Back in the South

I drove back down to Tennessee today. I left at 2am and arrived at 4:30pm, so made pretty decent time considering I missed an exit and was rained on through the entire state of Iowa. It was a pretty uneventful trip. The highlight was hitting a firefly at night and getting to watch its glowing guts on my windshield. :)

SIOP Conference

This past week I traveled to Atlanta for the 2010 SIOP conference. I have attended this conference the last two years (once in San Fran and then in New Orleans). Its a great conference and it always leaves me loving I/O more than before. I definitely needed a dose of this medicine at this point in my career... or lack there of.

This year was a bit different than years of the past in that I had two of my research studies accepted to be presented. My Master's thesis was presented as a poster and my Undergraduate thesis was presented as part of a symposium. This is an incredible honor since only about 50% of submissions to this conference are accepted, that and the SIOP conference is the biggest conference of the year in I/O.

My symposium was Saturday morning at 8:30. That was a bit earlier than I would have liked, but it was definitely worth it. More people than I expected showed up and so I presented to probably around 20-30 people. It was a great feeling at the end of the presentation when people came up and told me how well I did and that they were really interested in my study (Trust formation in virtual teams). Later that day I got a phone call from my old professor at MTSU. He told me that he ran into the department head of Houston's I/O Ph.D. program. I guess he was really impressed with how well I did and said I really held my own as a Master in a panel of Ph.D.s and Professors. So that was nice to hear as well. Interestingly, I didn't even do this research at a masters level, I did it as a college senior.

My poster was later that day and I got to meet the lady who essentially made data collection possible. She works for Human Synergistics and she allowed me to tailor the "Desert Survival Situation" to the way I needed it. She even had all the copies printed and sent it all to us free of charge. Without her help there is no way I would have graduated on time, so it was really nice to meet her. Many other interested individuals took a look at our poster and it was fun to talk to all the people about it.

It was great to see everyone that I had met at past SIOP's and I am very glad I went. I may not have a company to pay for these type of experiences for me, but it was definitely worth it. Hopefully from all this something will fall into place and I can actually start using my degree.

All Your Questions Answered

• I spent the last two years getting a Master’s degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology.
  
  
• It’s the application of psychological principles and theory to the management of human resources in organizations. I/O Psychology is focused on collecting and analyzing data in order to make empirically driven decisions that will result in the effective and efficient use of human resources. I am more interested in the “O” side, which looks at more how the organization can affect behavior, so I would like to get involved in organizational change and development. Although, I do enjoy the “I” as well. The “I” side is more focused on measuring human characteristics.
  
  
• I am living at home with my parents looking for a job.
  
  
• Nothing yet.
  
  
• Nope, no prospects either.
  
  
• I am hoping to get into a consulting firm. A consulting firm is hired by an organization to help with a specific problem or project pertaining to their human resources. For example, if an organization needs a new selection process or new training curriculum developed, the organization may hire a consulting firm. I would also be able to work in an organization’s HR department, but if I were to take a job like that, I would hope that it is defined as an internal consulting position rather than an administrative HR position (I didn’t go to grad school to file I-9’s and W-2’s all day).
  
  
• I am willing to move anywhere. I would prefer to stay on this planet.
  
  
• I would still be a Packer fan.
  
  
• Yeah, Brett Favre is a jerk.

PHR

Well as most of you have heard, I passed the PHR yesterday. This is the Professional in Human Resource certification exam. Passing the exam does not mean that I am certified at this point, but after 2 years of exempt experience I will be. So why take it you ask? Well having passed the exam I can show to employers that I know my stuff and although I would eventually get into HR consulting, I am much more likely to find a job in HR to start out. It gives me that one step up that may help when I am paired against another job candidate with similar education/experience.

I finished and handed in my thesis on Wednesday, prior to that thesis was my number one priority and I didn't do anything but that. Then all of a sudden I had only 5 days before my test. Turns out the last thing I really wanted to do was study some more, so I didn't do a very good job focusing. I did manage to read 1 of the 6 books in the SHRM Learning System which was on labor laws and unions which we don't learn much about here (especially the union part). So I did that and took a bunch of practice tests. I usually scored a solid 60% on all the practices. I was prepared to fail.

I drove to the test site and got settled in to start my 225 multiple choice questions. I was feeling alright at first, but it wasn't long until I felt like I was guessing on almost every one. Then things got better and I knew every question. Then things went bad again and I just wanted it over. I would find myself reading the question over and over. The answer was many times obvious once I got myself focused again, but focusing was proving quite difficult.

Focusing was a challenge not only because of the 225 questions, but because of my surroundings. Nothing really bothered me at first, but by question 100, distraction was inevitable. The biggest distraction I had was a growing headache, but I managed to keep that at bay until the test was over, then unfortunately I had one of the worst headaches of my life (but not nearly as bad as those migraines I used to get in 1st grade). Anyway... to my right there was Movey McMoverson, to my left was Miss Coughsalot behind me to the right was Sir Typey Typetype and then behind me to the left was Mr. HolyCowThisTestIsHardIAmReallyStressedOutWhenWillThisBeOver.

I used up about 3 hours of my alloted 4 hours. I sat with all the questions done and contemplated whether it was worth it to go back through. I was feeling pretty confident that I had not passed and I didn't know if it was worth the bother of going back through and trying to remember information that I didn't really know. I decided that it is best to go with my instincts and I opted to submit my test. So I hit "end test" and waited.... then finally the "optional questionaire" popped up. I filled it out and clicked to the next screen. I waited patiently and cringed as the screen popped up. It took me a second to look over the screen and find the result and it said "Pass". My jaw dropped and I gasped (I may be known in someone else's blog as Gaspy McGasperson). I couldn't believe it. I would have been willing to bet money on me not having passed, and I would have lost money.

I left my computer and I handed my note paper back to the procter and said in a disbelief "I passed!' and he said "well thats what you came here to do, right?" So then he printed off my preliminary results report stamped it with the seal and I was on my merry way. And then I called mom.

I feel confident now that I have retained something from the last two years. And it is nice that all that studying for comps really did take care of two birds. Now, let's go do a job analysis!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm DONE!!!!

Well its over. I handed in my thesis to the office of graduate studies today. I got all three signatures I needed, but not without a bit of drama. I planned on getting everything signed on Thursday, but Tuesday morning I heard that the Department head was not going to be in the office on Thursday and Friday. So then I had to figure out a way to get everyone signed today. Which I did manage to do, but due to the unconventional way of going about it, I was unable to get them to use the pen I got for Christmas, sorry Heidi. So Glenn signed the sheet left it in his mailbox, I had to go out to COHRE to track down Mike. He was in a meeting so the secretary Mitzi went in and had him sign. And then I went over to the psych department office to have Papini sign it. I realize you probably don't know any of those names... but trust me, its all the right people.

I also didn't get to use the paper bc they don't require special paper. They actually include printing and binding all together. I have to had in a paper copy, but I also give them an electronic copy. So, Sorry Heidi and Dave, I didn't get to use your paper.

I will hear back from the graduate office in a few weeks. I am sure there will be a thing or two that I missed as far as style goes, but everything else should be fine.

Unfortunately, I am not quite done with school-like stuff yet. I still have to take the PHR on Tuesday. Seeing how I haven't really studied yet, I am not too hopeful that I will pass. And if studying doesn't go too well in the next few days I may cancel my test time. I am not too worried about it though since it doesn't affect my graduation, but still it would be nice to pass.

Best Study Tactic EVER!

I have done this in the past and have had success, and I did it again today and it has been a very successful thesis day.

Step 1: Drink a cup of coffee
Step 2: Take a thirty minute nap before the caffeine hits.
Step 3: Wake up with an insane amount of energy.
Step 4: Finish your thesis.

I am still on step 4, but I am getting much closer!

Oh wow..... its already June 14th...

I am really REALLY nervous now.