I’ve reached a point in my life where I’m sort of stumped. I don’t like the work I’ve been doing, but I don’t have experience doing anything else, so school seems to be my most promising option. My top pick for a new career path is Human Resources (with Library Science being runner up), and I’d really like to hear from people currently in the field.
What’s it been like for you? How does a typical day go, and what sort of work are you doing (benefits, payroll, etc)? Do you do a little of everything or are you able to sort of specialize? Are you all really soulless monsters like my boyfriend insists?
I do not work in HR, but I wouldn’t say they are soulless monsters. They do seem to love their coffee though…an HR rep is never actually around when you need them. If you go down this path, can you promise to answer your phone once in a while, please?
I’m in HR, I’m an analyst actually. Basically I use reports to comb through data to determine if there are any problems in our systems.
In addition to that I am one of a team of people who run our internal educational system. So I put out contests giving our employees a chance to win prizes (such as iPods and such).
I’ve also done some recruiting and benefits work. A lot of it is data entry type stuff. I think you are thinking of a generalist position, where employees go to complain about other employees.
I’d say we aren’t soulless though. We are generally a fun bunch. There is always tension though, since most people don’t know what we do - so when cuts come, our department is always on edge.
I second this - but I’m not sure if it’s because of HR, necessarily. I have an accounting background and I guzzled coffee when I was doing that as well…
A generalist is what my boyfriend is thinking of, I think. I’ve read up on it at least enough to know there are a lot of ways you can go with HR. I’ve known people in HR who were great (and so has he!) so I don’t know what his problem is. When I brought up the subject he tried to talk me out of it, saying I’m too nice and don’t have the right temperament. Silly.
If I do this, I promise to answer my phone
I think I’ve made up my mind, but I’m worried about spending all of that time and money just to get out in the world and find it’s absolutely not what I expected.
I came from accounting and HR is a better fit, for me. I’m doing stuff that impacts employees - instead of determining how much our production costs. It might not seem like a big deal, but it is to me.
As to temperament, in my experience, the people in HR are a lot less high strung and are more personable then those in other areas of work. Of course it could be my company, but YMMV.
My degree is Business with an HR Emphasis. I changed it from a science major because I hated chemistry, and science in general. I’m currently a physical science technician in a lab… I also do the daily roster, time sheets, leave slips, and all of that junk for my department, since I do have an HR degree. My internship is up in a few months though and I plan to highlight the more HR related stuff on my resume when I apply for other jobs. I also start my MBA program in the fall, so eventually I hope to be in HR and away from a lab.
I’ve been in HR for 12 years. It is a very rewarding career. Everyday I help people when they need it. However, you do need a thick skin because you eventually will be terminating people and doing other “unpleasent business”. Also, in HR you start at the bottom rungs and in my experience, once you get to the Generalist or Director level, you almost have to be personally recommeded to a job, because most companies aren’t going to trust all of the propietary and confidential information to someone they don’t know. HR is an uner-appreciated and misunderstood deprtment. In most companies, it will be diificult for you to have inter-office friendships due to you being HR. Also upper management typically only focuses on how much the HR departments costs, not what they save. So it can be a thankless job if you’re looking for external validation, but otherwise, it is a great career and I do love it. Please PM me if you have any specific questions.
In the recruiting side of HR and thankfully have very little involvement with benefits, reviews, counseling, disciplinary activities or terminations…If I had to deal with those issues day after day, I’d gouge my eyes out with the nearest sharp instrument (YMMV)
There are different aspects to H/R. Nothing is more rewarding than training and helping people with benefits. Nothing is worse than firing people and conducting interview after interview or doing drug tests for people that know good and well they’ll fail.
You can specialize in certain areas, like H/R training or benefits. Usually a benefits H/R person, will have to do many divisons of a company. For instance, Hilton Hotels instead of having an H/R benefits person at one hotel, will have one person do benefits for all their Chicago hotels.
So look into all aspects. Especially if you like travel, H/R and training is great. Most people would rather not travel a lot, so if you’re willing to do this, this can be very rewarding to do.
I’d rather not travel. My SO travels a lot for his job and with my luck, I’d be traveling when he’s home, so I guess I shouldn’t look at training. How likely is it that I’d be traveling for benefits work? In the companies I’ve worked for we could just call HR for any benefits issues, but I have no idea what else they do otherwise.
How important would it be to have on-campus classes? Are there any important elements I’d miss from doing everything online? Do you guys spend a lot of time on the phone?
Thank you all for your input. I know HR is never the most popular department, but I didn’t realize it’s frequently misunderstood by management, too.
