Hello and welcome back. For those of you who are new to the Indium Corporation blogs, I’m Maria Vacca, the Human Resources Intern.

Now that our brief introduction is done, let’s jump into why I’m a part of the Anti-Toby HR Club.

Four years ago, when I was applying to colleges, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Like most, I was applying to a major that may (and I mean this very loosely) be in the career field I was looking towards. Business Management is where I ended up. Four years later, I am sitting here as a Human Resources Intern at Indium Corporation.

You may be wondering, Maria, how did you get to HR then? Great question! It fell into my lap.

I ran so far away from the idea of being in Human Resources because of this stigma of being a Toby. Anyone familiar with the TV show “The Office” knows, and most often hates, the character Toby. *Fun fact: the actor who played Toby went to college at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, where Indium Corporation’s headquarters is located.

Toby was an introverted character that was constantly telling people what NOT to do. He was always the “fun police” that people wanted to avoid. Never finding a solution to problems, but always telling people there was a problem.

Who would ever want to be a Toby? Not me. He embodied a career that in my mind was boring and constantly negative.

Oh how wrong was I…

Then, in October of 2019, I began an internship in HR while studying abroad. This is where I saw, truly, what it meant to be in Human Resources.

Employees show up at the Human Resources office every day. Whether it is to say hello, ask a question, vent, or to update the staff on life. Human Resources officers, from my experience, love to engage with other employees, make them feel welcomed, and to brighten someone’s day when it just isn’t going right.

Truthfully, it is not always a glamorous job. You deal with paperwork, questions upon questions, and everything in-between. But the people in Human Resources are what make coming to work fun.

Something that always amazes me in every HR position I’ve held is the ability of an HR employee to remember the names of all other employees. It is truly amazing!

When I’m asked “why HR” I give the same response (and this response I believe to my core):

Human resources employees do not work directly with the product or service that the organization provides to its customers. However, the employees that do interact directly with customers need the best support available, to give the customer the best possible product or service. The Human Resources department is that support system for employees when they need it. Human Resources is meant to be the place you can turn to when you don’t know who to turn to.

I want to be that support system and backbone for employees to fall back on when they need an extra amount of support. When I watch Toby’s character, he portrays a stereotypical type of person that is debunked at Indium Corporation. The HR team is fun and always willing to talk!

Talk soon, Maria :)