Purpose
In August of 2021 I was offered an internship at Franklin County Medical Center in Preston, ID working in Human Resources. I have been striving to work in Health Care Human Resources ever since I was a sophomore in College. Very quickly into my internship I learned that I had a long ways to go as far as knowledge about the HR world. School is great, but quite frankly it cannot teach you nor give you the knowledge to succeed in a real world position, that comes from on hands experience. The purpose for this “journey” came to me when my supervisor recommended a few textbooks to study to get me more acquainted in the HR world. I decided that I would read the suggested resources and track my learnings and experiences of my internship on WordPress, so that I could go back and see this timeline.
Samples
Found below are a few entries I put into WordPress recording my knowledge journey in this field. I would have liked to include some work samples, but for sake of confidentiality I cannot do that.
Challenges
Fortunately I will say I did not run into many challenges along the way. However, one that I can pinpoint was having adequate enough time to dedicate to reading and studying my resources while also being at work full-time and also being a full-time student. The challenge that I faced was having to wake up super early in the morning to get my study time in. Waking up early to read books and track your learning is a very difficult task. Although it was hard, I am super grateful that I took the time to wake up and get it done.
Processes
The processes of this journey were a little tricky to be honest. Working in the real world there is not a set subject that you focus on that week, nor even a set subject you can focus on in the day as things are always coming up and are needing immediate assistance. So on my end to know what to pay attention to in my HR study materials was extremely difficult. A few weeks into it I found a process that did work for me. When an issue would arise or a certain area of employment law came about, that next morning before work I would dedicate my study time to that subject because I knew that it would take a few days to solve. Having studied the material just that morning, when it came time to make a decision, I would have some fresh insight to the problem so that it could be handled effectively and efficiently.
Insights/Takeaways
I am very happy about my decision to spend adequate time studying these resources during my internship. Without that time I spent doing this I do not believe that I would have been taken as seriously during my internship as I was. Also, I do not believe that I would have been offered a full-time position post-graduation in July. Ths hospital was not in the market for another HR professional but after what I proved I could bring to their organization they made the offer. Above all, this process has taught me the importance of continually studying my profession, and staying up to date on how it is changing. I know that as I stay fresh on my knowledge in my profession, I will always be considered a very serious and valuable candidate to any organization.