Day 11

Examples of Collaboration:

As an intern, I directly work with two people in the course of a typical work day. My mentor and another co-worker. If I were an actual employee in HR, then I'd be indrectly working with 3,000+ workers. This would be because HR handles the employees' medical records, benefits, compensation, etc.

My direct collaboration with the two other people assists them with their workload.

Day 10

This week was definitely a lot more productive and exciting than the first. I met with a couple managers around Solar, in addition to attending several meetings. In between those days I reviewed online courses on electronic communications, Yellowbelt Awareness, and global diversity. These are all courses related to the company.

The highlight of my week was definitely meeting Lisa Askew. She's the Human Resources Development Manager here at Solar. Her sense of humor is hilarious, and I really think I would enjoy her as my boss. We found something in common, where we both were part of an international traveling program. It's amazing how by just talking to anyone around here, you'll find at least something you have in common with them or something you can both relate to.

A challenge I had was staying engaged in all the meetings I attended. Not the one-on-one meetings, but the conferences. Although the information presented at these meetings did not apply to me as an intern, I found it a huge struggle to sit still and stay engaged. I feel as though business and office work is not suitable for me.

Day 9

This is the Quality Room right next to Central HR. I posted this picture because I went to two meetings today. The first one was a CHR staff meeting that took about 3 hours. The second meeting I attended was the monthly EAG leader meeting. It was right after the CHR staff meeting. So these meetings took a majority of my day.



Discussion
These back-to-back meetings are what my mentor deals with on the daily. She's constantly in and out of meetings. I guess adults and students are a lot alike in such that they both stress. For the most part students stress about school. Every now and then it'll be relationship problems or parents or sports schedules. Adults deal with the same exact thing. Plus more. It's not just themselves, but their families as well. Their spouse, their children. It's not just about themselves in the adult world. You must be selfless and generous. I don't know how they do it, but they do. I don't want to scare myself here, because I know I'll be in the same position one day. But somehow, these adults do it. And they're happy.

Possible Interview Questions
Is Psychology what you always wanted to pursue?

How far along the way did you decide you wanted to get more than just a B.A.?
Do yo usee yourself working in HR till you retire?
What was the hardest thing you went through that helped you intellectually and/or physically grow?
What were the highlights and benefits about getting your doctorate?
What was your biggest struggle getting your PhD?
Did you ever doubt that going through postgraduate school would be worth it?
What would you advise to anyone planning to pursue a doctorate as well?

Day 8

Jessica Paul was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. She has one younger sister. She attended USD for her undergraduate school and went on to (university here) to pursue her Master's and PhD. Within Solar, Jessica first worked in Employee Relations for (amount of years here). Since February 2009, she has been working in the Central Human Resources department as the Diversity & Equal Employment Opportunities Specialist. Jessica lives with her newlywed husband, Justin, and their dog Dulce.

Day 7

I would like to develop interpersonal skills in myself to become a better individual among others by having genuine care for my peers. By doing this, I know my peers will do the same. I saw that in the Central HR department, there was a sense of family and respect for each other. I think that's important because it just makes the group work well together and creates a bond outside of their own homes. Something I also saw around the department was diligence. Each of these workers have so many things to do, and you obviously know that it was done to the best of their ability. Otherwise, the consequences for not fully completing assigned tasks could be crucial.

Since internship started, I now have appreciation for adults in general. Work is definitely not easy. You have to work for it.

Day 6

I had work today although it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I had to come in half an hour earlier than usual because my first task of the day began at 7:30am.

Well, today there was new hire orientation in the eastside room. I didn't know where it was, so I went to security and they took me to the room. I was expecting there to be a bunch of people, but there were only 4 other people besides me. That was pretty surprising. We were each to make our own nametag and the most creative one would get a prize. Evidently, I won. I got a "bio-degradable pen." Woohoo. The orientation consisted of presentations about the history of Solar, safety procedures, and password protection/privacy. We also got a tour of the facility. I didn't know there was a chapel here. That was cool. I learned the chapel was all built by actual Solar employees back in the day. They hold ceremonies there too.

Next was lunchtime. We were given a $10 ticket we could use to buy lunch--a lot like a giftcard. After lunch, we were released from orientation. I went back to Central HR to check in with my mentor. I completed online courses for "Electronic Communications" and "6 Sigma Yellowbelt Awareness." Both were courses to better understand the company and compliance rules.

So that was pretty much my day. I left at 2:30pm.

Day 5

Project Description
Internship site: Solar Turbines, Inc.
Department: Central Human Resources
Project Title: undetermined
General Description: a compilation of cultural holidays relating to Solar's worldwide employees; written description for the selected holidays; will be published in EAG (Employee Affinity Groups) newsletter
Learning Objectives: to achieve a further understanding of various cultures' holidays
Organization/Company Objectives & Benefits: "Products from Solar Turbines play an important role in the development of oil, natural gas and power generation projects around the world. Solar Turbines’ products include gas turbine engines (rated from 1590 to 30,000 horsepower), gas compressors, and gas turbine-powered compressor sets, mechanical-drive packages and generator sets (ranging from 1.1 to 22.4 megawatts)"
http://mysolar.cat.com/
Schedule: 8am-4pm
Academic Skills: good writing and grammar
Technical Skills: Microsoft Word & Powerpoint
Collaboration—Skills and Opportunities: holidays of interest were provided by international leaders part of Solar; clarification/assistance provided by mentor
Exhibition Plans: practice run scheduled two days before; whole Central HR department is invited to attend my presentation
Schedule & Timelines: (project was not officialialized till second full week of internship)
remainder of week (1/20-22) : begin research
early of week (1/25-27): rough draft completed, reviewed, & revised
1/27: POL practice run
1/29: Internship POL


Summary of Week
It was a pleasure to meet everyone around the facility, especially the president of Solar Turbines Steve Gosselin (YES, I met the president. Nifty, eh?). I also had lunch with the manager of the department I am working in. I found out that her son and my younger brother played for the same basketball team, so that was coincidental. The challenges my first week was getting my own access, as in my own badge and my own account for the computer. There wasn't much I could do except wait and be patient about this matter. I maintained a positive attitude the whole week. In addition, I was more than happy to help my co-workers with any small tasks they needed.

I definitely did not expect that the company I'm working for to be the great company that it is today. I also didn't realize how confidential things can be in an office, in addition to there being MANY, many things in a business that goes on ''behind the scenes.'' Who would have thought compensation, benefits, and pension were crucial in a company like Solar Turbines? I didn't, that's for sure. I also did not expect to meet the president of Solar! Obviously he's a very busy man, so just introducing myself to him was nice. I believe he was the one who was interested in recruiting a high school intern from HTH.

Overall, my first week was not that exciting to be honest. There were a few times that I enjoyed, but I had nothing productive to do for my own. Solar was on a ''winter break shut-down'' for three weeks, so my first day of internship was also their first day coming back from break. So it was busy, and many people were still settling down after the holidays. I didn't really have much to do because of the fact that I didn't have my own access. But I know that the next two weeks will be very busy according to my schedule that my mentor planned for me.