Module 3 assignment
- 1. Devan Carter October17, 2015 1.How did you first enter the HRD/HPI field? I was coaching high school basketball and teaching physical education. I went back to school and got my masters in administration. Shortly afterwards, an old friend of mine called me up and offered me a job as an assistant principal at his school. 2.How would you describe HRD/HPI to someone who never heard about it; or may have heard of it, but does not understand what it is as a profession? Constantly educating and developing people to reach their max potential on the job. However, we also have to relate, communicate, and listen to workers as well to formulate what type of training or skill development we can implement to be most effective. 3.What type of work do you do?Could you describe some of your most interesting projects and assignments? I am a high school principal. One of my most interesting projects was a Gang Outreach graduation program. We had night classes for gang members who anonymously wanted to get their GED. We had law enforcement secure the classrooms, but we had people from different gangs earn their GED and held their own special graduation in our football stadium. 4.What preparation do you have to work in this field? I have almost 35 years of coaching experience,4 years as a policeman, 20 years of teaching, and 13 years of being a middle school/high school principal. 5.What type of work did you do before entering HRD?Did this experience help you in your HRD profession. . . or not? Before entering HRD, I was a policeman. This experience helped me because I had to deal with all types of people. I had to communicate, dictate, and any other type of “ate” you want to name. That experience was invaluable. Some of the training we used in the Police Academy has transferred over to my other careers. 6.What do you like most about working in the HRD profession?Why? It’s an ever changing profession. The issues of HR and the techniques of HRD are always changing. It keeps things interesting 7.What do you like least?Why? I guess it can be the same answer. Issues and the techniques are always changing. So even a person at my age has to constantly study up and learn new things. Some are interesting and some are dull. Some you agree with and some you don’t.
- 2. Devan Carter October17, 2015 8.What knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes do you value most in the performance of your work? I value the ability to make good/the right decisions most. When I make a decision, I always try to make a T chart listing the good and the bad that can happen from this decision. I also value the skill set of listening, asking questions, and problem solving. All of these are things that help me do my job. 9.What formal preparation; e.g..,college courses, seminars, training, professional networks, have been most valuable to you? My masters degree is in Administration and that has been very valuable to me. Also, having a network of friends who are in leadership positions and who have jobs dealing with people and developing people have helped me as well. It is always good to bounce ideas off of other people. 10.Do you feel that the HRD profession is well received and well-respected by business, industry, government, and other organizations? Can you give some reasons why or why not? Yes and no. Some people look at HR employees as investigators who don’t understand reality. Some people look down on HR employees. Other understand that it’s not personal that they are just doing their job. HRD employees might be considered over the top or too precautious when it comes to some of the techniques they have to employ. But usually it’s for the employees safety and benefit. 11.What are the most interesting opportunities for people in the field of HRD today? They have HRD opportunities at video game companies. I think that would be a pretty cool job. 12.How should a novice with a new degree in HRD pursue their career? Some people would say apply for jobs and reach out to people about the jobs, but I am all about networking. I believe that most of the time, it isn’t about your degree or your even where you went to school, I think that your connections and network is more important. I would tell people who have a HRD degree to network with as many people as possible. You can never know too many people on this side. After summarizing the responses, I’ve learned that people can get into the HRD profession from a number of different avenues. There is no one way to into the profession. Some people plan to be on the HRD side and some don’t. Also, I think that you have to be a certain type of person to do certain types of jobs in the HRD profession. A person who is a good
- 3. Devan Carter October17, 2015 motivator and a good teacher has a chance to be a great HRD employee. While a person who is attentive to the smallest of details would probably make a great HR employee. I also think that interviewing someone on the HRD side and then reading about the HRD side is a very interesting thing too. A book can tell you one thing, but a person can describe it a totally different way. Looking back on the interview, I also realized that everyone can bring something to the profession. The person I interviewed was a former teacher and a former coach. Some professions can be great buffers or learning experiences for people entering the HRD profession. I also realized that some people have a HRD job and don’t even realize it. A person may be a skills trainers or (on the basketball side) a video operations coordinator. These are jobs that are HRD positions and I never would’ve thought so I believe that this degree in HRD will be very beneficial to me as I continue my quest to be a coach at the highest level. Working with others and developing others is such a critical piece to the coaching profession. Whether it is developing the skills of players or staff members, the development of those around you are essential if you want to have and maintain success. After this intro class, I’ve realized how broad the HRD field is, and I look forward to learning more and more about the professions.