ma'am,
how to answer a question like why did you choose H.R. for your job
Well, why did you choose HR for your job? I don't think there is a "right" answer to your question. I will say if you say, "I chose HR because I really like working with people," the person interviewing you might burst into paroxysms of laughter.
So, to answer your question, I will pretend someone has just asked me why I chose HR for my career.
I really like people. Ha! I do. More specifically, I like training people. I entered Human Resources with the goal to be a trainer. I had strong technical skills and strong experience teaching college level classes, so I jumped in. I landed in an HRIS department and I've been in HR ever since. I've never realized my original goal of being a full time trainer, but I do conduct regular training sessions and find that works out well.
So, now I throw out the question to all my HR readers. Why did you choose HR for your career?
Why am I evil? Well, I'm not, but that's the perception of all of us in HR. Need to fire someone? Come to HR. Need to explain to someone why, even after working their rear end off all year, that their annual increase is 2.7%? Come to HR. Need to come up with new mountains of paperwork? Come to HR. So, come join me on the Evil Side. Oh, and send me your HR questions.
Contributors
Followers
Featured Blogger at
Carnival of HR
The Carnival of HR moves around the web, but you'll always find the latest info here to see what is going on. Shauna Moerke (better known as HR Minion runs the Carnival. And she writes the best reminder notes ever. Remember to support your Carnival! Submit your best posts and read it regularly and you'll be a better HR professional. Really.
HR Links
- About Human Resources
- Ask a Manager
- Ask the Headhunter
- Compensation Force
- Cranky Middle Manager
- Execupundit
- Fortify Your Oasis
- Gautam Ghosh
- Great Leadership by Dan
- Gruntled Employees
- HR Capitalist
- HR Lawyer's Blog
- HR Minion
- HR People
- HR Thoughts
- HR.com
- Human Capitalist
- I/O at Work
- John Ingham's Stategic HCM
- Life at Work
- Management Issues
- Marcum Smith
- National Association of Manufacturers
- PA Employment Law Blog
- Relocation Next Practices
- Resource Economics
- Strategic HR Lawyer
- The Afternoon Debate
- The Benefits Guy
- The Engaging Brand
- The Industry Radar
- The Work Clinic
- The Workforce Blog
- Three Star Leadership
- TLNT
- Vendorprisey
- Workforce Online
- Workplace Horizons
- Workplace Prof Blog
Ask Me A Question
E-mail me!.
There is no way I can answer every question, but give me a try. I admit, I don't know the answer to everything, but I'm mostly willing to pretend I do.
Right now I have 472 questions in my queue, so it might be a little while. (I might be exaggerating, just a bit.)
To increase your chances of getting your question answered, please limit yourself to two-three reasonably sized paragraphs and try to figure out what your real problem is. Punctuation and capitalization are pluses.
Other Things I Read
Blog Archive
- November (3)
- October (15)
- September (15)
- August (11)
- July (16)
- June (14)
- May (16)
- April (15)
- March (17)
- February (17)
- January (16)
- December (15)
- November (18)
- October (14)
- September (15)
- August (22)
- July (10)
- June (16)
- May (18)
- April (12)
- March (16)
- February (12)
- January (9)
- December (7)
- November (6)
- October (10)
- September (12)
- August (15)
- July (9)
- June (6)
- May (7)
- April (12)
- March (4)
- February (7)
- January (10)
- December (9)
- November (4)
- October (9)
- September (11)
- August (12)
- July (15)
- June (17)
- May (15)
- April (16)
- March (15)
- February (24)
- January (29)
- December (28)
- November (29)
- October (26)
- September (24)
- August (36)
- July (28)
- June (34)
- May (28)
- April (28)
- March (28)
- February (26)
- January (25)
- December (18)
- November (11)
- October (23)
- September (23)
- August (15)
11 comments:
I like pointing out people's mistakes.
Oh wait, that's unfair, I'm not in HR, I'm an auditor. ;)
krupo--hah! Same difference.
HR was offered to me when I left the military. I interviewed for a logistic position and they felt I would be a good fit for HR. Try it out they said and if it is not for you, come on over to logistics. 12 years later, I am still here. I love the variety. The legal aspects challenge the junior lawyer want-to-be in me. I like this organizational perspective way more than that of financial or complaince. Most of all, I enjoy the types of interactions I am able to have with people, not necessarily the people themselves :), in this role - coaching, training, advising, listening.
I fell into it. I got hired as a graphics assistant and receptionist and the company grew. I did everything my boss didn't do. We needed to hire a second person and found someone who had dealt with accounting before who was a perfect fit, so I was left with HR and contracting. Never a dull moment!
I wonder just how many people fall into it, like me? (& drinkingtea above)
I posted my list of reasons why I'm in HR on my site.
My goal in HR is to become a recruiter -- I want to play matchmaker between jobs and job seekers. Over the last few years I've realized how important it is to work in a job that's the right fit for both you and the company you're in, and I want to help people figure that out. I'm starting my career path as an HR administrative assistant to gain an understanding of the challenges businesses face in the process of employing, training, compensating and retaining people.
Ultimately, I could see myself becoming a job coach, combining my interests in recruiting, resume writing, and helping people find the right jobs.
Hmmm. Good question and got me thinking. I guess I fell into it. It was the best job offered to after graduation.
It just stuck. My specialty is labor law - investigations and union contracts. I love the challenge.
I'm not a generalist manager, but it's a challenge running your own department and I love it.
Not much of an answer, huh?
I have typo issues today. Should be "offered TO me". And "I'm now a generalist manager."
Coffee here I come.
Naively (like most I think), I went into HR because I "liked working with people". It wasn't too long before I realized that I was going to have to find other things I enjoyed that kept me in the career, because you have to work really hard in HR to not start hating people in general. Unfortunately you get to see the worst in others on a daily basis, eh Evil?? LOL!! Being cynical is just fine though, that's what gets us through the day with a laugh.
Why do I stay? I'm a Type A and HR is a hectic, crazy, ever-changing, challenging, multi-tasking, multi-departmental, multi-industry, never-boring, personally satisfying career to me.
On the minus side, I think we've all probably had a few burnout periods in the career simply from overwork and periods where you just haven't been able to brush off the problems when you leave through the front door and go home, but you push through and find the fun in the challenge again eventually. If you don't like being busy for every single moment of your day (including getting calls in the bathroom!), HR is not for you.
Of course, this wouldn't be my interview answer, this is just my honest answer for you all!
I'm not in HR (probably obvious in some of my comments). I read your blog to better understand the beast and to learn how not to annoy it (i.e. be a lower maintenance manager). ;)
engineer--
And we love you for it!
Post a Comment