Post #5
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2018
Today was my second day going to the First Solar headquarters in Tempe, AZ. As with all my entries, I will change the names of First Solar employees to uphold confidentiality (aside from my sponsor, Sheila Gnanamani).
Today was a day filled with meetings. As one of the heads of human resources for a company of over 5000 people, Sheila's job is very hectic. Shadowing her involved bouncing between a lot of meetings today, but a lot of them turned out to be interesting. One of the meetings was about strengthening an internship program for college students at first solar. They were looking at surveys and statistics, and many of the internships didn't turn into jobs. Many of the kids who decided to intern eventually left the company and the meeting was called to try to resolve this and change the program so that we can get more young, creative workers. We're going to have more meetings on this topic, but the main thing we decided by the end was that we need to make sure that the interns get some kind of say in terms of what positioning they'd be interning for. With more choice on their part, they're more likely to find something they're interested in and end up working in that position. My favorite meeting I went to today was the one that involved the selection process for a new candidate in the HR department. There were 6 people in the meeting (two of which were on the phone), and all of them had individually talked to the candidate we were discussing. It shows you how focused and thorough the company is when there's a meeting on one candidate. When we select speakers and organizers for TEDxMaumeeValleyCountryDaySchool, we don't have a whole meeting for one person. But in a position of this importance, I totally understand and appreciate why they chose to do that. I got a good look at what the company wants in their employees through this meeting. The candidate that they were discussing struck a really nice balance between having technical skills with software and programs, but was also very personable. His social skills were very good, and that was very important to the department. They also paid attention to the way he gave his answers. He didn't sound rehearsed, or like he had planned what he was going to say, he sounded very genuine. Another thing that made him a good candidate was why he even wanted to take the job. His reasons for taking the job were very specific, but also very broad in the sense that they were about big scale change and making a difference. But he was specific in terms of he wanted to achieve these goals. Overall, first solar believes that they can get employees who are well-rounded people; they don't need to make compromises in the hiring process. The employee that they interviewed this round was positive, technically sound, personable, and had a good vision and values. I am very glad I got to sit in on these meetings, particularly the one for selecting a new HR worker.
Today was my second day going to the First Solar headquarters in Tempe, AZ. As with all my entries, I will change the names of First Solar employees to uphold confidentiality (aside from my sponsor, Sheila Gnanamani).
Today was a day filled with meetings. As one of the heads of human resources for a company of over 5000 people, Sheila's job is very hectic. Shadowing her involved bouncing between a lot of meetings today, but a lot of them turned out to be interesting. One of the meetings was about strengthening an internship program for college students at first solar. They were looking at surveys and statistics, and many of the internships didn't turn into jobs. Many of the kids who decided to intern eventually left the company and the meeting was called to try to resolve this and change the program so that we can get more young, creative workers. We're going to have more meetings on this topic, but the main thing we decided by the end was that we need to make sure that the interns get some kind of say in terms of what positioning they'd be interning for. With more choice on their part, they're more likely to find something they're interested in and end up working in that position. My favorite meeting I went to today was the one that involved the selection process for a new candidate in the HR department. There were 6 people in the meeting (two of which were on the phone), and all of them had individually talked to the candidate we were discussing. It shows you how focused and thorough the company is when there's a meeting on one candidate. When we select speakers and organizers for TEDxMaumeeValleyCountryDaySchool, we don't have a whole meeting for one person. But in a position of this importance, I totally understand and appreciate why they chose to do that. I got a good look at what the company wants in their employees through this meeting. The candidate that they were discussing struck a really nice balance between having technical skills with software and programs, but was also very personable. His social skills were very good, and that was very important to the department. They also paid attention to the way he gave his answers. He didn't sound rehearsed, or like he had planned what he was going to say, he sounded very genuine. Another thing that made him a good candidate was why he even wanted to take the job. His reasons for taking the job were very specific, but also very broad in the sense that they were about big scale change and making a difference. But he was specific in terms of he wanted to achieve these goals. Overall, first solar believes that they can get employees who are well-rounded people; they don't need to make compromises in the hiring process. The employee that they interviewed this round was positive, technically sound, personable, and had a good vision and values. I am very glad I got to sit in on these meetings, particularly the one for selecting a new HR worker.
Interesting take on hiring- you are fortunate to get to sit in on meetings like this- it will benefit you when you are searching/interviewing in the future!
ReplyDelete