

This past week, I have had the opportunity to start recruitment efforts for the fall INSPD internship program along with my fellow intern, Kennedy. So far in this process, we have been able to create an updated job description based on what we are hiring for and post this to school job boards and other posting sites. I have also had the opportunity to create a flyer using Canva to assist us in marketing the position. Along with these efforts, we have also created a survey to screen qualified candidates to further engage their interest in this opportunity. I have enjoyed looking through the resumes of candidates and learning how to effectively review them. I am also excited to continue this process throughout the summer to gain knowledge in regards to recruiting and interviewing.

I have also had the opportunity to be involved in information sessions with the Employee Relations team, where I learned about the different tasks they deal with. Within these sessions, I was able to learn about civil service complaints, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), affirmative action, Family Medical Leave (FMLA), and investigations. I also got to talk to team members about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the State Employee’s Appeals Commission (SEAC) and unemployment claims. All of this information gave me insight into what this area of human resources actually handles.

Along with this, I also got to attend a lunch and learn on the topic of listening. During this, we participated in different group activities that showed us how important effectively listening is in regards to communication. Here, we were left with valuable tips for listening and the acronym “HURIER” (Hearing, Understanding, Remembering, Interpreting, Evaluating and Responding) to help us remember what we learned.

This week, I have not only gained insight into the areas of HR that I may deal with in my future career, but I have also been able to put my recruiting skills into practice and gain other soft skills that will help me excel later on down the road. 

6/1/17

During the third week of my internship, I had the opportunity to shadow the INSPD benefits team. During this time, I was able to learn the responsibilities of the benefits team and what their specific duties are during an audit. While I was there, I was able to learn about how people are chosen at random to be a part of an audit, what paper work goes into an audit, and how the benefits department moves through the audit process. I was also able to listen in on phone calls to get a real feel for the tasks they have daily. While listening to phone calls, I gained insight on how to deal with employee benefit issues and got to experience the wide variety of issues that come up in benefits.

7/5/17

Over the past four weeks, I have been able to rotate throughout different government agencies and spend time with their HR teams. I spent two weeks working with the Department of Revenue and another two weeks working with the Department of Child Services. At these agencies, I was able to get a glimpse into what their HR teams have to deal with and completed different projects for them.

At the Department of Revenue, I had the opportunity to help them revamp their filing method into a six-category system. I was also able to sit in on an employee relations investigation and learn how this process is conducted. Through this experience, I got to gain knowledge on how to best handle tough situations in the workplace.

At the Department of Child Services, I got to be a part of conducting a personnel and I-9 audit. I also had the opportunity to learn about unemployment hearings and the process HR goes through during them. This helped me get a glimpse into how law plays a big part in human resources.

While working with these different agencies, I was able to see how HR functions differently for every department and how each HR team has their own culture. I think these past four weeks have given me real-life skills that will help me in my future careers.

7/14/17

The past week of my internship has been filled with new experiences and learning opportunities. I was able to attend the Governor’s speech, interview applicants for an internship opportunity, and help out at an employment fair.

Early in this week, I had the opportunity to hear Governor Eric Holcomb, speak about his experiences. He told us his career path and how he got to where he is today. He left us with a lot of advice for the future and a lot of hope for our generation.

I also had the opportunity to interview applicants for an HR internship with the Indiana State Personnel Department (INSPD). Recruiting their next fall intern has been one of the bigger projects I have been working on with INSPD and it was a great experience actually getting to interview applicants and ask them questions. I learned what good questions to ask are, how to help applicants expand on their answers, and what qualities to look for in candidates. This was an experience that is really going to help in my future career with human resources.

I was also able to help out at the WTHR-TV13 Employment Opportunity Fair that was a part of the Indiana Black Expo. Here, we were promoting state employment and employment at all the different agencies of the government. I got to experience what recruiters do at career fairs and how they interact with possible applicants.

Next week, I am rotating to INDOT (Indiana Department of Transportation) to work with their HR team. I am excited to see what the culture there is like and what different areas of HR they deal with most. It has been interesting to see what HR is like at the different agencies and I am excited to work with this agency now too!

7/28/17

I had the opportunity to work with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) Human Resource team over the past two weeks. I was exposed to different areas of HR and got to learn all about INDOT and how they operate.

Here, I was given the project of coming up with new ideas for recruitment efforts. I was able to come up with ideas for new places to recruit and new advertising methods. I was also able to research new items to be given out at career fairs and other recruiting events.

I also had the opportunity to meet with a member of INDOT’s Talent Management team and learn about a new area that I had not previously been exposed to. I got to learn about what this division does and how they develop and retain talented employees. One of the specific things I got to learn about was how they utilize learning management systems to help employees grow in their roles.

On our last day with INDOT, I had the opportunity to tour the Traffic Management Center and learn about INDOT’s Hoosier Helper program along with the central office HR team. I also got to learn about the different vehicles and equipment used at INDOT. This helped me see all the different parts to INDOT and how much they do.

Within these past two weeks, I also got to go on a tour of the Indiana War Memorial. I got to see many monuments and statues that commemorate the United States Armed Forces and Hoosier veterans. I was able to view the Shrine room and the military museum, as well.

Next week is my last week in my internship and I have been exposed to so much and learned a great deal about HR. I can’t wait to see what the last week has in store!

SPD Welcomes Intern Kennedy Walter!

Throughout this past week I have started my experience as an Indiana State Personnel Department (INSPD) intern. I am greatly looking forward to all this internship has to offer and how much I will learn and grow over the weeks to come. In the fall, I  start my senior year at Indiana University where I am majoring in Human Resource Management and minoring in Marketing. I truly think the education and leadership experiences I have had at Indiana University will help make this internship very successful. I am also hoping to apply some of the skills I gained during my internship last summer to this experience as well. Throughout my time here I am working alongside the Talent Acquisition team as well as other state agencies where I am assisting them with numerous assigned projects. I hope to gain exposure in the various areas of Human Resources and have the opportunity to gain new skills that will help me prepare for my future career. 

During my first few days I have been able to get to know the Talent Acquisition team by shadowing each member and learning more about their position and specific responsibilities. This has been extremely interesting and I am looking forward to being able to work alongside them this summer. Learning about how sourcing and screening works as well as how each Recruitment Consultant assists different agencies throughout the state was great to learn.  Throughout the weeks to come I am shadowing other Human Resource departments such as Employee Relations and Benefits.

One project I will begin assisting Cortney Garfield and Heather Whitaker on is the upcoming job fair for the Indiana School of the Blind and Visually Impaired. I, as well as the other SPD intern, Taylor Pharr, will be helping with the marketing and promotions for this event. I am also excited to get a jump start on one of the other main projects we will be working on throughout the summer, which is creating and implementing a strategic recruitment plan for the incoming INSPD fall intern. We hope to come up with innovative ideas on how to attract a strong candidate who will essentially be coming in to the position we currently have.

So far this internship is off to a great start, and I am looking forward to all this internship has to offer and the experience and skills I will gain along the way! 

5/26/2017

Week two with the Indiana State Personnel Department has been very exciting. Throughout the week we had the privilege of meeting and talking to numerous INSPD directors and executives. Each individual had great stories and advice for me and Taylor and our future careers. We also officially started our recruitment efforts for the fall semester internship program. We began marketing and posting on school career websites around the state. We have been continuously screening resumes throughout the week so we can move forward to the next step in the process. Raeanne has been preparing us for the interviews we are holding in the near future.
Later in the week we spent a day with the Employee Relations team and learned about their day to day responsibilities and what it takes to be successful in their individual roles. We also attended a soft skills session on listening. It ultimately made me more aware of how often I truly am not listening, and what it takes to be a better listener. I had fun hearing numerous stories from each person in Employee Relations and I sparked an interest in investigations once the job shadowing was complete. Gaining exposure in the numerous HR areas has been great because it allows me to grasp a better understanding of what I want to do post-graduation.

6/1/2017

During week three we had the opportunity to shadow INSPD’s Benefits division. It was great being able to learn more about this division and what the benefits specialist position entails. We were able to shadow them during one of their busier times, which allowed us to see how the specialists handled numerous situations with employees around the state.

In addition, we continued our recruiting efforts for a fall intern and worked on marketing strategies for the School for the Blind and Visually Impaired career fair. As the end of this week approaches we are able to start wrapping up screening for the fall INSPD intern and start scheduling interviews. It’s hard to believe our first three weeks with INSPD are already over. Next Monday we begin working with the Department of Revenue. 


7/3/2017
Throughout the past month we have been working on projects for the Department of Revenue as well as the Department of Child Services. Both of these agencies gave us exposure to different aspects of Human Resources. At the Department of Revenue we worked on updating and auditing a 600 person personnel file filing system. On the other hand, at the Department of Child Services we were able to shadow the employee relations specialist and see how to handle employee relation disputes. This experience also allowed us to see the legal side of employee relations, which was extremely interesting. We learn about employment law in school, however, it was great to see how it is used in real world situations. I really have enjoyed how this rotational internship program allows us to go to different state agencies because we get to know the different HR teams at each agency and see how they operate.

SPD Welcomes Intern Anziana Falchetti

This is my first week as the State Personnel Department (SPD) intern, and I am so excited to learn about all the different functions of SPD through job shadowing and working on assigned projects. I am currently studying Human Resources (HR) Management at Indiana University and feel my education and experience will set me up for success in this internship! I have been focusing on the recruitment process in the first two days by job shadowing the SPD Talent Acquisition (TA) team and learning about what they do for their specific agencies! So far, I have learned about external sourcing and the process of reviewing and posting an open job to the job bank. It is interesting how the team uses their resources to attract and recruit candidates while also working with the hiring manager to find the right fit for the specific position.

I started by shadowing SPD’s TA recruitment consultants. Jared Herring taught me how to use PeopleSoft for recruiting means and how to approve a job that a hiring manager wants to post. Cortney Elliott explained how she trains her hiring managers to write effective job descriptions, interview, and select candidates through a handbook/ quick guide. She also explained the SharePoint intranet, where SPD keeps files and can communicate through Yammer, the office’s social network. Sam Phillips touched on externally sourcing jobs and how to assist candidates who are having issues with the application process. Victoria Renicker explained the SPD email she sorts through to answer candidate’s questions and concerns. She also showed me how to use social media to attract the best quality candidate through interesting posts that promote current, open positions.  The thing I have enjoyed the most so far was reviewing and selecting top resumes to route to hiring managers with Raeanne Florek. It was interesting to look at the requirements and see what makes a resume stand out or a specific candidate a good one. I also accompanied Adam to a meeting with INDOT HR Staff and heard about issues and success stories going on within the agency. It was interesting and beneficial to hear HR professionals talk about issues and potential solutions to resolve them.

Aside from a basic overview of the Talent Acquisition team’s responsibilities, I learned my potential opportunities and schedule for the internship. I am working with different agencies to learn their practices around recruiting and employee relations. I am excited to dive into these two functions of HR to which I have not been previously exposed! 

Living the Dream in SPD - by Ashley Spears

Tuesday, 10/25/16:

This past week, I had the opportunity to experience many different aspects of Human Resources. I first began my week by attending one-on-one meetings with SPD agency leadership and job shadowing the Employee Relations team. Matt Brown, Employee Relations counsel, began our one-on-one session by introducing the background of Employee Relations, the team players in Employee Relations, and discussing the Family Medical Leave Act. He then introduced his coworkers, Alan Ferguson and Taylor Pennell, who went into more detail about Family Medical Leave. After hearing their presentation, I developed a deeper understanding of the rules, regulations, and process of requesting time off.

The next group of Employee Relations personnel I shadowed were Drew Hewitt and Sean Brown. They spoke with me about civil service complaints. A few weeks prior, I gained knowledge of civil service complaints by interning at Department of Child Services and taking part in an employee relations project. Because of that, I was familiar with a few components of the civil service complaint process but was not familiar with the history of classified/unclassified workers. Drew and Sean caught me up on the differences between classified versus unclassified workers.

I then met with Lavenia Haskett, who was an amazing presenter!! Lavenia first began her presentation by giving me a paper clip and asking me the question, “What could you do with this paper clip?” I answered her question in practical purposes but would never guess what one guy named Kyle MacDonald came up with. Lavenia showed me his video called, “What if you could trade a paperclip for a house?” which showed how one guy traded up one red paperclip to a house. She used this video as an illustration of how accommodations for disabilities are handled. Just like the guy in the video, accommodations are often times trial and error. Her presentation was extremely helpful in understanding the process and what is acceptable for accommodations.

The next presenters were Anthony Gibson and Terri Miller. I really found their work to be intriguing in how they take measures to make sure the government is not underutilizing affected classes or discriminating. After their conversation, I met again with Matt Brown joined by Betsy Huffman to discuss the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), State Employees’ Appeals Commission (SEAC) and unemployment. I then met with Jordan Bolden who spoke about investigations regarding alleged misconduct in the workplace. Having an investigative mindset, I really enjoyed speaking with Jordan. Last but not least, I spoke with Employee Relations Director Bruce Baxter. Bruce cleared the air on questions I had related to employee relations and job opportunities in human resources. It was inspiring to hear his story on how he got to be where he is today.

  

Thursday, 10/27/16,

Today I traveled to Indiana School of the Blind and Visually Impaired to job shadow Heather Whitaker. Over at ISBVI, I was able to live the life of a Human Resources generalist in the education field. It was such a beautiful campus with the leaves turning colors and being on the Monon trail. I enjoyed my time there and seeing what life portrays as a generalist.

Friday, 10/28/16:

Interviews!! My boss, Adam Beasley, and I conducted interviews for our spring internship. I sat in on the interviews and was able to ask interviewees questions. After our interviews we discussed our ideas on the candidates. I am really starting to enjoy recruiting!!

Living the Dream in SPD - By Ashley Spears

Week 2-Week 3
10/4/2016-10/14/2016

Putting my investigative mind to test at DCS:

Employee Relations!!!! The area of human resources that is by far my favorite! As you all know from last week’s post, I was at the Department of Child Services for the past two weeks. Camille Rowley, had asked if I would help her with an employee relations project at the DCS office. This project involved going through employee relations files and analyzing the situation, the resulting action taken by the company / employee and the category of the incidents. We then went on to enter the information contained in the files into a database for quick access for future use. By reading through the employee relations files, I was able to learn how DCS handles their administrative investigations, civil service complaints and workplace harassments.   

Camille was an extremely resourceful mentor during this project. Upon arrival to DCS, I attended a meeting to discuss the changes coming to the department in 2017 and prior achievements in 2016. It was a rewarding experience to sit in on that meeting to learn more on how this department is structured and run. Only being an intern at DCS for a few hours, I was elated to be included in their discussion. Throughout the meeting Aiesha Peterson-Smith asked if I had any comments to add regarding each topic. I was able to share my comments openly and felt honored to be given a moment to speak. Aeisha, as well as her colleagues, always made a point to include me during their meetings. I attended two other meetings while interning at DCS. One meeting was in relation to planning a management training session for lawyers in DCS. The last meeting dealt with improving job descriptions and interview questions for caseworkers.

During my time at DCS, I was also able to have meetings with Michael Ackerman and Jennifer Jones. While speaking with Michael, I was able to gain insight into how DCS uses Human Resources data for recruiting and hiring caseworkers and caseworker manager. While speaking with Jennifer, she showed me how they program that data using excel spreadsheets. It was fascinating to hear how data plays a huge part in hiring accurately in DCS.

Giving Farewells to Denny Darrow

During my last day at DCS, I attended the farewell open house for Denny Darrow. Denny was leaving to take the Human Resources vice president position at Purdue University.  I had only known Denny for a few months but I felt I had known him for years. The reason I say that is because Denny would always acknowledge my presence and make a point to speak with me upon running into me in the Government building. Even if Denny was on his way to a meeting, he would stop what he was doing and ask how my internship was going. That meant a lot to me that he would take time to get to know me.

I noticed at the open house I was not the only one who felt appreciated by Denny. Employees expressed their appreciation through speeches and songs. Bruce Baxter wrote a humorous song about Denny’s farewell. While Bruce played the guitar and the band sang, the employees chimed in and sang the chorus. It was heartwarming to see what a difference Denny made in the lives of every individual at SPD.  I looked up to the way he interacted and lead his employees. He described his leadership style at the open house as an “upside down pyramid.” The kind of leadership that is focused on helping people grow and develop. The workers are the ones that drive the organization toward success. He was extremely proud of the accomplishments that his employees at SPD achieved during his time as director. Denny Darrow was an incredible, amiable leader who is definitely missed this week in SPD. I wish him the best at Purdue University. Boiler up!!

To Be Continued: Week 3-Week 4

Next week I make my way back to SPD’s talent acquisition office. My responsibility is to recruit for our spring internship position.

During Week 4 on Tuesday October 25, I am job shadowing in employee relations with Matt Brown. On Thursday, October 27 I am job shadowing Heather Whitaker. Lastly on Friday, October 28, I am conducting interviews for our spring internship position.

Next week is full of adventures!

Living the Dream in SPD - By Ashley Spears

The Motivators Behind SPD Employees

It has always been a dream of mine to work for the United States Government. My desire to work for the government stemmed from wanting to work for an organization whose mission and values I resonated firmly to. I found it challenging to work for organizations whose main mission related to increasing stockholder’s share value or increasing sales within a company. I wanted to make a difference in the life of people in my surrounding community. On my first day interning at the Indiana State Personnel Department, I found I was not the only person who longed to make a difference.

Every employee I met on the first day- from the women who greeted me in the parking garage to a recruiter in Talent Acquisition- were enthused to be there working to make a difference in the State. During my first week, I had the pleasure to sit down and speak with Kristi Hall, John Bayse, Christy Tittle, Whitney Miller, Dawn Baptist, Ashley Hungate and Bruce Baxter. During our meeting, they shared their stories within SPD and answered the questions I had pertaining to human resources. It was a rewarding experience to have the opportunity to speak with and develop a connection to these inspiring leaders within SPD.

ABC’s to Finding and Hiring State Employees

Along with getting my bearings down and meeting all the lovely faces at SPD, I also began rolling on recruiting for the spring internship program. My first steps of recruitment involved designing a flyer with as much patriotism as possible, networking with college organizations/career offices and posting on social media websites.

Next I learned recruiting strategies from Caitlin Floyd to understand how SPD hires state employees for different agencies. She walked me through the process of offer letters, employment verification, drug testing and background checks. I was able to practice employment verifications by calling the previous employer of a potential hire to verify past employement information.

To Be Continued: Week 2 - Week 3

Next week, my adventures take me to the Department of Child Services. There, I will be working alongside Camille Rowley on an employee relations project. Stay tuned to hear about my experience with DCS. 

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

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

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!

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

Intern Words of Wisdom - by Shae

I am currently in awe that my internship is more than half way over. I have been bouncing to many different agencies, learning all I can about the business process and the leadership. Thankfully everyone in the different agencies is excited to have us working on projects for them! Payton and I sat in with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles for two wonderful weeks. We spent the first few days meeting all the department heads. During the meetings, we learned about their path to state government and their general day-to-day activities. This was very helpful as we were given the project of renaming their departments to better represent their business practices. Additionally, the goal of the project was to ensure that everyone was listed in the correct department within our HRIS system. In order to make sure our information was correct, we met with the chief operating officer, controller, compensation consultant, and chief of staff. As you can imagine, these were great contacts to make within the state. A few of them even offered to be a reference for me in the future. It was a pleasure to work for them and learn from such influential movers and shakers. We ended the two weeks with the completion of three separate and equally meaningful projects. Also, we got a sneak peek into the two final designs for the new license plate design! You can vote on your favorite design at the Indiana State Fair!

During that week, I also had the pleasure of meeting with Governor Mike Pence in his office for a speech from himself to all the 2016 Governor’s Summer Interns. He spoke of all the different paintings hanging around the Governor’s office, one of which is a last original painting of President Abraham Lincoln before his assassination. Governor Pence then went on to do a Q&A session for the remainder of the meeting. It was an honor to sit in front of the now Republican Vice Presidential Candidate only days before the announcement.

I received yet another intern perk this past week. All of the interns had the opportunity to tour the Indiana War Memorial downtown. They have a large collection of war propaganda posters, which I am particularly fond of myself. It was such a wonderful collection of war memorabilia and information. I suggest that everyone make it out to the Indiana War Memorial at some point! To the left is an image from inside the Shine Room.

As promised in my last blog, I am going to share more wisdom I have gained throughout my internship. My colleagues left me with some insight into the professional HR world during our meetings last week. I would like to share some paraphrased accounts of them with you.

3. You will excel if you have the spirit, positivity and enthusiasm. To fuel these characteristics, you must work selflessly. This will help you reach new points in relationships, which will give you the leverage to produce great work. Being open and receptive to feedback will help you grow as a professional. Let your mentors and colleagues know that you are open and eager for criticism.

I am open to comments, questions, and concerns. Please leave them below in the comments! For more words of wisdom I have gained these past weeks, look for my blogs bi- weekly! Stay tuned.

Shae

Payton's Intern Guide to SPD

Hi everyone!

These past couple weeks at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) kept Shae and I very busy! We were given three different projects to focus on during the two weeks we were there, as well as had the opportunity to meet the other BMV interns and many different BMV executives.

The first project we focused on was BMV department name changes. This consisted of talking with the different executives in charge of the departments and deciding on a new department name that fits these employees’ day-to-day tasks. After we decided on the names, we helped the different employees into their right departments, making sure all the new information was correct and ready to update in the system.

The next project we worked on was looking through employee disciplines for 2015 and 2016 to identify the different policies and procedures employees had broken. The purpose of this was to hopefully see a pattern in the policies and procedures broken, and use that to help update and better the employee training programs so that there are less employee disciplines in the future.

The last project I worked on was analyzing the turnover rate for a BMV department. This was an interesting project to work on because it gave me the opportunity to compare turnover rates for different positions and understand more how this data could be helpful information when using it to better retention and recruiting for positions.

There were also a couple different activities planned for all Governor’s Summer Interns. All of us interns attended a speech given by Governor Mike Pence in his office. We learned about the different history held there, and had the chance to ask him questions. We also all participated in a tour of the War Memorial Museum, which was an amazing learning experience!

Time has really flown by this summer. I only have a month left of this internship before I head back to school! Make sure to read my last two blogs!

Payton Reardon

HR Intern

Payton's Intern Guide to SPD

Hi Everyone!

These past couple weeks have been filled with many different projects and activities! After wrapping up the I-9 project with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), we got started on breaking down the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ISBVI) career fair metrics. This project consisted of recording and organizing data from the past two year’s career fairs. After recording the data we focused on deciding which data was useful and how we could turn that into helpful information. Our overall goal was to show what has been making the career fairs successful and how we can continue improving them. I really enjoyed this project because we got to use the information we learned from the system consultant last week and try to implement that in our own way.

The past couple weeks also consisted of two Agency Leadership Panel Discussions, which were planned for all the summer interns. This gave us the chance to listen to and learn about multiple different professionals. We received some great advice from everyone to help us with our journeys to the “real world.”

Finally, Shae and I got to wrap up the recruiting for the fall internship position! The past two weeks we helped with interviews for all of our chosen candidates.  It was a great experience to sit on the other side of the interview! It was so great to see all of our work recruiting for this position come together.

Our next two weeks will be spent at a different agency, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), so don’t miss out on the next blog!

Payton Reardon

HR Intern

Intern Words of Wisdom - by Shae

Last week, I participated in a lunch and learn hosted by our data analytics manger. His project is to provide relevant data to Human Resource Professionals within State Government. The main goals of using analytics are to drive the mission, find priorities, and analyze the impact of HR within the business. Allowing data analytics to show us quick wins in business processes allows us to reach these goals. These quick wins answer smaller questions such as turnover rate or find correlations between factors such as distance from work and retention. The quick wins don’t necessarily dictate projects, but they do influence choices. Moving forward, we want to use our HR data to forecast future trends which will allow us to become more proactive. This allows us to refine processes to improve the Indiana State Personnel Department as a whole. The better processes we have in place, the more efficient the HR staff will become. Gaining this data is a way to accurately measure the successes of the HR team. We are proving our worth one drill down at a time. We must remember to always have a benchmark to measure our success, as a number is only worth as much as its relativity. It was a joy to sit in this meeting, as I am always looking for ways to grow and improve.

Shae

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 

Payton's Intern Guide to SPD

Hello Everyone!

During the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to work on multiple projects in the Talent Acquisition (TA) division as well as travel to different agencies to see what their HR professionals did from day to day.

Throughout the past few weeks my fellow intern, Shae Siokos, and I have been continuously working on a Social Media plan for TA. Working on this has given me the chance to view social media as a recruiting tool rather than just for personal uses. We also have been working on recruiting for different jobs for TA.

Two weeks ago we visited with the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ISBVI). When we arrived I was amazed at how beautiful the school’s campus was, and felt lucky to visit there for the day. We shadowed the school’s HR director and had the chance to learn about the different tasks and challenges she faces regularly. This helped a lot because it put into perspective what a typical day in the HR world could look like. We also helped recruit and get the word out for the school’s career fair! Next week we will get to go to the actual career fair and see how it works from an employer’s side.

Earlier this week we met with a System Consultant. This was a very interesting meeting because we learned about HR metrics and how important they are. We learned how data can really improve a business or organization’s effectiveness and efficiency when you ask the right questions and observe the right correlations. Before this meeting I didn’t realize how much metrics could help the different departments in HR, but afterwards it sparked my interest and caused me to think of HR from many different perspectives. 

This past Tuesday we visited the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). We job shadowed the HR Manager and the Executive Recruiter, and learned what they do from day to day. We also got the chance to start I-9 audits, which was an interesting project to work on. There were four binders full of I-9s that needed to be checked for completion and separated from the employees that currently work for INDOT, and from the employees that have separated from the state. I’m looking forward to going back next week to finish these audits!

I’m so grateful for everyone who is bringing us interns in, letting us tag along and giving us important advice, it helps a lot! I can’t wait for the next few weeks!

Payton Reardon

HR Intern

State Personnel Department 

SPD Welcomes Intern Payton!

Hello Everyone!

My name is Payton Reardon, and I am the summer intern for the Indiana State Personnel Department (SPD). I am from Avon, Indiana and have lived in Indiana for about 13 years. I will be a junior at Indiana University this coming fall, majoring in Human Resource Management with a minor in Business.  I plan to graduate May of 2018 and pursue a career in Human Resources. After I finally locked down my major in HR, this past year was when I really grew a passion for HR and started searching for internships. I found this summer internship opportunity through the School of Public and Environmental Affair’s career website. What really attracted me to this internship was all the different projects and departments in HR I would be exposed to. During my interview I learned more about the projects I would be doing and the culture I would be exposed to, and I decided it was the perfect summer job for me.

            Looking back at my first two weeks I am amazed at how much I have already learned. Within the first week of this internship I had the opportunity to have multiple meet and greets with the different directors within SPD and learn about what they do. By the second day I already had my first recruiting project in the Talent Acquisition division. During the first two weeks, I also had the opportunity to job shadow the Employee Relations and Benefits division, and through that I was able to meet their teams and learn about their day-to-day schedules.  

            In the two weeks I have been interning at SPD, I already feel like I have learned so much. It has been satisfying to be able to use what I have learned in classes and bring that knowledge into a real world experience. I am beyond excited to see what other opportunities I will have throughout the summer as I continue with my internship.

  

SPD Welcomes Intern Shae!

As I walked across the stage at graduation, a moment of fear rushed over me. I began wondering if I had learned enough to become an HR professional. Did I know all of the current recruiting laws in place? Furthermore, am I able to regurgitate them when a colleague askes me? I was fairly certain, but not totally sure. I just graduated from the Kelley School of Business with a double major in Human Resource Management and Management. I better know what I’m doing! All of the stakeholders of IUPUI, Kelley School of Business, and the HR program depended on me being qualified to have my name on that piece of paper. And now all the stakeholders for the Indiana State Government.  I was feeling the pressure.

After sitting in my role for the past two weeks as a Human Resources Intern for the Governor’s Summer Internship Program, my fears started to subside. The wonderful onboarding routine made me feel like part of the State Personnel Department family. While job shadowing the Employee Relations unit, I knew exactly what Executive Order 00011246 meant when brought up in conversation. I was fascinated by their affirmative action plan for each agency within state government. I wanted to hear details for each ongoing investigation. My 15 minute ‘Meet & Greets’ turned into an hour. I am a sponge for the information with plenty of follow up questions and these executives were willing to speak with me.  I was having stimulating conversations with the staff attorney and it was inspiring. The past four years were worth it! I had the vocab, engaging questions, and a fellow intern, Payton, with whom to experience it all. We were on fire. The State Personnel Department gave me the platform to use the intelligence that I had absorbed.

As I sit here, working on projects, relaxed from yoga in the State Library, I am certain that this was the perfect internship for me. Now, as for what I have learned during my time with SPD. To know it all, you will have to stay tuned each blog.

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.

1. Break the HR Stigma

Other agencies can see Human Resources as the bad guy, the enforcer. You, as an HR professional, will have to combat that paradigm. You need to be able to convince them to see your way. You need to be able to influence. You are now an influencer! Have the mentality of a flipped pyramid with HR at the bottom; we work for them. All for one, and one for all! We are a family. Without them, we would not be here.

I am here to say, as a new HR professional, I am here for you. For more words of wisdom I have gained these past weeks, look for my blogs bi- weekly! Stay with us. 

Shae