Abbreviated Transcript of Interview with Gail Peterson

Hannah: Can you tell me what your job is and what you do at your job?

Gail: I work at the Human Resources office, and I work with faculty transactions. The way we have the work divided up is that I work with faculty issues such as getting them set up on the payroll, processing different kinds of payments to them, not only for their teaching but sometimes they do other work that they get paid for, like special projects or curriculum development. In the case of Tesha Christensen, she gets paid some teaching credits but also she's involved with the student newspaper and stuff, things like that. I'm responsible for getting them set up in the personal payroll system and getting them paid, also determining their eligibility for insurance, insurance benefits and retirement benefits. Their workload determines their eligibility for insurance. I'm at the computer all day long, every day. I have deadlines every two weeks that I have to make, in terms of the processing transactions for the payroll. Then there are busier times of the year, like getting all the faculty ready and set up for fall semester. So right before fall, right before spring, right before summer.

Hannah: How many days a week do you work?

Gail: I work Monday through Friday.

Hannah: How long have you worked here?

Gail: I've been here about three and a half years.

Hannah: Do you have a favorite day of the week to work? If so, which day is that and why?

Gail: Probably Friday, because Friday is kind of like when I can put all my work to bed for the week. The deadlines have happened, I've got everything squared away. I know that things are done, things are taken care of, people are going to get paid. So I'd say Friday. I've accomplished something. Then I'll see what the Monday brings. Monday's a new day. So much of what I do is deadline driven.

Hannah: What interested you about this job?

Gail: A couple different things. I like working in a college because I think it's a good environment, because I think pretty much all the employees have a real commitment and a buy-in to the organization. They really care about their jobs, care about doing a good job for the students. With my particular job duties, I knew that I would be learning this particular database, the particular personal payroll database that's used here. I really wanted to learn it. So I knew that it would be really challenging and I really wanted to learn this system, just to have another skill.

Hannah: What do you like best about your job?

Gail: There's two things I really like. One I mentioned before, about having the feeling that I accomplished something. Also, I like working with the faculty. It's very interesting. I like interacting with the faculty and learning from them because they're so interesting. They all have their different areas that they know a lot about. The faculty don't have time to be worried about their pay and their insurance and retirement. If they're confused about something or concerned and they're worried, they talk to me. Then they don't have to think about it or worry about it any more and they can focus on the stuff that they have to focus on, which is the students and the grading of the papers, the teaching, all that kind of stuff.

Hannah: So what do you think is the hardest thing about your job?

Gail: It is difficult sometimes to have the really tight deadlines because they limit, for example, when you can take time off work. So I think, for example, somebody who maybe was married and had a family, I think it could kind of be tough for them. While for me, I'm single and I don't have any kids, so it isn't so bad for me. But that's kind of tough, and the varying workloads during the year is tough because sometimes when the workload is really the peak time, you get so tired out. So if a person was really a healthy person, it wouldn't be quite so bad, but I'm not in the greatest health, so it kind of takes its toll physically on me.

Hannah: How many co-workers do you have?

Gail: There's a total of five of us workers, one supervisor and one director. So there's a total of seven.

Hannah: What's unique about your job that other people may not know about?

Gail: I think that people, employees and students and stuff, and maybe even co-workers in the office, they don't know how much behind the scenes work there is so someone gets paid on time and paid correctly. Maybe if they took a look at my desk and saw what a rat's nest it was with all the papers piled everywhere, they'd see that there really is a lot of stuff to do to make it so somebody gets their pay for their class.

Hannah: What part of you job makes your time most meaningful?

Gail: I really like it when I can work uninterrupted and I can really, really concentrate on my data entry. I have to be fast, and I have to be really, really accurate. So I really like it when I can work uninterrupted and really, really concentrate and do my data entry, because then I know that all the data will be clean, no problems, no errors, no nothing.

Hannah: What's your favorite memory that you've had so far in your job?

Gail: I came in new and I had a lot to learn, there was a backlog of work, it was the busiest time of the year, and then to make it through that first year. I really truly remember when I took my first breath of like, "Oh! I made it! I made it! I made it!"

Hannah: So what was your first day like?

Gail: The first day was pretty frustrating because they weren't ready for me. They didn't have my computer access set up, or my phone. Nobody really had time to spend with me. So it was a little bit frustrating at first.

Hannah: So how long do you think you'd like to work here?

Gail: I only have about seven years to go until I'm eligible to have an early retirement with full retirement benefits. So I've been kind of thinking, "Well, I'll just work here for seven years until I'm retirement age." But then I think no. I'm kind of ready for a challenge because now after three and a half years I've pretty much learned all there is to learn about my job and this computer system. Maybe I won't work here much longer, or else I'll work here for seven more years. So I'm kind of at that point right now of evaluating myself.

Hannah: What is an average day at work like for you?

Gail: Right now when I come to work, I like to focus on my own work and be left alone for the first two and a half hours. So the first part of my day is really in the computer, doing my data entry into the computer, then the next part of my day is talking to faculty and deans, either them contacting me or me contacting them. And then in the afternoon, like right now when it's not the super busy time of the year, I'll work on my long-term projects, or back burner projects, like running reports on the computer, or finding problems with the coding that need to be fixed up, or getting my papers and all my information ready and organized for getting ready for the semester.

Hannah: If a student at ARCC wanted to get a job in Human Resources, what kind of education or classes would you suggest?

Gail: It kind of depends on what level of Human Resources they'd want to come in at. In terms of education and classes, definitely communications classes in terms of being able to write, because there's always so many memos and letters to communicate things to employees. Definitely math skills to be able to do a lot of calculations. In terms of the general business classes, take like management classes or management supervision classes so you can relate to the supervisor or the deans that you deal with as a customer group. I know a lot of the jobs in Human Resources these days, they either require or prefer a bachelor's degree, and I think they can do that these days because the economy's so bad and there's so many applicants that they can be picky and require or prefer a bachelor's degree.

Hannah: What kind of personality traits does a person in Human Resources need if they work there?

Gail: Patience. A lot of patience. Also being a type of person who doesn't take things personally. So when someone comes in or calls and they're very angry or frustrated you know to not take it personally or get defensive.

Hannah: Has your job changed any since you started?

Gail: It has changed because we've added more people in the office. When I first came, there were three of us, and the supervisor and the director. So now there is five of us, and the supervisor and the director. So we got two more staff people, which means that for me, my workload has gotten a little less, and my duties have gotten a little more specific, because certain things were taken off my plate and given to others. And I guess things have changed because once I made it through the steep learning curve, I'm more comfortable in my job and not as stressed out by the deadlines because I'm better able to judge the amount of work and how long it's really going to take to get it done.