IMSEP Summer Externship

Week 4

2010-07-16T05:41:00.000-07:00

I had a great conversation with my supervisor yesterday about the preparedness of employees. I have been working on a new project almost completely by myself for the last four weeks. We discussed some of the needs that a new employee would require coming into a company like this. The first is self-motivation. Many of us do not have someone standing over our shoulders all day long, and this company is no exception. Most days, I come in and I start working and am only questioned about what I am doing that day if I approach one of my supervisors. The two other teachers and I who work here said that it comes down to trust. The company trusts that the employees are doing what they are supposed to, and if they are not, they will not last long here because they will have nothing to show for their time spent. Satish (my supervisor) and I also discussed the basic comunication skills that are required of any job, but that some employees don't possess. He asked me to make a presentation to one of the Vice Presidents in the company in regards to the project that I have been working on. He said that one of the important things about research and development is to be able to explain to non-scientists what you are doing and what you have learned about a product, but also to be able to convince others that your project is worthy of being sent to the next phase. These are non-science specific skills that employers are saying are very important to having functional employees.

Extern Outing

2010-07-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

On June 23rd, all of the interns (and externs) working for Kemin this summer met for lunch and a tour of the State Capital Building. It was good to see that there were a lot of college students who apparently are prepared well for this workforce and are being very productive. As I've said earlier, there is a lot of maturing that occurs between 16 and 20, and hopefully we are laying the foundation for those students to be successful when they leave high school. That's part of why I'm doing this job, to find out wha tskills these students need to have before entering the workforce and to find out how we can help them obtain those skills before that point. David Larson, who works in Human Resources at Kemin, talked with the three teacher externs who went on this outing, and it was helpful to hear some of the insight that he sees as an interviewer and potential employer. Sometimes it feels like we focus so much on the "substance" of our teaching, that we tend to ignore some of the skills that we take for granted as just assuming they are present. David commented about some employees who enter the field and have little respect for timelines and due dates becasue the yalways felt that they could be extended and were more of a guideline than an actual deadline. I think that it would be beneficial for an entire school staff to hear directly from these employers in professional development s othat everyone on the staff realizes that this is a problem.

On my Own

2010-07-02T08:55:00.000-07:00

After only being here a few days, my supervisor has been wisked away to deal with a problem in China. I am definitely out of my comfort zone, but Satish gave me some direction and told me to do what I can. I know that there will be a lot of maturity growth over the next several years, but I think to myself, "What would happen if I told most of my students, "I will be gone, and here is the general direction I would like you to go.'? Many of them would struggle with not having that ugiding hand and others would feel that the time I was gone was time they could use to do whatever they like. This situation would be a rude awakening.

Starting Out

2010-07-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

My first day at Kemin was June 15th. John Upah (Valley Southwoods) and I went through the HR orientation together. They discussed a lot of the background and vision of the company. As soon as orientation was over, I went to meet with my supervisor, Satish Nayak, who gave me a tour of the biochemistry lab and then we sat down to talk about our goals while I am at Kemin. Right away there was a steep learning curve to catch up where we are on the project. There was a lot of background reading and then Satish had me begin research on some aspects of the project. Evan in the first few days of working at Kemin, Iam thankful that there are two other teachers in this hall with me, because it has given us an oportunity to collaborate and explore ideas that we may not have come up with on our own.