While this class covered a variety of important topics, one of the most important things I learned are the selection processes. More specifically, one of the most important things that will help with my career are the options for aptitude tests. They are good to practice with. Whether the jobs I’m applying to require them or not, the information you get from them is valuable. Practicing more tests makes you better at them, making you a better applicant. The assignment from earlier in the term gave us a variety of free options, and since then I’ve been messing around with tests. Since I’m getting a degree in management, I’ll have options on what I want to do with it. Getting better information on how applicants are selected helps with the HR path, or with being a better applicant overall.

While the focus is on diversity, ethics, and HR responsibilities, these classes help with teaching us how to be a better employee. Other classes teach us how to be good at the job specifically, but these classes teach us how to work with others, how to lead, and how to speak up if there’s something wrong. Taking human resources classes helps us from the application process through getting the job. It breaks down the processes in detail, so when we’re ready to go into the business world, we’re already one step ahead at the beginning. These classes teach us how to be better people in the corporate world.

WHAT AM I GOOD AT? One of the things that makes me stand out from others is my ability to make connections. Whether it’s the old men at my job who come in every day or peers in my classes, I can make a connection with anyone. I can also remain very level headed in stressful situations, making me valuable in busy jobs and tense situations among people.

WHAT DO I VALUE? I value honesty and authenticity the most. People who aren’t afraid of what others think and do what makes them happy are the ones I gravitate toward and keep closest in my life. I hold value in having your own opinions and speaking up for things that matter, even if they might be “touchy subjects.” People who strive to learn and better themselves and others are valuable.

HOW DID I GET HERE? I got here, at OSU studying HR Management, in a very messy and unconventional, but also functional way. I am a first generation college student and it has been my goal since I can remember to go to college. My mother took a few business classes at our local college, but passed away young and didn’t get the education she wanted. My dad is a duck fan for sports and we don’t get along so naturally I chose his biggest rival. I live every day trying to be like my mother. I want to hold onto her legacy and help build mine with it. I want to do the things she wasn’t able to do.

WHERE AM I GOING? By staying on this career path, I’m going into HR management/ethics or consulting. I want a job where I can make things better and get paid well. I don’t hold money as a top value, but I did choose business to help get a career that pays well. My main focus is improving the lives of employees wherever I end up and help give them fairness at their job.

This week, I took the shorter version of the personality test. I wasn’t short on time, but my attention span doesn’t last long. I was fairly pleased with my results and the accuracy of the shorter version. There was a wide variety of questions with no trick answers, so it was easy to take. Below I have included snippets of my scores from the test.

“Your score on Extraversion is average, indicating you are neither a subdued loner nor a jovial chatterbox. You enjoy time with others but also time alone. Your level of Agreeableness is average, indicating some concern with others’ Needs, but, generally, unwillingness to sacrifice yourself for others. Your score on Conscientiousness is high. This means you set clear goals and pursue them with determination. People regard you as reliable and hard-working. Your score on Neuroticism is low, indicating that you are exceptionally calm, composed and unflappable. You do not react with intense emotions, even to situations that most people would describe as stressful. Your score on Openness to Experience is average, indicating you enjoy tradition but are willing to try new things. Your thinking is neither simple nor complex. To others you appear to be a well-educated person but not an intellectual.“

If a potential employer saw my results, they would see that I am fully capable of working alone and on a team. I get along with people very well, but I also find comfort and joy in alone time. I highly empathize with others but I don’t take pity on people or let other people cloud my judgement. I have always been a very hardworking person, which stems from great challenges I’ve overcome in my life. I use the things I’ve been through to motivate me to succeed, but also as a tool to bond with others. Because of some of the things I have been through, I’ve become very level headed. I have also worked in high stress jobs for five years now, so stressful situations don’t have an affect on my judgement in the moment. One of my biggest strengths is my ability to be flexible regardless of the situation. I am always willing to learn new things and listen to other people’s ideas. I tend to be more of a leader than a follower, but will not take charge if someone else is already.

Step 1: Take some time to reflect on how you would answer the following two prompts:

First, what is your brand? By this, I mean what is the first impression that you present to potential employers? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What makes you unique or different? Second, how could this information be communicated to organizations through the means of a novel and creative situation wanted ad and how would you go about making your situation wanted ad visible to prospective organizations?

When it comes to my brand as an employee, I bring several skills to the table. I am highly motivated, driven, focused, and have excellent people skills. Being in the food and service industry for over five years has taught me a lot about what it takes to work in a fast paced environment while succeeding in your tasks. I strongly believe in communication, so I do my best to introduce myself to management and my coworkers as well as try to get an understanding of how they run their organization. I’m also goal oriented, so I like to know what the company is trying to achieve and do my best to help get us there. I have also learned what makes someone a good employee, starting with the interview process, which is another valuable asset that I have. In my personal experience, my employers have given me more opportunities to learn and grow because they knew my major and knew what I wanted from that job. And even though I’m not an expert, they still ask for my input on certain situations if I’ve learned about a similar situation in my classes. Getting to know your employer will benefit in the long run because they know who you are as an individual and you establish a relationship with them.

If I was to establish a situation wanted ad based on my brand, I would include that I can work in high-stress environments while maintaining a level head. I have worked at Starbucks for several years, at a mall during Christmas, at several children’s camps, and assisted with many public events. I am able to come up with solutions to issues on the spot during peak hours and help ease customer tension when things go wrong. I would also include that I have a flexible schedule and an eye for detail. Human Resources and Project Management are what I am most interested in, so I would use sites like Indeed, OSU’s Handshake, LinkedIn, and social media to communicate to employers. I could also send my friends or peers my ad in case they have connections. With how widespread the use of the internet is, media is the best way to get your information out faster. I would also edit my resume to match the highlights of my ad and bring physical copies to companies that are hiring (how I’ve gotten most of my jobs). When I talk to employers, I do my best to seem confident and like I know what I’m talking about. I am very straightforward, which is part of my approach to open communication.

Right now I work at Starbucks. I worked here previously in the past, so I was well aware of the job descriptions. Because of that, I’m going to talk about my previous job. I worked as a Training Assistant at a different coffee shop for a couple years. I started as a regular barista then was promoted to TA.

When it came to the official description of the job, I realized it was basically what I was doing on a daily basis anyway. I had worked there for almost two years already so I had the most experience. Job tasks included assisting in the training of new hires, making sure every employee was up to speed on standards and procedures, and practically demonstrat excllent work ethic. I no longer have access to the official job listing, otherwise I’d include it.

When I was given the job, I was excited. I was happy to have more responsibility at work and get more money. It started out cool until about two months in. TAs all around campus were being given too much additional work outside of the job description. When it was brought up to management, we were told that we were blowing it out of proportion and that we didn’t have to do the things outside of our limits. It wasn’t that easy. At my location, my manager started stepping out frequently to “work on things in the office” then tell me she was leaving me in charge while she left. We had a manager, an assistant manager, and three adult staff members. All of them making much more than us students, yet we were being treated terribly unfair.

I quit that job and went back to Starbucks where I knew the job would relate to the description, as well as be a more professional work space and a better environment to work in.

If I saw a company that I liked get hit with a discrimination charge, the first thing I would do is look into it. If information comes from credible sources, than I’ll take it seriously. There are a lot of clickbait websites that post garbage and you can’t take those seriously. But, if they’re credible, it changes things for me.

Discrimination is an issue that has always been around. In recent years, it’s been an issue that’s being taken much more seriously. While there have been great strides made, it’s still happening in companies today. We have reached the point in society where if you’re still discriminating against your employees, or anyone, then what are you doing? It’s time to get over what’s making you have biases. With my generation especially, we’re concerned more with how companies treat their employees, location they reside in, and the environment.

If I had been looking into the company to work at and this case came up, I’d withdraw my appication/change my mind about working there.I want to be proud of where I work. I don’t want to be associated with an organization that treats people poorly. The times ar changing, and companies that follow the change are ones that are more successful today. I am a prson with strong beliefs that we should treat people properly and that profits are less important than how a company deals with their people. I was raised in a place where those weren’t the common beliefs, but I learned more as I got older and now as an adult, I choose to stand by my beliefs.

As discussed in the lecture, some companies find that finding the perfect candidate for the job is the most important. In this post I’m going to discuss why companies find other things (marketing, advertising, etc.) more valuable. Depending on what the company’s strengths are, what they need to invest in will vary.

Something else that’s vital to organizations, especially in sales, is marketing and advertising. Companies that want to sell their product to mass amounts of people need solid advertising to spread the word. By focusing on marketing and advertising, you have the opportunity to make connections with more customers or investors, bringing in more business/financial capital. If your company wants to focus more on making the best shoes in creation, they’re going to want to invest a lot into product design and less on finding the perfect employee.

By focusing on things other than finding the perfect employee, you have the opportunity to expand on other areas previously mentioned, which could potentially be a benefit to your company if that’s what it needs. Unfortunately, by choosing someone that’s the wrong fit for the job, you could lose money. If they’re overall bad at their job and selling as much as they should be, you’re losing money. If they’re bad enough that they need to get replaced, it costs extra to fire someone and hire a new person, so you’re losing even more money. I believe that it’s important to find an employee that’s a great fit mostly when dealing with customers/clients. Connections with others is a valuable asset and without it, bringing customers in won’t work.

The last job I applied for was when I decided to return to Starbucks from my previous job. The first time I applied, it was a “get to know you” interview then I was hired on the spot. Three years later when I returned, it was a lot more professional.

I applied online and turned in my resume to the location I wanted to work at. I met the manager, explained that I have Starbucks and general barista experience, and made a point to visit often as a customer. I got my interview two weeks later and was not sure what to expect. I had a friend working there already, and she told me that the interview was stressful for her and very professional. Considering how my last Starbucks interview went, I was skeptical but still took measures to prepare.

When I went in, I was interviewed by the assistant manager at the time. She brought out a packet of specific Starbucks Interview questions. She knew I had experience, so she brushed through the questions quickly. Preparing was good because she did ask specific workplace related questions, but it wasn’t overly scary or professional. A week later I got called saying I got the job and started working two weeks after that.

After the interview, I could tell that this store was more professional and higher functioning than my last. The ASM doing the interview was not pleasant so I was slightly nervous to work with her. I was excited at the same time because I was going to work in a place that actually functioned properly. I knew that if I was offered the job I’d take it regardless of how I felt about her because literally anything would be better than the job I was at. Once I started, she liked me because I already knew what I was doing and can manage myself. A few months later management switched as well as a large amount of employees, so it’s entirely different than it was a year ago when I started.