I grew up in the restaurant industry and I have experienced every position. When I got the chance and was promoted to be a manager a while back. I fell in love and intrigued with the operation side. I feel like it’s a little corny but studying psychology and understanding the human mind and why people do what they do combined with the aspects I learned when I was a manager made me want to pursue a human resources career. Being in the restaurant industry and being able to see both sides of being an employee to being a manager, I have noticed that some people in H.R. tend to see only the management side and ignore the employee side. So, I want to be able to help both sides reach an understanding which helps tie my internship with my major and because of my internship it has helped get through the door and has been opening new opportunities for me to not only learn but help me grow as a person both professionally and personally. I don’t believe that there was any significance of an educational requirement that I needed beforehand to be successful in my internship; however, due to my experience with being a manager it helped a lot. I am interested in this career opportunity because psychology plays a big role in the human resources industry. Psychological research can inform the creation of more inclusive hiring methods, such as considering the needs of neurodiverse people. It also helps HR managers understand that psychology can gain a deeper understanding of employees and their relationships with organizations which helps them understand what motivates employees, how workplace culture can affect performance, and place employees in the right positions based on their strengths. If I continue on this journey to H.R., they typically need a bachelor’s degree with at least one to two years of experience in the related field. I think the piece of advice I would give to incoming interns is to be proactive. It may sound cliche but I believe that it is important to always be ready to learn, ask questions if you are struggling, and don’t get discouraged if you need to ask for help.
