Words of Wisdom from a First-Year International Student

By Xin Peng (aka Lily)

First (soon to be second!)-year student Lily Peng 

As a first-year I/O student at UTA who has just accomplished her first semester’s study in a new country, I owe a lot of ‘thank you’ letters to people in this program, including both students and professors. In the eyes of an international student, Industrial/Organizational Psychology is indeed a very challenging major because this major greatly emphasizes communication skills, presentation skills, and writing skills, which are exactly to the disadvantage of international students. However, from another perspective, these disadvantages indicate that there is much room left for us to improve, which is totally a good thing. These obstacles act like a beacon broadcasting a directional signal for what we should do.

The most meaningful thing I learned from last semester is that one needs to have a specific goal in mind before taking action. Take the group project from the Employee Attitudes and Behavior class as a small example. This group project was to assess employee attitudes in one organization and give some recommendations based on the assessment results. To be honest, I think our group did a wonderful job in this class project and one successful factor, I believe, was that we had a very specific direction. The client organization asked us to investigate the workload problem of managers as a follow-up of a prior survey. So all the work we did was about workload. We interviewed managers about their workload; we searched for workload literature and looked for some performance outcomes related to workload; we disseminated workload surveys to managers; and we analyzed the data and linked the recommendations with the workload problem. In conclusion, because we had a straightforward goal, our recommended next steps to the client have the possibility to be a success.

My upcoming job search is similar to the group project except that the goal of the group project was picked by the client organization but the direction of the job search should be chosen by me. Before I open the websites and crazily search for internships, I may sit down and think about my direction for a while. What do I want to do? What is my ideal future profession like? What are the competencies I have that will help me to achieve my goals? What else can I do to approach my intended direction?

Some advice: Think twice about our goals before we act. It is one way that can maximize our efforts.

Lessons Learned from a Class Project

By second year I/O student, Meha Nepalia


I am very excited to share my experience of working on a class project. I did a team project for a course in my I/O program in which we conducted an employee attitude and behavior survey for an organization. The aim of this project was to learn about the process of assessing employee attitudes, apply research to a real world situation, and enhance our consulting skills. For this project we interacted with the client, conducted interviews, did a lot of research, created an employee attitude survey, analyzed the findings, and provided recommendations to the client.  During this project, I learned a lot from the experience and relied heavily on Peter Block’s book “Flawless Consulting”.

There are simple things that Peter Block talks about in his book “Flawless Consulting“such as sharing your thoughts about working with the client in your first meeting; this creates a comfortable environment and puts the client at ease. Also, just listening and restating what the client wants helps in securing the client’s trust.  Block (2011) suggests that the most important question to ask the client is “what do you want from me?”(p.76). Furthermore, it is also essential to know what support the client can provide. These questions help in knowing the client’s expectations from you and also help to inform client that their support is required for the successful completion of the project. According to Block, it is very essential to communicate to the client what you as a consultant expect and want from the client. Additionally, discussing with the client the next steps and making sure they agree to them is also important. These tips on contracting by Peter Block helped our team in communicating with the client successfully.

The attitudes project was a great learning experience. I was very anxious and nervous about the first meeting with the client and wondered about how things would go, but it all went well. This project helped in developing my skills on maintaining good client relationships as well as keeping the project on the right path. Indeed, the suggestions from the book “Flawless Consulting” seemed to make the interaction with the client flawless. I recommend this book to all and hope that everyone benefits from it as much as I did. 

UTA & NCH - By Chelsea Charron

I believe that you go to undergraduate school to become educated in a well-rounded, general sense. You learn to communicate and think analytically. You learn about a wide range of topics that might not apply directly to your future career, but give you a new point of view or point of reference. However, I believe you make the decision to go to graduate school because you want to be trained and prepped for a particular career. And UTA’s Masters program in Industrial/Organizational Psychology is doing just that…training future I/O Psychologists to be successful upon completion of the program.

While I am a first year student in the program, I am also working in an HR position at NCH Corporation. Although working while attending graduate school has been challenging, it has really put into perspective the differences between what research has shown to be the best practices and how things really work in the business world. The program at UTA does a fantastic job of bridging the gap between the classroom and the business world, which is critical for Masters students looking to enter the workforce as an I/O Psychologist. One of the ways the UTA I/O program does this is by encouraging students to work with real companies to assess and solve real issues. For example, last semester we were given an assignment to work with an organization on an employee attitudes project. We were to find a company willing to work with us, develop an attitude survey, disseminate the survey to employees, analyze the results, and give a presentation on the findings as well as propose ways to improve employee attitudes.

Although the research tells us things should be done a certain way, this project taught us that often times in the business world, things are not done in the best way possible. Restrictions such as time and money force I/O psychologists to either convince managers of the value of lengthy assessments or to find ways to alter the assessment to fit in line with the managers’ ideas. In my experience with this project, we had to find ways to alter valid assessments to make them shorter and more direct, all while maintaining their usefulness. This was quite challenging and even frustrating, but was a more valuable experience than any test on the subject could have been. We were given insight into how things really work in the world of I/O consultants, instead of just I/O researchers, and are now better prepared to take on a position as a consultant upon graduation.


Check out NCH on their website here: http://www.nch.com/
And on Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCH_Corporation

I/O in D.C. - By Kyle Swaim

First year I/O student Kyle Swaim

Who would have thought that Washington D.C., our nation’s capital, would be where I found out that Industrial-Organizational Psychology was my passion? Typically, this town is reserved for campaigning politicians, aggressive lobbyists, and big name think tanks, but to my surprise, I/O psychology was well recognized and much needed. I did my first post-grad internship at a mid-sized company in the D.C. area and was shocked by how much I did not know and got a glimpse into what exactly my future in I/O holds. This internship was a great opportunity and an enlightening experience that ultimately confirmed I/O Psychology as my passion.

Before I talk more specifically about my job in D.C. I will provide some background. For most of my undergrad career, I bounced from major to major trying to find the best fit for my personality and skill set. I tried out some biology, did civil engineering for a couple years (found out physics was not exactly my thing), tried some information systems, but I kept coming back to psychology. These classes were always captivating and each one showed me more about the field. However, I still had not found what I felt was my calling. Inside of psychology, I dabbled in everything from applied neurocognition to forensic psychology. After a great deal of thought it occurred to me that, at the heart of it, I want to improve people’s lives. And so I thought, where does the majority of our adult life take place? Well that is obviously wherever we are employed. So why not seek to apply the things we know about human behavior, cognition, and emotion to the workplace.

My internship in D.C. allowed me the freedom and gave me the resources to do just this. The company I worked with was an educational consulting business that employed tutors and consultants in order to enrich the academic development of students and learning institutions on the east coast. My job there, upon arrival, was very vague, which at first was intimidating, however, with time and a little direction, I began to understand what my role could be for this organization. Throughout my internship, I conducted employee attitude assessments, developed job analyses, and was essentially the lead recruiter for all tutors. From these various projects, I learned more than I had anticipated, but most significant was the necessity of authenticity. On several occasions, I found myself second-guessing my ideas and delivering guarded recommendations that were not representative of my potential. Towards the end of the summer though, I became more confident with my suggestions and more comfortable with my superiors. This led to the development of several projects and initiatives that I believe positively impacted the lives of many employees, and that I hope will serve as the foundation for numerous other ventures.

All You Need is Dedication … and a Field Trip

By Second Year I/O Master's Student Lori Dawson

We were sitting on an old and dilapidated park bench, soaking in the southern sun and sipping on our iced lattes. “Tell me something you learned from your first year of graduate school”, I asked.  She thought for a moment and then smiled, “take a shot at every opportunity that comes your way.”  Several months later, keeping her advice in mind, I found myself applying to a government agency that recruits highly competent graduate students from the UTA to assist in their assessment center. The students selected to participate in this time intensive assessment process gain a valuable understanding of employee selection; and I was determined to be among them.

Two weeks out of the summer we gathered in downtown Birmingham, AL, for extensive training as an assessor for various job roles. This agency not only provides graduate students the opportunity to assist in the scoring of candidates’ interview performance but also allows students to closely observe the infrastructure of a smoothly run assessment center. Students meet, interact, and network with a group of geographically diverse individuals that are either studying or working in a similar field. The insight acquired from this experience is indispensible and helps shape each student as a professional in the field.  

Recognizing the knowledge and expertise obtained by collaborating with outside organizations, the dedicated I/O Professors at the UTA encourage their students to expose themselves to a multitude of experiences within various industries. These venues for learning and development allow students to purposely cultivate their skills and give back to the local community through organizational development, human resources, and external consultation initiatives. It seems our goal to “bridge the gap” begins with taking a shot at good ole opportunity! 

Graduate Student Highlight: Brad English

Second Year I-O Master's Student Brad English

I am currently a second year student in the Industrial-Organizational Psychology Master’s Program, and I will graduate in May 2013.  In addition to the knowledge and skills that I have acquired from coursework associated with the curriculum, I have also gained a considerable amount of expertise in human resource law, strategic job design, employee engagement, and competency modeling.  I am also currently conducting secondary research to examine the relationships between employee diversity programs and career success. 

            I have enjoyed both the “I” side and “O” side of the program.  Within the organizational domain, I have enjoyed several topics in Organizational Behavior which include on-boarding, organizational development, and leadership.  Within the industrial side, I have thoroughly enjoyed Performance Management Systems, from workforce planning to how to develop a performance system.   The most valuable lesson I have learned from the program is the importance of examining and demonstrating how an organizational intervention or application adds value to an organization to ensure that the optimal solution is selected that maximizes value.

I completed a nine month internship with a high-volume manufacturing and production organization that supplies many of the beverage companies with various products.  One of my main roles was talent acquisition that included full-cycle recruiting for salary-exempt and non-exempt positions; I was also certified to use Lominger’s Interview Architect for behavioral-based competency interviewing.  In addition, I exported production and human resources data from SAP onto spreadsheets for statistical analysis to show where and how human resources practices impact production performance.  My most memorable project was when I created processes for workforce analyses and planning, and also job redesign, for use across all facilities in the Southern United States. 

My internship was essential in providing insight into how and what to communicate to managers and leaders in order to help them make more informed decisions.  I also learned how I could utilize advanced statistics to show how various human resources practices impact production performance.  Also, I gained valuable experience with SAP, interviewing techniques, and the implementation of new practices that facilitate organizational change and development.  Lastly, I learned how industrial-organizational psychology interacts with human resources, and how the synergy of both disciplines can result in the most significant organizational outcomes.  

Using Employee Attitude Surveys to Guide Program Development

    By Katy Ramsey

 

     Assessing employee attitudes is a valuable way for organizations to gain insight into how
employees are feeling about the organization and their work. This can be helpful information
when employers suspect underlying tensions, but understanding attitudes can also be useful
in positive situations. Recently, a group of I/O psychology students partnered with a local
organization to evaluate employee attitudes as part of a new employee development program.
The program for newly promoted managers was designed to clarify the role of a manger and
enhance employee understanding, with the goal of accelerating the transition into management.
Company leaders have recognized the overwhelming nature of this transition and are proactively
taking steps to help employees. Early success of the program will be determined by many
factors, but the initial questions were “Does the training accelerate the transition into a new
role?” and “Have the managers gained clarity?” The students sought to answer these questions
by evaluating general job satisfaction and the degree to which employees were clear of their

     Although additional information is needed after the training course to fully measure its
impact, the surveys produced interesting results that will be useful to the organization as they
strive to enhance employee development and job satisfaction. First, the findings highlighted
specific areas of uncertainty for employees. By comparing this information to the coursework
the new manager program can be fine-tuned to more effectively meet the needs of employees.
Additionally, company leaders were made aware of unknown concerns that could potentially be
harmful to the organization.

     Employee attitudes are powerful predictors of critical organizational outcomes.
Exploring the factors that influence how employees feel, think, and act towards an organization
is the first step in developing appropriate interventions. This organization has taken the first
step by developing a program that demonstrates support for new managers, and hopefully the
information gained from the attitude assessments will shed new light on some of the challenges
managers face and guide the development of future interventions.