http://www.ubalt.edu/cas/graduate-programs-and-certificates/degree-programs/masters-applied-psychology/industrial-organi

University of Baltimore Industrial-Organizational Psychology, 1415 Maryland Avenue, Baltimore, MD (2026)

04/20/2020

In the 3rd workshop (4/20) of Dr. Eliott Lassen’s series to support the career development of prospect and recent IO Psychology graduates, the topic covered was “Professionalism in the Workplace”. Here are the highlights for the session:

• Professionalism is critical because you do not get a second chance to make a first impression

• Remember that employers do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. This is especially paramount in today’s job market, which places a high value on soft skills

• Also remember that your workplace reputation will stick with you. The world is a smaller and quicker place. People talk! (and post, text, and Tweet…)

• Professionalism attributes include: Gratitude, graciousness, respect, recognition of the existence of others, reciprocity, consistency, strive for excellence, team orientation, self-ownership, and job role awareness

• Professionalism behaviors pertain to one’s self-presentation, appearance, punctuality, communication, boundaries and distance, problem solving, and conflict resolution

• It is critical to engage in ongoing impression management in the workplace. Think about the following question: “What would your boss or co-worker see or hear when passing your cubicle?”

• Communication in the workplace should be cordial, and not over-the-top or aggressive. Furthermore, one should select the most appropriate modality for the situation (face-to-face, phone, email, text). In many instances, synchronous communication in real time provides needed context that gets lost in other forms of communication

• In your written work, it is essential to make sure it is checked for spelling, grammar, syntax, formatting, and appropriate to context (e.g., technical writing). It is always the best practice to air on the side of formal writing

• Some tips for email etiquette including using an appropriate email address, not recycling subject lines, make use of “To; cc; and Bcc: as appropriate, saying “Thank you” when even asking for something minimal

• If you provide your employer the window to text your personal cellphone, be aware of boundaries and work/life balance

• Be aware of your internet use during work. Your employers can (and will) track your usage on the clock

• Remember that social media does not forget what you post on it!

• Practice taking ownership in conflict management and resolution in the workplace. Think about the journey, rather than a “winning” a specific argument (even if you it was not a fault of yours)

Dr. Lassen’s final workshop of the series, titled “Resume Preparation and Cover Letter Writing”, will be hosted next Monday (4/27) at 1 PM session. Join Webex meeting: umbc.webex.com/umbc/j.php?MTID=m... (ID: 478496776, password: SaY7vZtc)
Join by phone: (US toll) +1 202-860-2110 (access code: 478496776)

04/18/2020

Dr. Lassen continued his workshop series to help IO jobs seekers with the topic: Preparing for Job Interviews (04/13). Here are the highlights from the workshop:

• There is usually an emphasis on the “during” portion of an employment interview, while forgetting that the “before” and “after” portions are just as critical to the success of the process

• As a professional in any field, you should engage in periodic career introspection and ask: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Think of the job title you want to hold, what type and size of organization would you want to work in, and what is your targeted income? Would this job be a stepping stone for where you’d like to be in 10 years?

• Dr. Lassen recommends for each professional to have a mentor that has “been there, done that”. This mentor can serve as your sounding board and a source of guidance

• Also, ask yourself: Do these goals above make sense based on where you are now? Would your mentor concur?

• Remember this adage: “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression”. How you come across through your:

o Written communication and work
o Electronic communication
o Phone communication
o A pearance and nonverbal communication
o Social media and other digital presence
It is important to have an updated and serious LinkedIn profile. Like it or not, that is public information that employers WILL be taking a look at

• Develop an elevator pitch (30-45 seconds) for yourself to create a positive professional first impression with whom you meet, and build your network. Balance confidence and a showcase of your quantitative accomplishments with humility (what you know and do not know). Use industry standard buzzwords to highlight 2-3 expertise of focus areas within I/O and/or HR. Avoid common cliches (subjective characterizations such as I am a multitasker, I have excellent communication skills, etc.). Be prepared to answer follow-up questions that might arise from your elevator pitch

• I/O Lingo buzz words/job titles: I/O Psychologist is a limited one. The more common ones include: Human Capital; Talent Management; Needs Analysis; Talent Acquisition; Data Science; Project Management; Analytic and Big Data (metrics); HRIS (Workday, Success Factors, etc.); Advisory; CHRO [Chief Human Resources Officer], CTO [Chief Talent Officer], CPO [Chief People Officer]; Agency, Contractor; SIOP, SHRM, PTC; RFP [Request for Proposal]

• Always maintain a current copy of your resume and cover letter template that are up-to-date and without errors. Customized for different jobs, as warranted

• As part of the legwork when applying to a job, you should review the organization’s website and other materials; talk to others in the company, if possible. Prepare 3-5 unique and job/organizationally relevant assets that you would like the employer to know about you. Develop prepared and relevant questions to ask the interviewer to convey interest in the organization

• Have a good night sleep the night before an interview, and plan to be at the interview site about 15 minutes before your scheduled interview time

• It is appropriate (and encouraged) for candidates to take notes during the interview

• You should have personal and professional references prepared prior to an interview

• Dr. Lassen provided the interview “Smart Sheet” to help you take notes during an interview, and impress your interviewer with your preparedness

• An effective response to behavioral interview questions provides rich context. A key strategy to provide excellent answers is to use a “before - during - after” format when providing an example

• Anticipate common interview questions types such as: Why are you interested in Job X with Company Y? Questions about past performance (answer with specific examples related to your job experience); Questions relating to hypothetical; work scenarios. Technical questions

• Do not rush in answering interview questions. Consider a thoughtful pause before responding. Jotting down notes for five seconds before answering a question shows you are engaged

• For panel interviews, make sure to take notes of names and job titles of panel members. Also, maintain eye contact with the entire panel with each answer

• It is advised that you send a cordial follow-up email to the person with whom you interviewed, within several hours of the interview. If you learned a few positive attributes about the organization during the interview, it is a good idea to point them out in the email.

oFor more information, read Dr. Lassen’s “After the Last Word” guide: https://elliotlasson.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/after-the-last-word/

• If you have not heard back from an employer within two weeks of your interview; it is reasonable to contact the organization

04/17/2020

In an effort to equip IO students and graduates with tools for navigating a job market in a VUC(C)A (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Chaotic, and Ambiguity) world, Dr. Elliot Lassen, UMBC’s IO director, is hosting four virtual and free workshops on the following topics:

1. Job Search, Job Offers, and Salary Negotiations
2. Preparing for Job Interviews
3. Professionalism in the Workplace
4. Resume Preparation and Cover Letter

In the first session held in April 6th, Dr. Lassen offered attendees valuable tips as they are initiating the process for job search. Here are the highlights:

• Employers are looking for candidates who show willingness to make personal, lifestyle, and schedule adjustments in transitioning to new employment situation

• When interviewing for a job, it is best practice to have a work sample on hand that showcases your skills, knowledge, and professionalism

• When searching for jobs, you should have a professional customized voicemail message (rather than an automated one) and be sure to regularly delete old voicemails to prevent your inbox from being full

• Where to look for jobs? Ideas include your leveraging your network, social media (especially LinkedIn), Websites (corporate sites or 3rd parties), and professional associations (such as SIOP) and alumni networks

• Dr. Lassen described the process of networking as a “series of communication events to increase the probability of being at the right place at the right time”

• When searching for jobs on 3rd party websites, be aware of “aggregators” such as Indeed. An aggregator has a way of picking up job postings from all over the web. However, when you find a job posting you are interested in through an aggregator, try to find the same specific job posting on the company’s website and apply there. This will help set you apart from job seekers that are not serious

If you would like to learn more about the session, here are the links for the full recording and the presentation Dr. Lassen used:
https://umbc.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/umbc/recording/playback/f6ed5aea4a17421bb1bcdbe32a511080
https://ubonline.ubalt.edu/access/content/attachment/1164IO-PSYCH/Announcements/4d138885-b6f2-4816-8c1e-9f1b9249074d/Workshop%201_Lasson_Job%20Search%20Job%20Offers%20and%20Salary%20Negotiations%20Workshop-2020.pdf

04/10/2020

Blacks in I/O took initiative to provide support for I/O Psychology students/professionals in a time when its needed the most, with their I/O Community Call Series. During the first event of the series (Entering the I/O field during COVID-19), a panel of IO professionals from various disciplines and backgrounds answered questions related to resume tips and virtual interviews preparation. Below are highlights from the call:

• Advanced statistical skills are often critical for a candidate for standout. This is especially true for softwares that are not costly for organizations to use, such as R. The panel shared this series of free R courses from DataCamp: http://datascience.tntlab.org/schedule-materials/

• You should tailor your resume per the job description of the position your applying for, to highlights your knowledge, skills, and abilities in relation to the job expectations

• An idea to keep your resume up to date during the COVID-19 period is to offer pro-bono work for smaller organizations that might benefit from it

•“Your Career in Psychology: Industrial/Organizational Psychology” is a book recommended by panelist and UB IO alum Dayln Allen to explore different career options

•Here are some key terms to find IO jobs: Data analytics; talent analytics; people analytics; human capital consultant; talent acquisition specialist; assessment consultant; leadership development consultant; organizational research and analytics specialist

•Search for common interview questions, and prepare and practice answers in advance

•Glassdoor could be a valuable resource to find interview questions for a specific position/company you are applying to

•Make sure to not read your answers from notes when you are being virtually interviewed. The interviewer can recognize the tone. Instead, practice ahead of time

•Unless the job application clearly specifies a 1-page limit on a resume, it is okay to make it 2-pages

The next call in the series, Finding a Path Forward - Navigating Your Career During COVID-19, is occurring this upcoming Saturday (April 11th) at 2 PM ET. Here is a link to RSVP (for free): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/io-community-call-navigating-your-career-during-during-covid-19-tickets-102216987762

04/06/2020

“For anyone planning to be a part of the broad thing called HR (or has HR-related competencies), this brief piece in The Economist offers some reason for optimism.” Dr. Sharon Glazer.

Indeed. In fact, The Economist goes so far as saying that “in a pandemic, a chief people officer can make or break a company” in their cleverly titled piece: The Importance of people people.

The article takes us back to the acute effects of the economic crisis sensed by organizations between 2007-2009, and contends that a good Chief Financial Officer is what a company’s survival was contingent upon at the time. Unfortunately, human resources managers (HRMs) were not seen from the same lens and their work was often disregarded as “soft”, and limited to “pay and parties”.

However, with a rising number of Chief Executive Officers preoccupation with their workforce’s skill shortage, HR heads desks were moving closer to the corner office. Additionally, social events such as the “Me Too” movement thrusted the role of HRMs to shielding organizations from legal litigation.

The article dives deeper into the salience of HR and HRM in the light of a pandemic, such as COVID-19, and highlights a vision that is shared in the field of IO Psychology: Balancing the organization’s bottomline and employee well-being. Companies will now need efficient HRMs more than ever to monitor the various circumstantial moving pieces in their employees’ contexts and strive to eliminate and/or reduce creeping stressors that negatively impacts their well-being (and productivity).

But most importantly, the article highlights the pivotal role HRMs are playing in capitalizing on “the perfect opportunity” to use the crisis to reconfigure companies’ workflow, rather than slash payroll indiscriminately. “Good HR heads can use the crisis to reconfigure company workflow: what needs to be done by whom, what can be automated and what requires people to share the same space. Some workers who at first appear redundant may be redeployed or reskilled.”, says Bill Schaninger of McKinsey, a management consulting company.

For further reading, here is a link to the article by The Economist: https://www.economist.com/business/2020/03/24/the-coronavirus-crisis-thrusts-corporate-hr-chiefs-into-the-spotlight?fsrc=newsletter&utm_campaign=the-economist-today&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud&utm_term=2020-03-24&utm_content=article-link-1

04/02/2020

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, “social distancing” is a term that we are now hearing almost everyday from employers, the media, government, and everyday people. However, it seems easy to confuse “social distancing” with “social isolation”.

In a very recent collaboration of over 35 authors from various disciplines, Van Bavel et al. (2020, p. 16) highlight the innate human need for social connection in regulating affect, coping with stress, and remaining resilient during difficult times, such as a global pandemic. In fact, social loneliness is highly associated with deleterious effects on mental, cardiovascular, and immune health. Furthermore, older adults, who are at the greatest risk of severe symptoms from COVID-19, are also highly susceptible to isolation.

To mitigate such outcomes, Van Bavel et al. (2020) recommend a linguistic strategy: Replacing the term “social distancing”, when possible, with “physical distancing”. This is to help highlight that deep social connections across communities can be (and if we may argue, should be more) realized while we are physically distant through means of technology. Furthermore, they recommend the usage of technology to generate empathy and connection such as FaceTime and Zoom as they are (i) informationally rich, (ii) dyadic, and (iii) temporarily synchronous. Van Bavel et al. (2020) suggest caution in using other forms of technology that might lack some or all of these characteristics, like Facebook, as they can decrease one’s sense of social connection.

For further reading, here is a link to the full article titled: “Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response” : https://psyarxiv.com/y38m9/download

03/30/2020

The World Health Organization (WHO) has deemed stress as the “health epidemic of the 21st century”. In their February 2020 article titled “Stress, Its Consequences and Ways to Combat It in Modern Era”, Kulkarni, Vaidya, and Jadhav (2020) define stress as: “a response that our body creates in any painful situation. It causes distress and discomfort for a person, which can lead to depression and any related health problems.” (p. 185.) It is worthy to note that Kulkarni et al. (2020) are focusing in their definition on the strain component of stress. The authors cite the 13 major causes of stress as the following:
• Career Concerns
• Role Ambiguity
• Rotating Work Shifts
• Role Conflict
• Occupational Demands
• Lack of Participation in Decision-Making
• Work Overload
• Work Underload
• Poor Working Conditions
• Lack of Group Cohesiveness
• Interpersonal and Intergroup Conflict
• Organizational Changes
• Lack of Social Support

Here are the author’s tips on how to manage stress:
• Avoid caffeine
• Regular physical activity
• Get more sleep
• Try relaxation techniques
• Take control
• Sing a song and listen to music
• Learn to say “no”.

Check out the full article here: https://archives.tpnsindia.org/index.php/sipn/article/download/2253/2177

03/27/2020

As the world is fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are relying on virtual teams more than ever. In a piece published by SIOP on March 25th titled “Teaming in the Age of COVID-19”, the authors (Diane Nilsen and Gordon Murphy; founders of Curphy Leadership Solutions) highlight that “virtual teams struggle with teamwork in even the best of times, and we are not in the best of times!” Luckily, they provide team leaders four recommendations to facilitate smoother working dynamics among their virtual team members:

1. Pay attention to the context:

a. Talk about the big picture
b. Ensure the team has regular communication about key stakeholders
c. Communicate the latest information about the situation and how it may impact individual and team goals

2. Revisit what success means:

a. Proactively consider whether the team’s goals and priorities should change
b. Identify and plan around new emerged obstacles (such as resource constraints)
c. Help the team members focus on what they can accomplish

3. Review team norms:

a. Business hours: Teams should explicitly review expectations about what constitutes business hours
b. Meetings: Review norms about team meetings and whether more meetings should be scheduled during this time of crisis and isolation
c. Communication: Revisit norms about communication norms and modes and response time expectations.

4. Review roles and responsibilities: In concordance with the fact that productivity might be affected by unprecedented challenges

Finally, Nilsen and Murphy highlight the importance of reminding us that virtual teams are: (a) nothing new; and (b) capable of high performance.

Check out the full piece here: https://www.siop.org/Research-Publications/Items-of-Interest/ArtMID/19366/ArticleID/3418/Teaming-in-the-Age-of-COVID-19

03/23/2020

As global businesses are navigating their way through the challenges created by COVID-19, talent innovation and creativity are at their highest. During Spring Break, representatives from 10 impactful global organizations in Silicon Valley volunteered their time to discuss organizational culture, ethics, and HR management practices with students from the "Practical Applications in I/O Psychology" (APPL 655) via Zoom.

Students were introduced to Culture Amp, an organization that aims to provide companies with data insights based on principles of people science and IO Psychology. Culture Amp shared their systematic recommendations on how HR can keep people safe during the coronavirus pandemic, including survey templates for organizations to measure employee feedback of their organization's response to COVID-19. This feedback includes factors such as confidence in one’s company, leadership, communication, awareness, business continuity, and role enablement. Check out Culture Amp’s free emergency response survey templates here:https://www.cultureamp.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/03/Culture-Amp-Emergency-Response-Survey-Templates-03-20-20.pdf

05/30/2017

Winterim 2017 Throwback: Bees in Barcelona

05/30/2017

Fall 2016 Throwbacks: Masters of Science in Applied Psychology

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