I love my job. It’s diverse, eclectic, challenging, and difficult. But I love it and wouldn’t dream of doing anything else right now. HR gets a bad rap in many organizations (probably for legitimate reasons), but I still think its an essential part of any organizational design.
The worst part of my job is that it’s tough to keep my mouth shut about the best parts. I can’t share most of what I do. It would be inappropriate and unprofessional to talk about the details (especially on social networking sites). Writing something like “I conducted a dang good investigation today, did a stellar job of researching the labour law and fired that person for _______” isn’t exactly appropriate. But on the other hand, stuff like that is part of my job. That’s the challenging and difficult part. It’s much more than just shuffling papers around.
I’m starting to follow a great blogger at Cynical Girl. She has the luxury of being a few steps removed from her career, and can talk about her HR experience a bit more openly. But it’s refreshing to see someone chat about the ‘ugly’ side of HR; the part that few people understand except HR Professionals. It can be emotionally draining to provide discuss layoffs, to tell a desperate person they aren’t getting the job they really need, to go head-to-head with a union, and to determine the fate of a low performing employee. Even if I become good at those things, it’s not something that can be shared with others very easily. The joys of HR work I guess…I’m not complaining, just thinking out loud.
Dr. Tim Vanderpyl 
Hi Tim, great post have to say…well i have been writing career related blogs and was just searching for some ideas related to HR as a career option. Please do visit my blog. You being a HR professional, comments coming from your side will surely be appreciated and would help me in improving it. Thanks.
Loved reading your post and also thanks for the lead on Cynicalgirl’s blog as well. Looking into an HR career 🙂
Hi Jessica, it’s a great field to work in and I continue to be challenged by the crazy stuff that comes across my desk. If only I could include it all in a book one day…:-)
Good luck on your HR job search!
I have a few questions about getting into HR. I’m currently going to school for my associates in business management with a concentration in Human Resources. Is it mandatory to obtain a bachelors to really break into the field?
Thanks,
Jessica
Hi Jessica, great question and it’s actually a controversial one in HR. So there is no “correct” answer. Technically you don’t have to have a degree to get into HR. But many organizations are starting to require one. For more senior HR positions it is usually mandatory. In Canada, if you want the CHRP designation (which I hold), you now have to have a degree. You might get lucky and find a company willing to hire you without a degree, but if your situation allows you to, I would recommend finishing one. It will give you many more options in the future.
If you have other questions, feel free to email me at vanderpyl@gmail.com and we can chat more