I’m evaluating potential long-term career options, and I’d like to work in HR. Specifically, I’d like to work in benefits administration, or as a work comp or safety coordinator. I currently work with the insurance side of workers comp, but it’d be pretty cool (as far as business careers go, I mean) to administer it from the business side. Having worked in the field for almost 3 years now, I think I’d be coming at this sort of career with a tactical advantage over people who don’t have that experience.
So I’m curious, what was it like? Going to school, getting your first job? Is it pretty competitive? What kinds of classes do you take, were they boring or did you like them? What kind of degree do you have, and where did your career path start out? How did you get where you are now? As someone who’s never really looked into business school, I’m frankly mystified as to how it can take 4-6 years of education to learn how to do this kind of job. I’d like to know more about the process before deciding on this as a career path.
There’s a lot to learn about labor laws, regulation, policy, etc. It’s not just about “working with people”. I’m not sure where you’re getting 4 to 6 years, though. Are you looking at undergraduate and then graduate work? Because HR certification certainly doesn’t take 6 years.
I work in HR now but I didn’t major in it in either undergrad or grad school, so I can’t answer any questions about the coursework.
Do you have a BA? Honestly, I was unaware that one could major in Human Resources. My first job out of college was an entry level HR job, but my degree was in sociology. There wasn’t any specific training that would have been useful for that entry level job. Had I wanted to go further in that field, some professional certifications would have been nice. Anyway, if you have a college degree in whatever already, I’d say you should start looking now for an entry level job, then do whatever additional training your employer will pay for.
What was your career path like? And what did you major in? I know that it’s important to have a basic grounding in labor law, but don’t legal departments (or a consultation with an actual lawyer) serve that purpose better?
A lot of the reading I’m doing suggests that HR departments are currently only hiring people with a 4 year degree for entry-level work, and to progress in a more specialized area like I’d want to do, I’d need a Master’s (depending on company size of course).
