Human Resources

Summer 2020 

Position: Recruiting Intern
Student: Human Dimensions of Organizations (HDO) Senior

Betts Recruiting is a company that primarily recruits for sales, people operations, and marketing within the software as a services space.  In short terms, I like to describe Betts as a tech recruiting firm.  The company was founded by Carolyn Betts in 2009 in California and now has five offices around the United States including the New York office who I worked for virtually this summer.  Early on in my junior year I was extremely overwhelmed with finding an internship in an industry where I felt truly passionate about what I was doing.  While I had had multiple other internships that helped me realize industries that I was less interested in, I still felt that I was no closer to my ideal job.  I genuinely just did not know what else was out there because I was lost trying to search for an industry that I did not know existed.  That is when I got put in contact with a private career counselor who helped me narrow down what was personally important for me in my career and that is when I landed on recruiting.  I got connected with Betts because a managing director in the New York office went to UT and is also an alumnus of my sorority.  This similarity provided us with a common ground that helped her understand more about me.

Once I had started my internship my primary focus was on sourcing for potential new candidates.  Basically, what that means is that I am looking through multiple databases to try and find a candidate with experience that match up with what the client (the company) is looking for.  For example, if the client is a marketing tech company who is looking for a business development representative, I would look for people living in New York who have 6 months to a year of experience in a marketing tech firm who is open to looking at new opportunities.  On top of sourcing, I would also help out with scheduling calls for the recruiters and organizing information to make their work more efficient.  I would have to say that my favorite thing about my internship was how I got to communicate with new people every day.  I was constantly reaching out to potential candidates and listening in on their preliminary phone calls with recruiters and it was fascinating to see how a Linkedin profile comes to life! 

Spring 2017  

Position: HR Intern
Student: Government Junior

There are various positions open on the intern level at the Embassy suites. There are sales, business management, culinary, and human resources internship opportunities. My internship at the Embassy Suites was as a human resources assistant, however, my main objective was to complete a specific project. As one of the three human resources interns my job was to increase the low associate engagement scores (AES) from the year before. These associate engagement scores are a result of the staff grading their department's based specific behaviors. Ex: My department manager treats me with respect. The other two human resources assistant’s duties were to create and refine training manuals and to make sure paperwork was up to date for audits.

To increase these scores given to our departments by the staff, I had to personally talk to them and ask what their issues were with their department. Once I did my personal interviews, I discuss these issues with human resources director and general manager, where we met together and decided on solutions for these issues. After we narrowed down the AES survey, which originally had 27 questions, to 10 main questions that were issues for all departments, we wanted the department managers to look at the issues the staff had and come up with solutions on their own. Lastly, they wrote down the solutions that they had, I added it to a spreadsheet and had it printed on a poster board to hang up in each department. This poster board served as a reminder to the staff that their department managers are responsible for these solutions, and it is the staff's duty to hold them accountable. 

Spring 2018

Position: HR Intern/Assistant
Student: Government Senior 

As an intern you would hope to do something different every day, but that may not be the case. You are often there on assignment and are expected to work on the assignment when completed, once you are completed then there is an opportunity to do day to day maintenance and get practice in the corporate world. Although it sounds boring at first (even at the end), I think this challenge you and gives you and the employer the opportunity to see what you’re capable of as a new face at a company, with little time, and little guidance until you are proven to be worth an investment (or maybe they really need somebody to take care of their busy work).

The company I interned at is a small business called PowerHouse Electrical Services Inc. It is an electrical construction company that does interior wiring in the central Austin area and San Antonio. The owners of the company are old school, have conservative morals regarding their business, and withhold a lot of pride behind their family name. Most importantly, they really care about their company and employees. As their small business is growing at a rapid rate and integrating a “corporate culture”, their sons¬–the future owners suggested they get a Human Resources Professional. Originally, they had a payroll specialist who had no real HR experience, but in order to ensure labor law compliances, drive company culture, and ensure best practice methods are used, they needed somebody with experience. Upon realizing that they had a lot of work to be done, a HR intern was suggested, which is where I came in.

My internship was originally supposed to last three months throughout the summer, but after being denied another internship, I was offered an extension at the company I was currently interning at due to my exceptional work. I am grateful for the assignment I was given as it required me to be extremely active and hands on during the beginning stages. My assignment was to create a job description for each job position so employees could know what their positions entail and so the descriptions could be used for evaluations and job advertisements. In order to do this effectively, I had to interview with the best candidates of each respective position, so I could properly fill out their job descriptions. Not only did this allow me to get comfortable with the employees, but it also enhanced my interview skills–an essential skill that a Human Resources professional should have. Additionally, this particular assignment did not require much strenuous research and felt more like “busy work” which allows you to set goals and make work go by faster.

Spring 2016 

Position: HR intern
Student: Undeclared Sophomore

The course of my internship took three different approaches to showcasing the human resources world. The first, entailed an extensive overview as to what it means to be a part of the human resources team. The second approach dealt with the administrative side. Finally, the third approach dealt with the records aspect of the field. I was placed in each of these areas over the course of five months with the time in each approximately being equal to each other.

When I was coming in during my time in the overview area, my days were filled with learning. I would come in and sit with my mentor for about four hours each day. During these four hours we would go through all of the areas associated with human resources and exactly what went on in each of these areas. We looked at specific cases and examples and I was able to get some hands on experience on how to handle specific issues. My favorite part of my time in this area was learning the recruitment process. I was able to observe how a job is essentially created, and follow along as we searched for potential candidates all the way through the interviews and onboarding process. This part of my internship provided me with an immense amount of information which helped me as I moved along to the other parts of the internship.

In the administrative area, this entailed dealing with walk-ins. This area taught me how to think on my feet as each person seemed to have a vastly different issue than person before them. Many of the issues we dealt with were in regards to the benefits aspect of human resources which is actually quite complex and requires a vast and deep knowledge. I enjoyed this area as I was able to help a large number of individuals.

When I moved to the final area, records, this was more of the true grit of the human resources world. We were dealing with things like background checks and I-9 compliances, but all of it was very interesting. Overall, I feel as though my internship experience has been a well-rounded and extremely enriching experience that I would recommend to anyone looking to enter the human resources world.

Spring 2017  

Position: HR Intern
Student: Government Junior

There are various positions open on the intern level at the Embassy suites. There are sales, business management, culinary, and human resources internship opportunities. My internship at the Embassy Suites was as a human resources assistant, however, my main objective was to complete a specific project. As one of the three human resources interns my job was to increase the low associate engagement scores (AES) from the year before. These associate engagement scores are a result of the staff grading their department's based specific behaviors. Ex: My department manager treats me with respect. The other two human resources assistant’s duties were to create and refine training manuals and to make sure paperwork was up to date for audits.

To increase these scores given to our departments by the staff, I had to personally talk to them and ask what their issues were with their department. Once I did my personal interviews, I discuss these issues with human resources director and general manager, where we met together and decided on solutions for these issues. After we narrowed down the AES survey, which originally had 27 questions, to 10 main questions that were issues for all departments, we wanted the department managers to look at the issues the staff had and come up with solutions on their own. Lastly, they wrote down the solutions that they had, I added it to a spreadsheet and had it printed on a poster board to hang up in each department. This poster board served as a reminder to the staff that their department managers are responsible for these solutions, and it is the staff's duty to hold them accountable. 

Summer 2023 

Position: Media Intern/ People Operations Intern 
Student: Human Dimensions of Organizations Junior, UTNY Participant 

GroupM is the world’s leading media investment company. I found this internship on the UTNY job board and applied because I am interested in marketing and media. During the interview process, GroupM recruiters ask what discipline you are interested in within the company, and I chose corporate Human Resources. People operations oversee the whole employee lifecycle, including onboarding and employee engagement. I learned a lot about the various components of Human Resources and have a deep understanding of how global media companies operate. My favorite thing about my internship is the welcoming company culture. Everyone I have worked with has been extremely engaging and involved in the intern learning process. It is truly a great place! 

Fall 2022 

Position: Junior Recruiter Intern

Student: Psychology and Human Dimensions Organization (HDO) Senior

Poolin is a bitcoin mining company building data center facilities in West Texas. I think I found the internship through job websites when I was applying to different internships. This one stood out to me because I matched what they were looking for and it seemed really interesting. I have a lot of responsibilities such as sourcing/headhunting potential candidates by collaborating with the hiring managers, screening or conducting the first round of interview to either reject candidates or move them to the next round of interview. I also do scheduling and screening resumes through managing our applicant tracking system Greenhouse. After the candidates go through all the rounds of interviews and the hiring manager decides to make an offer I will make the offer call and send out the offer letter. Once the offer is accepted I will conduct a background check and order a drug screen. I love my internship and there are a lot of favorite things. One of my favorites is that I love the people and the start-up culture, the work is super flexible whether it is when you want to come to work or where you want to work from, they also feed us amazing lunches every day

Spring 2018

Position: HR Intern/Assistant
Student: Government Senior 

As an intern you would hope to do something different every day, but that may not be the case. You are often there on assignment and are expected to work on the assignment when completed, once you are completed then there is an opportunity to do day to day maintenance and get practice in the corporate world. Although it sounds boring at first (even at the end), I think this challenge you and gives you and the employer the opportunity to see what you’re capable of as a new face at a company, with little time, and little guidance until you are proven to be worth an investment (or maybe they really need somebody to take care of their busy work).

The company I interned at is a small business called PowerHouse Electrical Services Inc. It is an electrical construction company that does interior wiring in the central Austin area and San Antonio. The owners of the company are old school, have conservative morals regarding their business, and withhold a lot of pride behind their family name. Most importantly, they really care about their company and employees. As their small business is growing at a rapid rate and integrating a “corporate culture”, their sons¬–the future owners suggested they get a Human Resources Professional. Originally, they had a payroll specialist who had no real HR experience, but in order to ensure labor law compliances, drive company culture, and ensure best practice methods are used, they needed somebody with experience. Upon realizing that they had a lot of work to be done, a HR intern was suggested, which is where I came in.

My internship was originally supposed to last three months throughout the summer, but after being denied another internship, I was offered an extension at the company I was currently interning at due to my exceptional work. I am grateful for the assignment I was given as it required me to be extremely active and hands on during the beginning stages. My assignment was to create a job description for each job position so employees could know what their positions entail and so the descriptions could be used for evaluations and job advertisements. In order to do this effectively, I had to interview with the best candidates of each respective position, so I could properly fill out their job descriptions. Not only did this allow me to get comfortable with the employees, but it also enhanced my interview skills–an essential skill that a Human Resources professional should have. Additionally, this particular assignment did not require much strenuous research and felt more like “busy work” which allows you to set goals and make work go by faster.

Spring 2023

Position: Health Insurance and Benefits Counselor
Student: Health and Society Senior

Currently I am interning at the Teachers Retirement System of Texas, a position that I found on Indeed. As a health insurance and benefits counselor, I help navigate retired teachers through their options for different insurance plans. I answer any questions they may have about the process of turning 65 and being Medicare eligible as well. I compose email templates to send out applications, terminations, enrollments, etc. My favorite thing about my internship is being able to help out retired teachers.

Fall 2022

Position: Recruiting Intern
Student: Human Dimensions Organizations (HDO) Senior

Tesla is the leading electric automotive and clean energy company in the world. Tesla specializes in designing and manufacturing electric vehicles and clean energy solutions. The company’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. I’m a recruiting intern on Tesla’s Internship Recruiting team. I found this internship through a connection I had with another student in my major. I also attended one of Tesla’s Demo Days where I connected with members of Internship Recruiting team and was able to discuss the position in more detail. The goal by the end of my internship is to be able to perform the same tasks of a full cycle recruiter at Tesla. Responsibilities of my internship include sourcing candidates, scheduling and conducting interviews, assisting in the planning of university events, and attending various conventions and networking sessions. My favorite thing about my internship is how fast paced and exciting it is. I feel like I learn something new every day. I also get to travel to different locations across the country to meet with students from other universities. I have found this experience to be very eye-opening and extremely rewarding.

Spring 2023

Position: Human Resources Intern
Student: Anthropology Sophomore

The Texas Department of Agriculture is a state agency whose office is located near the capital. TDA’s largest division regulates food and nutritional services in Texas as well as school lunches! I found this position on Handshake and Indeed. The recruiting/interview process is not super intense. I do job postings/screen for applicants who apply as an HR intern. Favorite thing about this internship is my supervisors. They have made this internship an amazing learning/teaching experience.

Spring 2016 

Position: HR intern
Student: Undeclared Sophomore

The course of my internship took three different approaches to showcasing the human resources world. The first, entailed an extensive overview as to what it means to be a part of the human resources team. The second approach dealt with the administrative side. Finally, the third approach dealt with the records aspect of the field. I was placed in each of these areas over the course of five months with the time in each approximately being equal to each other.

When I was coming in during my time in the overview area, my days were filled with learning. I would come in and sit with my mentor for about four hours each day. During these four hours we would go through all of the areas associated with human resources and exactly what went on in each of these areas. We looked at specific cases and examples and I was able to get some hands on experience on how to handle specific issues. My favorite part of my time in this area was learning the recruitment process. I was able to observe how a job is essentially created, and follow along as we searched for potential candidates all the way through the interviews and onboarding process. This part of my internship provided me with an immense amount of information which helped me as I moved along to the other parts of the internship.

In the administrative area, this entailed dealing with walk-ins. This area taught me how to think on my feet as each person seemed to have a vastly different issue than person before them. Many of the issues we dealt with were in regards to the benefits aspect of human resources which is actually quite complex and requires a vast and deep knowledge. I enjoyed this area as I was able to help a large number of individuals.

When I moved to the final area, records, this was more of the true grit of the human resources world. We were dealing with things like background checks and I-9 compliances, but all of it was very interesting. Overall, I feel as though my internship experience has been a well-rounded and extremely enriching experience that I would recommend to anyone looking to enter the human resources world.