Happy New Year - This Will Be the Best Year Ever (Says Spongebob)

Happy New Year!!!!

I Feel Your Pain

Today, I had a former employee call in to ask me how he could come back to the company. I felt very bad for him because of the reason he was discharged. I could tell from his voice he was depressed. He said he has been looking for work since his dismissal in the fall, yet we are in a slow job market.

Although, I was not downsized I do feel his pain. I could hear the desperation in his voice. He wants to work but, he just can't find anything.

I guess I feel his plight so much because of how long it took me to find this position. I have noticed that people that call and ask me for help I go above and beyond to help them. I give them pointers and contacts. Hey, I am paying it forward, just like some people did for me.

How to Do What I Did (If I Can Do It...)

Now that I have successfully transitioned into HR, as I've stated in another post this blog will now be dedicated to helping others gain entry into the field.

If you've read my blog you will know what it has taken for me to enter this field. Some days I was so optimistic things would happen for me. Then I would be let down that they did not. I would become very discouraged and despondant. So my first lesson to all those reading is to think about whether this field is right for you. It takes a person who is highly organized, wants to help others and has great customer service skills. That's right customer service skills. Customer service is not just for department stores and fast food. It will be for both the internal and external customers.

Your internal customer may be someone who wants to know about changing a W-4 or a beneficiary. Your external customer may be someone verifying employement or wanting to know about the staus of their application.

The first thing I would suggest you do is find out whether you are a people person. Can you handle juggling more than one priority do you have patience and do you practice good judgment? An HR professional must possess those minimal qualities to at least get started in the field.

A good place to get started is at Monster.com. They have great advice for transitioning into Human Resources. The advice can be used for those who are totally new to the field or those who want to grow in the field.

http://career-advice.monster.com/job-search-essentials/human-resources/career-changers/management/Transitioning-into-HR/home.aspx

This site was very helpful to me because it showed that you did not need an advanced degree to be in the field. In some of the stories it showed how people were in the field because of a management decision. In other words they just happened into the field. Of course if this were the case you wouldn't need help to transition. With that said, the website does help you to understand sometimes it can take some work to move into the field.

Another good site is SHRM. Now this site is constructed more for the person who is already in the field What it is good for, is learning the industry lingo and trends. You will be able to impress a hiring manager with your ability to learn about HR without actually ever having practiced.

http://www.shrm.org/

Word of the week: Practioner - One who practices Human Resources and uses best business practices.

Who Are The People in the Office?

I work, as I have stated in other posts for a large Cleveland company. This company employs thousands of people. It is very renowned. I work in a small yet vital section of the HR department.

Our department is not policy making, however it is important to the functioning of the company.

My supervisor, Andrea has been in that role for about 20 years. I like her, she is very laid back, not in an incompetent way, but more in an observatory role. She guides more than delegates. She leaves the delegation to Fern, our HR administrator.

The administrator sets the work tone for the office. Think of her as an assistant manager in retail terms. She's very nice and teaches well. She doesn't seem to mind the amount of questions you ask. As one of the first people I met when I came in on the first day, she and I clicked. She is very smart and I could see her running the department should Andrea ever decide to leave.

Then there's the other assistant, Cherise. She's been here about six months. Now with her I am sure I will have many stories. As a person she is nice. As a worker she is extremely insecure.

We each have different jobs, but I do believe that I will be a threat for Cherise. Mostly in her own mind.

The News, And Nothing But The News

I have not had a chance to update this blog in over a month and a half. I have very good news. I am now a full time Human Resources Professional. I work for a large publicly traded company in Cleveland.


I found this position by being tenacious and knowing exactly what I want. I had been seeking this kind of position for a little over a year. I reached out to a local talent search company who was willing to place someone with nominal experience in a highly competitive field.


I saw this position and knew this was the one for me.

I LOVE my new job. It is exciting, challenging and above all rewarding. In the coming days and months I will change the focus of this blog to help others like myself transition into HR. I will give accounts of my day on the job and you can watch me grow into a full fledged professional.

Eating Alphabet Soup in HR

I have attended a flurry of meetings dealing with HR. The first was SHRM. The Society for Human Resource Management. In this meeting they talked about a new way to recruit workers using Linked In. I had already had an account with them, but I went home and updated it for a better chance noticing me. Recruiters are using very unconventional methods to find employees. I want to be in the loop.

The next meeting was IMPA-HR. They talked about the effects of a pandemic flu happening in the workplace. They gave a lot of useful advice on how to handle it.

Then I attended my first CEBS meeting. CEBS is the compensation and benefits side of HR. They were explaining what to look for when choosing health plans. Most notably how hospitals rank and what the various amenities are.

Finally, I attended IHRIM they are the technical side of HR. The HRIS side. This meeting was also a first. Although, it seemed like a sales pitch I did learn the upside to using an ADP system. ADP, Kronos and SAP are biggies in HR.

I Told You So

For all those people believeing that a library background may not be compatible with or indirectly related to HR, I am here to say it is. And furthermore, I told you so.

Today Monica gave me two projects and wouldn't you know it, I had to use my library background. I am telling you being a librarian should be pre requisite to just about every job posting.

Monica asked me to find the most recent version of the retirement guide. Find the differences between the 2003 and 2001 edition and list them. Then I needed to do this with the addendums. There were five addendums and I was supposed to go through those and point out the differences. They were doing an audit of the retirement system.

The other project I had was to work on finding a retiree that may or may not have been our employee. I'll put my library background to good use and do it on Monday when I get back.

Today was a good day. I called an employer today to verify whether or not she had received my application and resume. We just started talking and she invited me in for an interview. Wow.

I'll comment after it is done.

I'll Be Waiting

OK, its over. The interview went well. I did not stumble, or mumble or get nervous, until the last question. The question about why do you want to work here? I answered in two sentences and immediately regretted it. I just couldn't think past those two sentences.

I am not going to sit here and dissect every word I said, because chances are someone within the agency will receive the position anyway. That has happened to me be before.

I just hope the best and what will happen will happen. God, I'm so philosophical.

I Had to Take a Break...

Wow, it has been at least five weeks since my last post. I have been doing a lot at H&S. I have also been doing some thinking.

I guess right now is a very down time for me. I keep vacilating into wanting to host a pity party or saying que sera sera. Tomorrow is the biggest interview I will have been asked to sit for. I am so hoping this is it. I am trying hard not to think about it, but my mind keeps coming back to it.

I hope to impress the panel with my knowledge of the organization. I have gone in and done a lot of research on as much as I could. It is such a large organization I had to narrow it down to just the department. Wish me luck.

In other news H&S is helping me to keep my sanity. I am still learning there everyday. My latest project has been to answer lawyer interrogations for a BWC case. Now, this truly takes my library background. I have to research answers to questions that are not readily known. I like doing this work.

The Spreadsheet

I had a chance to do something today that was pretty different from the other tasks I have done. Monica entrusted me to do a BWC dispersal expense spreadsheet.

This spreadsheet was indepth and time consuming and I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. I had to expense a claim that was almost two years in the making. I did not know my skills in spreadsheets were that good.

As a librarian I use Publisher way more. My Publisher skills are phenomenal. I am a whiz at fliers. I use Excel only for reporting stats at the library. Along with all my other transition activities I began to notice that Publisher within the Human Resource field is not as necessary as Excel, so I bought a book and began to practice. Which brings me to yesterday.

Without fail I was able to accomplish creating a spreadsheet and presented it to the HR Director (Monica). I think she was pretty impressed.

Retirement, Seperation and Termination 101- Advanced Class

I learned how to do the paperwork for a disability retirement. It is not that hard, you just have to make sure you dot all your i's and cross all your t's.

Monica asked that I contact the retiree to get all the needed information to get the ball rolling. The retiree seemed like such a nice man. I hope all goes better in his retirement.

The next one was the company seperation. An associate decided it was time to move on. We did a basic seperation on a basic Action Form.

Then there was the termination. I see that to do a termination, you must make sure you follow protocol. That includes making sure all company property is returned, all passwords are given and you are correctly (legally) removing an employee. For this situation we sent out the letter certified telling the associate of his rights to COBRA, pension, 401(k) and other employee interests.

The Human Resources Center

The Human Resources Center

Here are some pictures of the room. I swear this is neat compared to what it looked like below. LaShanda got to the room on Friday. It was really bad. She went in there and straightened it and made some seblance of order.

Even though most prospective recruiters have been scoffing at the idea of hiring a librarian, here is a place where library skills are a plus. I know this is not that great of a picture, it is far too dark. I had drawn up plans as how best to display the paperwork on the wall. I know I am supposed to supress the librarian and loose the new HR professional in myself, but some tasks ask to use all of your skill sets. I am going to put them in the order of importance and use.

You just don't understand it was not this neat before, I promise! LaShanda did a good job all by herself.

This table is neat now compared with before. I will take more pictures as I progress.

I Have Seen the Room, and It Ain't Pretty

I am just about finished with two of my three projects for Horsburgh & Scott. The first was reading over the employee manual, filing the re enrollment forms and then organizing the Human Resources room.

This is a room Monica and LaShanda want to use for filling out forms, interviewing, accepting offers and other great HR duties.

Well, on my first day LaShanda showed the room to me. I only saw it through the long glass window on the door. I said oh, this won't be too bad I can do this in about two days (six hours). OK, needless to say, I was wrooong. This room has all kinds of stuff. Papers, booklets, notebooks everything they were too afraid to pitch.

Believe it or not this is right up my alley. I love to organize and get everything in some semblance of order. Maybe that's another reason why I like the library. I will take my library (organizing) background and go to it.

I will take pictures and post them as I go along. See the transformation at work. If only my digital camera was advanced enough to have time lasped photography.

BWC, STD, LTD, Oh My

A little background on Horsburgh and Scott. It is a leading manufacturer of gear and gear drives. This is a manufacturing company. From what I see more company's want a person with a manufacturing HR background than a strictly corporate. That may or may not be true, but a lot of the positions I have applied for have asked for this background.

I will be working primarily with LaShanda, Monica's assistant. Today she taught me how to log Bureau of Worker's Comp (BWC) checks. I also learned how to pay the payees.

This is a fairly simple task. You must first

1. Find all filed bills. (The bills are always date stamped to ensure accurate and timely payment)
2. Match all bills with checks to be paid.
3. All checks are logged under the type of check they are e.g. physician pay or if the checks go to the employee.

This is not the entire task, but who wants to be bored by the drudgery of what goes on at work.

I want to now learn how to input a new claim into the system.

I also saw what kind of HRIS they have. The way many company's talk about their system it is like learning something you've never done before. H & S's system seem to be a Windows based system just like our SIRSI library system. To tell you the truth they even look very similiar, same colors and icons.

While on the topic of HRIS, I will be attending the local IHRIM meeting with Debra Wells (see earlier post). This group is the technical side of HR.

If You Can't Get Paid For It Do It For FREE

OK I hope you are sitting down for this. I am now an intern. Oh my God. I kept seeing the brick wall to my face. No amount of 60 second commercials, revamping of the resume, sending out said resume or calling to introduce myself to people will beat this experience.

I am interning at Horsburgh & Scott a manufacturing company in Cleveland.

I met Monica Priester at a SHRM meeting. I just started talking to her and before she left she gave me her card. I decided to call her and find out how she came to be in the HR field. I went to her office and we talked for about one hour. I emailed her to thank her and decided to ask if she needed an intern, she said yes.

Along with her assistant LaShanda, we will have three projects to finish:

• Read over the Employee Manual and give my outside opinion.
• Organize Human Resources Room
• Put together re-enrollment forms.

She asked me what I wanted to learn. I told her I wanted to learn the HR tasks that come up most often ion job descriptions. Tasks such as:

• FMLA
• BWC
• Benefits

I just want a well rounded education. I want to be able to apply what I learned in my class to the actual task.

A Wealth of Information in Debra Wells

Speaking with new people about transitioning into HR has become a way for me to better understand the Human Resources professional's role. The Executive Director of East Cleveland Public Library Greg Reese found out about my career ambitions and suggested I give his friend Debra Wells a call.

Debra Wells is the Human Resources Director for Cuyahoga County Library System. After speaking to this well accomplished lady I came away with understanding the managerial side to this field.

This most qualified professional has been Director of HR with her organization since 1981. She wrote their first Affirmative Action Policy, a comprehensive training/policy manual and allowed for their organization to become automated. All application and selection processes are located online. They are the most technologically advanced library system in Ohio.

I asked Ms. Wells

"What characteristics make the best HR professionals?"

• She said the best professionals are someone who treats everyone with respect.


• You must be known to keep your word. In the end the your word and your reputation is everything.


• If you don't have thick skin you're going to need it. In this field everyone comes to you with their problems.

You must be ravenous for new information. Learn the laws, learn how and when to apply them. And most of all keep a sense of humor.

She related a joke she told while they were in a tense contract negotiation session. If you can keep people laughing it lightens up even the most tense moods.

Ms. Wells invited me to shadow her during a management training session to better understand the strategic management side of Human Resources. She also invited me to attend an IHRIM meeting with her. Let's just say I unequivocally said YES.

International Association of Human Resources Information Management is for the technical or HRIS side of HR. http://www.ihrim.org/

It's Been a While

I took a small break from writing this blog. I've been on a few interviews. Been to a few professional meetings and I have been applying to companies. You know the usual job transitioning things.

I will say at this point even though the offers are not pouring in I am being more selective about the companines I am applying for. A good friend of mine gave me some sage advice. She said to stop looking at each company as if I am less valuable than they are. Think of it in terms of they need you as much as you need them. In other words you and the compnay must have a symbiotic relationship.

After she said that I had to agree with her. I started to read and analyze each job description even more closely. I want to make sure that I am a fit for the company/organization. There must be a fit otherwise, I'll be right back in the job search saddle sooner than I would like.

How Important is Wellness to an Organization?

Rose Ford of Cuyahoga County Library System introduced me to the propfessional group for Public Employees it is called IPMA-HR. Ms. Ford is the President of the group. Going in I didn't know what to think about this organization. I had never heard of it and wondered if they be would be accepting of someone who was not already in HR?

This group was far more intimate than other professional associations in that, the group was far smaller and it seemed everyone in the room truly knew each other.

The speakers were very engaging. I learned a lot of things I will be able to use professionally. Let me explain.

Understanding that wellness is an important part of any companies strategic and integrated plans is crucial to costs. According to Constance Beutel, Wellness Coordinator from Medical Mutual of Ohio, 75% of all health costs come from preventable diseases e.g alcohol abuse, blood pressure and body weight. If a company can institute a wellness program by asking people to join and quite possibly offering incentives the results, at least monetarily can be immediate. By proposing that employees participate many health care insurers premiums can be minimized.

Who should participate?

Everyone should participate. Usually within a company the vast majority of people live healthy lifestyles. It is only about 20% of people who subsist on McDonald's and refuse to wear a seatbelt while driving. But what about the people who go for checkups regularly and drink three glasses of milk a day? These are the no/low risk individuals whom Ms. Beutel says we should focus on. Make sure they get their 10,000 steps a day and learn how to handle on the job stress easily. In other words healthy people need programs too.

When and how should these programs happen?

Most employers know when people are not in the workplace they can't control for situations. For that reason programming should be set during work hours. Perhaps, a group leader can be chosen to chair and chart progress. This person should be someone the group would like to work with. Someone who has motivating factors about themselves and someone the group can trust.

What are the challenges of having a Wellness Program?

There are two main challenges to a Wellness program. One challenge is employees may believe the organization is being paternalistic and trying to manage their lives.

The other may come from the organization itself. Some companies may not see the value or understand the ROI in implementing Wellness programs.

The HR department must make both the employee and organization understand the benefits and values of the program.

Information on wellness programs can be found at:

http://www.healthyohio.org/wellnesscouncil/

This Not for Profit agency is based in North East Ohio. It is a resource for any department wanting to implement a Wellness program.

Seizing the Day with Dr. Earnest Carpadiem

This morning's SHRM meeting was all about being motivated. This skill is great for everyone. In my previous post I wrote about the fact I hate pity parties. Not only do they bring you down mentally but they wear you out physically.

The speaker brought some much needed humor to this weary job seeker.

I met two great professionals today. One was from Staffing Solutions. Sarah Knudson is the Recruitment Manager. She was very helpful and listened to me explain my situation. I did not mean to monopolize her time, but I just never seem to be able to meet as many professionals in one place.

I also met the HR Manager for Horsburgh & Scott(Monica Priester). She is so young and says she sort of fell into the field of HR. I guess when you are not trying things have a way of happening. Maybe I'll stop trying then I'll get all kinds of offers.

This Week's Setbacks

After Monday I only believed the week could get better. I had three possible job prospects. Of those three one was a full time position and the other two were with temp agencies.

The full time position after two weeks of telling me I would be granted a telephone interview with them decided to go with another candidate. I don't know why companies don't have a professional courtesy to call/email/write a form letter to you, to let you know you are no longer being considered. I do know one thing, when I finally am in HR I will remember what it feels like to be a job seeker. I know it is impossible to contact each individual, however once you are contacted for the interview and nothing comes of it maybe someone should call to let you know you are not going to be interviewed.

Now that I have that off my chest, I am going on with Friday's better news. At the Jobseekers' Meeting at St. Paul's Church I was speaking with the moderator about my job woes. I like him. He is very much like myself, in that he is not going to allow you wallow in despair. He's not touchy feely and he doesn't have time to listen to you throw yourself a pity party.

Although I must say I tried having one of those parties maybe twice. I didn't like the person in attendance and chose to join a new crowd.

It will be better this week.

Human Resources Management Here I Come

I finished my class in Human Resource Management. This class is offered by SHRM for people who are either in HR already and would like help in passing their PHR test or for people like me who want to transition into HR.

I used it as an AP Human Resource class. It brought me up to date as to what the trends are in Human Resources and how to apply them to my new profession.

I will enter my certificate on the site in the coming days. I am so proud of myself.

Every Monday's Moaning

Well, here it is Monday May 7, 2007. I went into the weekend upbeat with a sense of on Monday I'll receive at least one call back. I have been doing what every recruiter has said for a while i.e. call a few HR professionals whether they have a position to offer or not. I called about six on Friday. I was on a roll.

I gave them a brief synopsis of myself. Who I am, what I can offer, how it will be accomplished. All the six were very nice and seemed as if they were interested. I know that I will not receive a call back in 15 minutes (although that would be nice). I just want this process to be over with.

I talked to an area company on Thursday that does third party hires for Lincoln Electric. The recruiter seemed as enthusiastic as me when it came to the position. I first spoke with Amy who said she would pass along my resume. I got antsy when no one returned my call on Friday, so what did I do I called Melissa. Melissa was so nice. She said she would send it over immediately and call as soon as they decided on whom they (Lincoln Electric) wanted. Apparently, the company is still perusing the candidates.

I am also still waiting for the other temp to hire position being offered by Alliance Staffing. The recruiter had a family emergency therefore, I'll let her get back in the swing of things before I contact her.

Finally I'm still waiting on my telephone interview to take place with a large Cleveland area law firm. I can tell they really need me there. I have been rescheduled three times for that interview.

OK no more complaining. This is a going to be a great week. My last day of classes is today and unlike the undergrad years there are no life altering finals. I was able to take this class at my leisure and you know what? I think I learned more that way.

Until tomorrow.

My meeting with Rose Ford

I was referred to Rose Ford by a librarian friend of mine Carol Johnson-Russell. Ms Ford graciously took time out of her busy day to meet with me and answer my questions about entering Human Resources.

Ms. Ford is also a different kind of contact for me, as she is in the public sector. She is the Assistant HR Director for Cuyahoga County Library System. I have been speaking primarily with private sector HR professionals.

Ms. Ford has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and a graduate degree in Public Administration with a focus in Human Resources.

As she looked over my resume she noticed that my undergraduate degree is in Sociology. She said that would be helpful to me in this field. She said Sociology teaches important skills e.g. Organizational Development and Succession Planning. I just learned about this in my HR class.

Organizational Development (OD)Process of enhancing the effectiveness of an organization and the well-being of its members through planned interventions.


Strategic Management Processes and activities used to formulate HR objectives, practices, and policies.


Ms. Ford also told me about an organization that is dedicated to the Public Sector HR Professional. It is called International Public Management Association for Human Resources. Also called IPMA. http://www.ipma-hr.org/content.cfm?pageid=1
I do plan to network there at their next meeting on May 30th.


I asked Ms. Ford a few questions:


"What characteristics would she say make the best HR professionals?'

She said they must have strong interpersonal skills. She also says a professional needs to know the laws governing the profession as well as have the proper skills and abilities to perform the job. However, she reiterated if you are not able to interact with a diverse group of people this profession may not be for you.


"Do you use a question that sort of seals the deal in regards to a candidate?"

Ms. Ford said no, she does not necessarily have a question like that, however she does look for how customer focused her candidate is. She wants to make sure the candidate knows about the company possibly even understands the structure of the company. Have they read the job description? Do they know what the position entails?


"If you were recruiting me for a position within your HR department would you say my skills are transferable?"

Here are some of my skills:

• Responsible for all Human Resource duties for location
• Manage and objectively review a staff of ten
• Manage recruiting, testing, interviewing and performing background checks
• Process paperwork (Action Forms) and add new hires to the database
• Train and schedule all employees
• Calculate timecards, process payroll and maintain accurate employee records
• Handle conflicts as well as communicate and implement policies to employees

She answered a resounding yes.

I am glad someone said yes, I was beginning to doubt myself.

All in all a great meeting with a very gracious lady. Once again, if I can interview this well (whenever I finally get an interview) I believe I may have a job offer.

Reruiting as an Option?

I was able to speak with an HR Professional from a North East Ohio Biotech Company. She gave me great advice on how to transition into HR, namely the recruiting side. I asked her many questions and she answered them all willingly. I am glad I was able to speak with a recruiter. I have been speaking primarily with Generalists. Recruiting is a side I have honestly not thought about. She thinks I might be good in the role of a recruiter, who knew?!

This professional began in the field about ten years ago. She thinks corporate recruiting is a very gratifying career. She has career flexibility and the job still seems very satisfying to her. She said something to me most other professionals I have been speaking with would disagree with, she said: "Cleveland's job market is good right now." Well, I hope it gets better for me...

I asked this recruiting professional:

• "What characteristics would she say make the best HR professionals?"

She told me drive, motivation, determination, persistance, ability to be able to communicate well with management, as well as ability to give or receive feedback from management.

• "What surefire interview question she uses when she wants to know if she's chosen the best candidate?"

She says she doesn't have one, however she did tell me that some companies are leaning toward a targeted selection type interview. I learned about this in my class. We called them:

Behavioral Interview- Type of interview that focuses on how applicant previously handled real work situations. Same concept different name.

I found a great site that helps with targeted interview questions. http://www.pacificu.edu/offices/hr/training/interview/pdfs/TargetedSelection.pdf

A site like that will be able to help me because I don't believe I am a great interviewee.

Whenever I finally do get to interview somewhere hopefully the interview will be as stress free as my chat today.

Monday's Agenda

I had a late day interview with an area staffing agency. I was to be interviewed for an HR Assistant position, however she had to cancel due to a family emergency.

Even though I said most staffing agencies either give you the run around or want inordinate amounts of experience, this opportunity was different. This position was entry level. I needed >1 year experience. The recruiter returned my call, and the position is on the East Side of Cleveland. WOW! You can't get any better than that.

When she returns she said she would contact me to reschedule. I hope everything turns out well in her family.

The Jump Off

I am publishing this blog as a way of chronicling and sharing my progress in my attempts to transition into Human Resources.

A little about myself. I am currently a librarian. I LOVE books. I LOVE the written word. I LOVE learning. Just check out my other blog. http://thebibliofile.blogspot.com/


With all that said, I have just come to a crossroads in my professional career. As a librarian (paraprofessional), I realize I can never advance. I will always be second to someone who has eighteen months more education than myself. While I know the job backwards and forward there is just nowhere to go. Alas, the end of the road.

Now I am not the type of person who sits around and feels sorry for herself. I do what every good Human Resources Professional would do I:

See I'm using the ADDIE model!

I know this is a simplified version, but this is it. Stay tuned for updates to the blog. And thank you for reading.