HR Society @ WSU: Getting you where you want to go

Room Update for Monday the 20th

2010-09-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody,

Here is the room update I have been promising :-)

We will meet in VMMC 214 from 4:30-5:30.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,

Mitzi Ang

HR Society President

1st Fall Semester Meeting Scheduled

2010-09-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

Welcome back from summer!

Our first meeting of the semester will be held on Monday Sept 20, @ 4:30-5:30 p.m. We are currently waiting on a room confirmation. I will email this information out to everyone as soon as it is released to us.

Sincerely,

Mitzi Ang

HR Society President

HR Society Meeting-4/21/10

2010-04-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

Guest Speaker: Professor Goldstein

Most companies have a print post and pray mentality when it comes to ethics.
They print a statement about their values, post it, and pray that it happens.

What should be be doing to reienforce the mission and values in the organization?

Integrity:
94% of employees say that organization integrity is critical and important for the organization that they work for
82% would prefer to get pay less and work for an employee with ethical values
1:4 employees have left a job because of ethical issues

how do we build a company that really walks its ethics talk?

4 P Model:

Processes: Having specific means-something formal to reinforce the values of the organization.
EG: Hotlines (can be used if values not being followed), ethics boards, processes (mission discernment-a way you talk about an issue where each time you talk about it. you run it through the values of the organization. Questions are asked about the situation. The point is to bring the organization into the situation and determine where it stands as far as its values.)

Place: Does the mission and values have a place on the agenda of managers in terms of talking about the roles of ethics and values in the organzation?
-You need to bring the managers together at a certain time and place that works for everyone to specifically discuss ethics.
-Question: What role can you play to make sure that ethics and values do have a place?
-Build ethics and values into your performance evaluation. (Eg. Respect as a performance factor-Define respect, rank-behaviorally anchored, reward people for their behavior in performing these values.)

Power:
-Important
-Determines whether or not there is a place for ethics and values. Is it optional or mandatory?
-Power should be made an explicit part of the performance evaluation
-Can do this formally or informally. Small gestures can be very powerful.

People:
-If you are going to uphold the values of the organization, then the people working in the organization should understand what are the values?
-Requires training-may require conflict resolution training as well to help people to communicate with each other.

Easy to talk about but hard to do.

Barriers:
Resources:
-Not enough money in budget.
-Who's responsible for it?
-Difficult to quantify the payoff-this is a long run process not a short run.
-employees leaving because of ethical problems is a powerful reason to do this.

Complacency:
-We don't hear complaints about it.
-When you start to think everything is fine something pops.

Distraction:
-If something happens, then suddenly the ethics is not important anymore

Cynicism:
-What is the point of going through this when its just going to be a fad for a while?
-Its post-Enron, now everyone is talking about ethics
-Important to counter because there is already a certain amount of push back in regards to
ethics.

What kinds of practical steps can be taken to do this?
-Modeling ethical leadership/behavior (very important)
-People look at their leaders for this-HR is the face of the organization.
-Most important influences
-behavior of management
-behavior of supervisors
-When managers/HR consistantly model values
-they feel more valued, more satisfied with organization, and less pressure.
-Use rewards/discipline
-Communication
-Organizational integrity is important to be communicated to everyone in organization as well
as the external groups (eg suppliers, contractors)

This is an effort that takes persistance and commitment.

HR Society Meeting

2010-04-20T06:12:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone!!

Our next HR Society Meeting will be held on April 21, 2008 from 1:30-2:30pm in VLIB 261.  Our guest speaker will be Jerry Goodstein.  He will be discussing key concepts from business ethics that pertain just to the field of HR.

Mentorship Program

2010-04-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

SWARMA is offering a mentorship program for WSU students who are majoring in Human Resources. The program partners up students with a local HR professional to assist you with any questions or help you may need as you begin your career in Human Resource Management.

Please send your resume to Mitzi Ang the HR Society President, if you would like to participate in this program.

Northwest Youth Career Expo

2010-04-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

SAVE THE DATE:
MAY 11th, 2010

175 volunteers needed
For 7,000 students that will be attending

The 7th Annual
NORTHWEST YOUTH CAREER EXPO
At the Oregon Convention Center

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP
PARTICIPATE~SPONSOR~ENGAGE
With our next Geration Workforce

We need the following:

Mock Interviewers
Student/Teacher Host Guides throughout the Event Registration
Information Hosts
Relieve Floaters (must be flexible to work in several areas)

All day: 8:00 AM to 3:00PM
Part Time: 8:00 AM to 12:00 Noon

Contact: Lisa Neef at 503-227-2221 or lisa@arrivestaffing.com to sign up for additional information.

ASK HOW YOUR COMPANY CAN SPONSOR OR PARTICIPATE IN THE EVENT SHOW AREA.

HR Club Meeting Minutes-4/7/10

2010-03-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

HR games
Did not do well in the games but felt that we did well since we did not have as much time to prepare.
Recieved the Collegiality Award
Award was going to be presented to SWARMA for their support of the club.

Guest Speaker: Meredith Green

HR Manager at Iron Mountain-Generalist with focus in Employee Relations

Union Avoidance
No company is interested in having a union come into the workplace.

Strategies around union avoidance
-Some industries are targeted by unions.
-Ususally more blue collar type of workers
-Companies with drivers
-Warehouse workers

FCA Legislation will help make it easier for unions to come in and take over. It has not passed yet but it could be soon.

Unions are a business and they are looking for customers.
There is financial incentive for unions to speak with your employees.

You will have to sit down with union and discuss
-benefits
-wages
-and can discuss performance

Unions can depersonalize the workplace. If there is an issue on teh job, there is opportunity to discuss and resolve it on a one on one level. When a union is involved, it must be done through the union.

If you start to get activity in the environment. It can be very tense.
The first step is that the union has to get a certain number of cards signed.

The reasons that employees talk to unions is because of relationships with the managers, a bad supervisor/manager. Someone is not treating the employees right, being too stringent, not following up on request, they do not feel like you are helping them.

How do you guarantee that the union will not come in? The union can say that they can guaranteed such as wages, etc. But everything has to be negotiated. If the company isnt going to agree to what they are proposing, they dont have to. The employer cannot make promises and there are alot more restrictions about what the company can do e.g. they cannot make promises about what they can do once the union comes in.

Union avoidance strategy
You want to be aware of the risks of unionizing coming into the organization.
You want to be aware of the environment. What is the risk of a union coming in? Want to check to see how many other employers in the same industry are unionized. Also want to know how many union shops are in the area, etc.

If you identify that a union can come in, you need to get to know your managers and find out their management styles and then find out what the employees think of them. The front line supervisors may be the biggest problem because of levels of experience, etc.

Schedule employee roundtables regularly
-A group of 6-10 employees to sit and talk with HR about work.
-Let the employees know that you want to know how you can be of assistance for them, etc.
-You can get some credibility by catching the small issues right away. Employees are more likely to come to you because you have established relationships with the employees. Keeps employees from going outside of the org (union) for help.

Compensation is not usually the main issue even though it is the big topic its how they are being treated by their supervisors

Unions will bring people that work for the union into a company to work for them to help convince them to join the union.

Relationship tracker exercise
-your frontline supervisors go through and discuss what their relationship is with their employees.
-Helps to identify where the strong and weak relationships are at. You can know where more work needs to be done and who your strong workers who can help you spread the word about the pros and cons of unions. It will help you to determine risk if there are a few employees who have a good relationship with employees and a large number of people who dont.

You can provide labor relations training to the managers so that they know how important it is to have good relationships with their employees. Discuss the signs of unionizing. The sooner you know that there is union organizing activity happening, then you can take care of it. It is too late once you get notification about it to do anything about it.

If there is treat of unionizing you can do this before you are notified::
You need to discuss with employees what the union will or will not do for you.
You need to discuss the benefits that the company offers.
Pull reports right away with average increases of what the employees recieve each year vs what some union contracts look.
Show the employees what they are paying for benefits
Let the numbers work for you.

Ride alongs and work alongs:
-You get out and work or ride with employees
-Gives you opportunity to build a relationship with the employees
-Helps you to know what the daily challenges are of your workgroup.
-Give some take aways from it to the managers

Employees rights according to the NRLB
-HR cannot put in clauses in policies about pay secrecy.

HR Club Meeting-4/7/10

2010-03-09T07:44:00.000-08:00

Our next HR Society Meeting will be on April 7, 2008 from 1:30-2:30 pm in VLIB 261. Our guest speaker will be David Konz from Tidewater and he will share helpful hints to aid us in our post graduation job searches.

Hope to see you there!

HR Club Meeting 3/24/10

2010-03-09T07:42:00.000-08:00

We would like to welcome you to our next HR club meeting that will be held on March 24th from 1:30-2:30 pm in VLIB 261. Meredith Green will discuss HR's Role in Union Avoidance.

Hope to see you there!!

HR Society Meeting

2010-02-26T18:45:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

We would like to invite you to our next HR Society Meeting. It will be held on March 10th, 2010 from 1:30-2:30 pm in VLIB 261. Our guest speaker will be Randy Boose, Director of HR at WSU Vancouver.

We look forward to seeing you there.

HR Society Meeting Minutes: 02/24/10

2010-02-24T13:33:00.000-08:00

Looking for people who are interested in competing in the HR Games.
-The funding for the trip will be presented to the student government on Friday.
-Internship scholarship through SHRM available.

Opportunity to help SWARMA complete mock interviews:
-March 11th from 8-3 or from 8-12

On 17th National conference in Seattle $40.00 to attend.

Guest Speaker: Alex Teagarden

What is SHRM?
-Large national HR association
-WSUV part of SWARMA is the local representative for SHRM
-Angie is our contact with SHRM
-There are things that we have to have to maintain our partnership with SHRM
-SWARMA is offering a local mentor for students.

Benefits:
-Students get discounts $30 vs $160
-HR Magazine for entire year as part of annual fees
-Echoes Newsletter
-SHRM Store
-White Papers
-SHRM Annual Conference Student discounts for conference
-SHRM Foundation Scholarships

HR society relationship with SHRM:
-Interesting HR or career related speakers
-Job Shadowing
-Internships
-Mentoring
-Site Visits
-Scholarships
-HR Games
-Professional Chapter Meetings
-Other educational programs

PHR exam
-Shows that you are qualified and that you are prepared to be in the HR field.
-Best to take the exam this year because the requirements will be changing

SHRM Student Membership Requirements:
-Enrolled in at least 6 credits/ semester

Who can help you?
-Student chapter liason
-Helps to keep the club on track with the SHRM requirements
-Helps with guest speakers

HR Club gets a merit award:
-Club is hoping to get the Superior merit award for the year.

HR club T-Shirts
-Get matching shirts for the HR games or if you want to have an HR shirt of your own.

HR Society Meeting Minutes: 2/17/10

2010-02-17T13:31:00.000-08:00

Guest Speaker: Julie McCord

How do the HR Games work?

There is a handbook online on the SHRM Site that explains what the HR games are about, how to study, etc.
-It is basically a group of schools that enter and you are set up with a schedule to compete.
-It is like a Jeopardy game, there is one or two judges who read the questions and make sure the
answers are correct. The games are very fast paced.
-Games are free to enter but we have to worry about how to get there and pay for your own
expenses.
-Whoever wins the round moves on to the next round the next day, if you don't win the round
you are eliminated.
-There is a conference where you can learn things, meet and network with other students.
-The last group that went spent the same amount of time preparing as our study group.
-It is important to go through the flashcards.
-The questions in the study group questions are more lengthy than what you will get in the
game.
-You need to get used to compacting down the question because you will not get all of the
information that you will be looking for that you may be looking for when you are going through
them while you are studying.
-The questions are from all sections of the PHR Exam.
-You may get some questions that you know really easily but some that you will not know.
-It works best if everyone on the team concentrates on a specific area so that you have a good
knowledge of that area.
-there are at least 6 rounds that you go through during the games. There were different
rooms last time so it is difficult to know.
-On the way to the games you can also prepare for the games on the way there.
-The flashcards are different colors so you can set them up by category and keep going
thorough the questions. When you go through the questions, if you were to compact the
question down, what would it sound like?
-the games are the 14th through the 20th.
-Letter to the student government to obtain support for the games.
-Need to determine how much money to request from the senate.
-Julie will be calling Angie to see if we can get a few minutes at one of the SWHRMA
luncheons for a fund raiser.
-The reason to get the PHR is because people who have it know where the red flags are
compared to someone who do not have it. Most people who do not pass the PHR, fail because
they do not take the exam seriously. They do not believe that the exam is as hard as it really
is. Both exams (PHR and SPHR) are the hardest exams that they have taken.

Julie works in consulting for companies who do not have a full time HR person or cannot have a full-time person. It is getting tougher as time goes along to get the HR knowledge. She works as the HR person for these companies. Worked as a manager in retail and then decided that she wanted to move out of that type of environment.
-One of the important parts of HR is training the managers how to do their jobs.
-eg. training managers to see the value in performance reviews.
- Terminating employees
-need to make sure that someone knows that their job is on the line. when you tell them this
to begin with then they are making the decision rather than you.
-Our current economy is making people more litigious.
-Julie is happy to be a mentor for our students.
-When getting into HR you need to get your foot in the door however you can and then keep it
in there.

HR Club Meeting

2010-02-17T11:22:00.000-08:00

Our next HR Society Meeting will be held on February 24, 2010 from 1:30pm to 2:30 in VLIB 261.

Dont forget! Julie McCord will be speaking today in VMMC 23 from 1:30pm until 2:30pm about the HR Games.

We hope to see you there!

HR Society Meeting Minutes: 1/27/10

2010-02-10T13:41:00.000-08:00

Guest Speaker: Wendy Hendersen from the Management Group.

Wendy is the 2010 President for SWHRMA

Discussion about Internships in her company:

-Has had an internship program in her company for the last 3 years

-All of the interns have found employment in hr after it is completed

-Doing a little bit of everything throughout the HR processes. Interns learn how to do the job and have a good learning experience.

-Wendy's interns have exposure to everything either through hands on experience or exposure to it.

-It is best to spend 4 hours per day and consecutive days working during your internship.

-She currently has an internship available now and is open immediately.

-She started the program because she likes to work in a team environment and wanted to have someone to work with and have the team work and do things together.

Typical day of an internship:

-Involves a lot of mentoring, good communication, and learning

-Recruiting, phone screens/pre-employment testing, observe interviews and then you actually help with them, learn about pre-employment procedures and how to do a good reference checks.

-Meet for the first 15 minutes of the day and talk about what needs to be done and what can be scrapped.

-Throughout the day able to touch base with each other.

-Learning how to make craigs list postings, html, etc

-Paces it to see how well you learn, you don’t get it all thrown on you at one time.

-Will tell you where you should focus when you are in the employment process.

-If you don’t have a good reputation in HR the word will get around.

-Start with a tiny bit of filing then with recruiting.

HOLDING AN INTERNSHIP WITH SCHOOL, FAMILY, ETC

-Have to manage your time want to make sure that it is a consecutive 20 hours , 2 or 3 days in a row and at least 4 hours per day. Pretty flexible with the hours per week.

-Get a chance to see and interview

Jamie-Columbian economic forecast

The state economic chief was at the meeting

More information to be provided at next meeting

Discussion about Student Involvement

Discussed the HR classes and advice about instructors etc.

Special HR Club Meeting

2010-02-10T09:07:00.000-08:00

We will have an additional meeting this month on February 17, 2010 from 1:30 to 2:30 pm in VMMC 23.

Guest speaker Julie Mc Cord will be talking to the club about her experiences in the HR club games.

HR Club Meeting

2010-02-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

Our next HR Society Meeting will be held on February 10, 2010 from 1:30-2:30pm in VLIB 261.

Hope to see you there!

THE INVOLVEMENT FAIR

2010-01-15T20:32:00.000-08:00

A recruitment event you DO NOT want to miss! January 19^th and 20^th from 11am-1pm in the Firstenburg Student Commons… Free pizza! Students who drop by can enter a raffle for a free book, The Star Profile, A Management Tool to Unleash Employee Potential by Janathan Janove, to be drawn at the next club meeting.

Internship Opportunity

2010-01-12T21:36:00.001-08:00

The Management Group has an internship opportunity available for WSU Vancouver students. It is an unpaid, 6-month long internship with a local property management company. You may view the job description and apply for the position at www.tmgnorthwestcareers.com.

HR Club Meeting: Spring 2010

2010-01-10T16:23:00.000-08:00

Hi, everyone!

During the Spring semester, we will be meeting every other Wednesday from 1:30 pm until 2:30 pm. We are tentatively scheduled to meet in VLIB 265; however, this may change in the future. We will keep you updated of any changes.

The clubs first meeting will be held on January 13, 2010 from 1:30 pm -2:30 pm in VLIB 265.

Hope to see you there!!

HR Society Meeting Minutes: 10/23/09

2009-10-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

Introductions were made to new club member
Discussion about the SHRM conference:
Conference Topics:
-Generations class
-About how the generations do not match the stereotypes that people place on
them.
-Aging Workforce class:
-About the challenges that older employees face with care for the elderly in
their homes.
-Reduced Productivity, distraction, sick call ins.
-Suggestions about simple things that can be done to connect with the community
and have them as a resource.
-Legislation class:
-Changes in legislation. HR will use more outsourcing to legal aide and will
not be expected to know all of the laws because of the significance of the
legal costs that are involved.
-Genetic testing: Washington Law extends our EEOC to genetic testing.

-General meetings:
-Speculation where HR will go in the future. The competitive market requires
more flexibility and is tied to the strategic goals of the organization.
Performance reviews will be eliminated, focusing more on results rather than
specific goals.
Legislative Conference:
-Downsizing: Talked about how the company treats the employees while it is
happening. When the employees are not treated well during the downsizing, then
when opportunities start to open back up they will not be there for you. Let
the employees know you care
- Rick Howell-Surviving the Challenge: America is not leading us out of the
recession and base pay but should switch to flexible pay so that they can get
bonuses etc..can cut costs but keep people around. Use the recession as a way
to restructure your company so that things are fixed once everything is better.
Use temporary employees, flex time. China and how they fluctuates their
salaries, gives more flexibility, they are out of the recession right now. Best
companies are hanging on to their resources.
-Natalie Miller- Cultural Differences: The US is an individualistic society and
it is a downside because of the willingness to share the burden that our
companies are dealing with right now. Keep everyone informed and the
receptionists should know what is going on because they are the first person
that others speak to. Have a courageous agenda. Open the books and have
employees know where you are coming from because if they don’t know they will
waste money and will not know the policies and procedures.

Local Job Search-jobs before they are posted so you have first chance Jennifer Johnson contact to be placed on the list Natalie Miller-NatalieMiller@LHH.com to sign up.

Guest Speaker:

SHWARMA: SPEAKER: Angela Shiperdo-Hart

In HR there is a variety of opportunities. Staffing, compensation benefits, the SWARMA meetings give you a opportunity to hear about different areas from the different speakers and it gives you the opportunity to see what it looks like in the actual HR world. It is good to actually hear the professionals who know what it looks like to live that world every day. HR is about networking and if you have gotten to know people so that when you go out to know people so that when you go out to look for a job then you will already know those people. It helps then because they will look to the people who they have met already.

Executives are starting to expect HR to become strategic partners in the business setting rather than paper pushers.

PERMA meetings-will tell if you they are strategic or other credits or not look for those to help. Historically they have been hard to find. That will help you out when you are sitting with a potential employer. Will make you look less entry level when you are looking for a job. It used to be that hr was not invited to strategic meetings. It is really important to know your employees because they trust you when they have a need and it helps you to be a strategic partner. What on resumes do you look for ?

Tips for applying for HR Jobs:

-Take you top bullet items really powerful.
-Show how you have worked as a team member
-If the top of the resume is engaging, HR will read on
-Highlight what you want to do at the beginning and the least interested at the end.
-Say what you have to say quickly, HR professionals do not want to read wordy resumes.

Questions:

From a strategic perspective how well do you need to know all of the departments?

Understand where the money is going by department and what the impact of it is for the business. You want to know what the role is in the department and how it helps the business. What are the impacts of each individual? What is their expected production? What is their value per hour? Etc. You cant understand every piece of it but you can understand the overall vision of the business. Make sure employees are aware of the financials, if everyone is involved, then everyone is invested in the strategy of the business.

Trends in HR-Growing areas:

Having a broader skill set will help you because they are no longer having just one person do one type of job. HR is expected to be more generalists except in some positions like HRIS but even those are starting to become combined.

SHRM Auction:

The auction helps the national chapter of SHRM and SWARMA does some events. The money is spread out to help students to go to different events and scholarships. HR professionals and local companies donate baskets etc. The items are bid on and the money is sent back to SHRM. To help with the auction there will be some cold calling-you will be given a list of about 10 people to contact to get donations. They may need some help putting the baskets together and setting up on the day of the auction. There is a speaking event and there is someone who speaks for about 30-40 minutes. The auction is at the November luncheon.

SHRM Website:
The SHRM members all use the website because there is a ton of information on it. It is a free resource once you pay the membership fee. Sometimes someone form NERMA etc as a resource.

Diversity conference in the spring that will be another way to volunteer to do booklets etc and there are speakers who come in to talk about some diversity topics.

HR Club Events: Fall 2009

2009-10-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Events:

12/2/09-Charity drive with the Salvation Army

12/2/09-No guest speaker-SBO club day 4:15-5:30

11/28/09-November 18^th -Tom Tripp

Past Events:

10/21/09-Angela Spirando-Hart

10/7/09 -Tahara Probst

9/23/09- Connie Thompson

09/09/09-Club Introduction

Next HR Club Meeting Scheduled on October 21, 2009

2009-10-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

The next HR Club meeting will be held on October 21, 2009 from 4:30-5:30 pm.

Angela Sperino-Hart, the SHRM College Relations Director, will be speaking about new possibilities of networking and working directly with members of SHRM.

We hope to see everyone there!

HR Society Meeting Minutes: 10/7/09

2009-10-11T22:55:00.001-07:00

Meeting Start: 4:30pm-5:35pm

Speaker: Tahira Probst-Internships

What are internship programs?

-Internships are required if you want to find work after graduation.

-Small piece of getting a job. Need to have education but also need experience

-Internships provide practical experience.

-Helps employers to find out if you are a good fit for the company and if the company is a good fit for you.

-Most HR jobs requires 1-2 years of experience. Internships can provide that previous experience.

Benefits:

Industry exposure: Companies want skills but they don’t just want you to know about HR but also about the industry. If you are interviewing for healthcare you should also know about health care.

What internship experience provides:

-Networking

-Mentoring

-References

-Academic credit

-Compensation

-Real life application of HR coursework

-Professionalism

-Communication

-Teamwork

-Project ownership

-Initiative

-Content skills

Internships through WSU provides an opportunity for your needs to be voiced to the employer.

How do you get academic credit?

Take Psych 495. This is the first class that you need to take. Psych 495 contains a classroom component and a practical component.

Classroom component:

You get to meet with other students and get to hear about their experiences not just your own.

Topics for discussion:

-Salaries in HR

-HR Generalists vs specialists

-Employee motivation and Labor Relations

-Workplace diversity

-Resume development

-Finding a job in HR

-Monthly reports detailing hours worked and journal reflections.

For each credit, students are required to complete 45 hours of field work during the 17 week semester. --Students can enroll in 2-6 credits

-90-270 hours of field work total

-Between 6-18 hours per week

-Mid-semester site visit is done by instructor to review student progress and activities

-Counts as one of your choose 3 electives.

What have HR interns done?

-Update create job descriptions

-Update employee manuals

-Conduct and analyze employee satisfaction surveys

-Create and maintain employee/volunteer databases

-Event planning

-Screen applicants and conduct phone interviews

-Open and close position files

-Recruitment at job fairs

-Research pros cons of pre employment testing

-Revise performance appraisal forms

Frequently asked questions:

How does Psych 495 differ from an internship:

495 is a supervised internship and 496 is unsupervised. There is no difference in work just there is no classroom component

When do I start looking?

Now, registration is right around the corner and to get your line number you must have your internship lined up.

How do I find an internship?

-HR listserv

-HR society blog

-Psych 495 handbook (shows the past internships)

-Individual research

-Job fairs

-Networking

Should I prepare a resume?

Yes, when you are networking you may be asked for a resume

What if you have more questions?

Contact Tahara Probst or Armando Estrada

You don’t have to sign up for credit to get an internship. You can do an independent internship. You can also do it through the Business department. A list is available with companies that want to have internship students that you can call if you are looking for an internship.

Social media can find internships through that. Start going to the SHWRMA luncheons. Attending the meetings helps you to know the people who work in HR.

nLIght: Kelly Kidd

nLight is looking for interns. HR has been a strategic partner still in growth…especially in recruiting and staffing. HR is evolving as recruiting evolves. They are looking at new ways to design new projects for the HR system. Their company is growing and they are implementing an HRIS system. They will be working on creating an affirmative action plan, applicant tracking system and Harassment training soon. nLight is a manufacturer and HR needs to be able to speak business talk, e.g. accounting. HR also needs to be able to do statistics so that they can read the results of surveys. nLight makes lasers in the medical, industrial, defense systems and space systems. They use lean manufacturing and HR tries to help the departments. Networking is really important in HR. Internships allow you to have time to be creative and be wrong.

Statement on Internships: Wendy Hendersenn

It is important to network and join groups like SHWRMA. Interns should not work split shifts and should work a minimum of 4 hour shift on consecutive days to see how the work begins and the outcome of what they have done. It is good to think of three things that you want to learn and then search for an internship that will help you to meet those goals.

Intern: Shanon

Works with management group as an intern. Has learned quite abit about recruiting. She gets to do things from the beginning participating interviews reviewing apps, learning about the compensation and benefits piece. Wendy Hendersenn is looking for someone who can commit to 20 hours per week starting in January. Strong excel or at least basic excel knowledge and needs to be somewhat extraverted to do the recruiting piece. The hours 8-5 and best to come in within a specific block of time because you want to be able to do the follow up. The internship is about 6 months. Intern starts in January.

HR Society Meeting Minutes: 9/23/09

2009-10-11T22:18:00.000-07:00

Meeting: 4:30pm - 5:30pm

SHRM is offering scholarships to student members. This includes a $2500 academic scholarship and a $500 scholarship for the PHR exam.

SHWRMA luncheon:

Last meeting was about the interaction between HR and the business leadership teams.

Jamie and MItzi attended and relayed what they thought were important parts of the meeting to the club.

-Communication between departments is important. Its not about HR being in the office but getting out there and talking to all of the different departments. This helps with the communication strategy because people talk about things that they are afraid to address with management.

-There is value added for HR because they serve as a neutral party. They advocate for the employee, understand labor laws, drive success through positive attitudes, outsourcing and communication. They also link business objectives. Companies want people who are flexible and who are creative in what we suggest rather than being reactive .

Mitzi noted that it is worthwhile to supplement our HR degree with a Business degree (minor) The majority of the members thought that a few classes in business would help us to be able to talk to the people who are making business decisions. People in Hr tend to work closely with people in other business departments. HR can help the executives to become more engaged in the company because they know what is going on with the employees throughout the company.

Angie Schipro is working on getting us a role as a greeter at the SHRM meetings.

Internships available at nLight. Need to start open enrolment for benefits and 18-20 hours any times available and willing to college credits. They are located next to Costco. Three month minimum time commitment but longer is preferred.

There will be an all day conference for shrm and the price is $90 in October but want a couple of us to go for free in exchange for us to set up some binders and to serve as a runner. Will help to get networking with the people at SHRM. Willing to let a couple of us go to it in exchange to doing this. Conference is Tuesday October 13^th.

Guest Speaker: Connie Thompson

Reasons to join SHRM-They have the basic guidelines about what to do when questions come up on the job.

Locally, it is a good idea to join SHWRMA. Membership is free if you are part of SHRM with the local branch for students.

Interviews:

Know what you want to go into even if it is for that day. Don’t say that it sounded like fun. Have to have an interest with the company.

Working in compensation and benefits: The job entails crunching numbers and because of this Connie suggests that you take some business classes to help you know what the numbers are about and business terminology.

Recruiting: Must be able to work with the applicants, be able to pull answers to questions that you want.

Columbia Willamette compensation group: For people who are interested in working in compensation. Affiliated with world at work. Has programs for compensation and benefits programs. 9-10 courses are required to join the group and it costs $15. They have a scholarship for $500 to be used towards school. Also have free meetings for members such as luncheons for networking opportunities.

Testing:

SPHR/PHR-geared toward generalists. There are books that you can purchase to prepare for the exam. Next exam is in December or January.

CCP-is geared toward compensation

Internship Resource

2009-03-22T23:40:00.000-07:00

Business Education Compact (BEC) places qualified students into intership positions in a variety of career fields and business setting. If you are currently looking for an internship or know someone who is, please go to www.becpdx.com for more information. You will need to apply on-line for internships.

Best regards,
Maria Mason

WSUV Career Fair 2009

2009-02-08T17:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Members:

WSUV Career Fair 2009 will be held on February 24 from 3:30pm – 6:30pm in the Firstenburg Student Commons and Engineering/Life Sciences Lounge. At this event you will be able to network with over 45 employers for employment and internship opportunities. To find out more about this event and to register for attendance please go to www.vancouver.wsu.edu/career .

If you are interested in volunteer opportunities at this event please contact Kristen Juhnke at kjuhnke@vancouver.wsu.edu. Volunteering is a great way to get noticed by employers for your dedication to your fellow students and community!!!

Thank you,
Maria Mason

2009-01-24T15:06:00.000-08:00

We have a new room this semester. VMMC 217, right next to the old room. Times are the same, Tuesdays @ 4:30. Please come if your able so we can go over new things comming up in the near furture. Troy

HRCI study group

2008-12-28T18:50:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon!

We have it on record that you are interested in the SWHRMA PHR/SPHR Study Group. We are pleased to announce registration is now open!

To view details and register: Click here or copy and paste the following url http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Invitation.aspx?e=0daea705-c1f7-4651-945f-f7fa5fb1dd61 in your browser.

Be sure to select if you are a member, non member, student or returning registrant upon registration ID confirmation.

Thank you so much!

Wendy Henderson, CPP, PHR
HR Generalist / SWHRMA Communications Director
The Management Group, Inc.
http://www.tmgnorthwestcareers.com/
360.397.0332 Direct
800.678.6199 Toll Free

HRCI course

2008-12-23T19:12:00.000-08:00

Certification- Your Professional Edge
Take your HR Career to the next level

Join the SWHRMA Study Group to prepare for the Human Resources Certification Exam
Who should attend?
HR Professionals looking for a resource to review and to prepare for the HRCI Professional in Human Resources(PHR) or Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification exam
HR practitioners with increased responsibilities interested in acquiring broader overview of HR management
HR professionals returning to the field for an update on current practices
HR specialists expanding their understanding of all functional areas of HR management
PHR certified professionals upgrading their certifications to SPHR level
Individuals and students transitioning into an HR career, providing them with a solid foundation of HR management

Day/Time: Thursdays 6:00 PM to 9PM

Session Period: February 12th, 2009 – April 30th, 2009

Location: CLARK REGIONAL WASTEWATER DISTRICT
8000 NE 52nd Court
Vancouver, WA 98665

STUDY GROUP COSTS

$ 125.00 Members of SWHRMA
$ 200.00 Non-Members
$ 75.00 Returning Course Participants
$ 35.00 Student of HR management course

Other expenses associated with the certification are the exam cost and purchase of other materials for study aids. HRCI costs are in addition to the study group fee. We will provide participants information with a Resource Binder and will make available for loan other reference materials.

Contact Information

Jeannie Brault
Professional Development/Certification Director
503.701-4609
jbrault@schn.com

Spring 2009 Meeting Time

2008-11-14T18:24:00.001-08:00

Mark your calendars!

We have tentatively set the Spring 2009 HR Society meetings for Tuesdays from 5-6pm. Our first official club meeting is scheduled for Jan. 20nd.

There will be an Officers planning meeting on Jan. 13th.

Professional Coffee

2008-11-14T18:06:00.000-08:00

Chat with professionals from all fields over a cup of coffee! It's a great way to network! All majors invited!

Event Details:
December 11th
Room: VFSC 101 (Student Commons)
4-5:30pm

Upcoming Speakers and Events

2008-10-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

Our club officers and members have planned lots of great events for the 2008-2009 year. Check 'em out below!

We meet in VMMC 219 every other Tuesday from 4:30-5:30pm. Hope to see you there!

October 7, 2008
Maria Mason shares her Internship Experience at UPS
Website Information Workshop

October 21, 2008
Union/Management Relations

October 23, 2008
Internship Panel – Want a Job? Get Some Experience!

October 28, 2008
Resume Workshop – Creating Effective Resumes to Land an Internship or Your First HR Job

November 4, 2008
Mock Interviews – Practice for the Real Deal.

December 11, 2008
Professional Coffee – A Unique Networking Opportunity to Meet with Local Business Professionals

Why a Blog?

2008-02-28T11:23:00.000-08:00

To be perfectly honest, I didn't plan to create a blog today. I was trying to open a new document in Word 2007 and it asked me if I wanted to create a blog post. And, I thought, why not? Of course, to create a blog post, I had to first create a blog...and, that's how the HR Society @ WSU blog got started today.

My goal for this blog is to enable our HR students to network with each other, learn about upcoming events, and as the title suggests, to help our HR students get where they want to go (i.e., land that wonderful job in HR that they all hope to get).

For the blog to work, though (and this is what has kept me from blogging before), people have to visit the blog. It's like a plant...if you neglect it, it will die. If you pay attention to it, water it, nourish it, it will flourish and give back to you in return. So, let's see what happens...

Here's my Question of the Day:

What do you see as your biggest challenge to getting the job in HR that you want?

Post your answer and any other comments you might have about how we can make this blog help you get where you want to go in your HR career.