Human resource professionals are often responsible for creating attractive benefits packages for workers, which requires that HR professionals know about general and industry-industry specific trends and occupational laws in allocating benefits, stock options, pensions, and personal amenities to workers, and also protecting for workers safety on the job. Finally, human resource workers are often assigned to the role of mediators between conflicting employees, which requires workers to remain abreast of laws regarding harassment and discrimination. In creating a diverse workforce, human resource professionals must finally be knowledgeable anti-discrimination legislation and allowable affirmative action practices. One increasingly yet often ignored component of HR knowledge is that of technical knowledge. More and more companies when reorganizing HR to meet the growing company's needs, use technology to deliver better information more quickly to a global workforce such as employee-accessible web pages for "benefits, staffing, vacation and other policies" (Roberts 2002:1-2).

What transferable skills do you have and how can these skills be leveraged if you decide to take a different career or life path? How can your professional experience help you plan for the next 5 years of your career?

Because HR professionals deal with individuals from almost every part of an organization, from finance to it to marketing, they gain a good sense of the occupational requirements and demands of a variety of different fields. "In today's environment, human resources professionals are expected to come to the table with highly developed strategic, financial, analytical, and technical skills. They must produce metrics demonstrating the bottom-line impact of human resources initiatives and, increasingly, differentiate themselves by acquiring advanced degrees and certification demonstrating functional competency. Human resources as a department encompasses a varied slate of disciplines" (Esdaille 2004:1)

This makes changing jobs easier for HR professionals than individuals from many other occupations. The skills of communication, mediation, psychological assessment, and conducting one's self in an effective interpersonal manner are transferable to a wide variety of occupations.

What career-related training, formal education, and/or certifications do you need to help meet your career goals? Would it be helpful to join...

As an undergraduate, as well as business courses I took classes in social sciences, business, and behavioral sciences is useful. Ideally, I would hope to find a mentor within an organization and I will stay abreast of industry trends by reading publications designed for the HR professional.
List job satisfaction attributes. What specific work environment attributes would provide satisfaction?

Helping others, feeling as if I am part of a quality, learning organization, and knowing that my input is valuable are all important to me as an employee. As an HR professional, I will likely be required to 'sell' the company I work for to qualified candidates, and I must have a deep and personal belief that the company I work for is ethical and makes a valuable contribution to society and to the life of its employees. I would be fulfilled in working in a variety of roles as an HR employee, including recruitment, anti-discrimination and EEOC compliance issues, and acting as a mediator in personal and labor disputes within the organization. Creating a more harmonious and effective organization is one of the goals of HR, and for me to feel accepted within a work environment I would require that the company be built upon a philosophy of trust, diversity, and the need to treat its human capital with as much care and respect as its financial capital.

Works Cited

Esdaille, Milca. (Jun 2004). "HR growth: what you need to know about the changes in HR?" Black Enterprise. Retrieved 16 Apr 2007. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1365/is_11_34/ai_n6152963/pg_1

Human Resources, Training, and Labor Relations Managers and Specialists." (2007).

Occupational Outlook Handbook. U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 16 Apr 2007. http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos021.htm#nature

Robinson, Karyn-Siobhan. (May 2004) "Job market to test employee loyalty." HR

Magazine. Retrieved 16 Apr 2007. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_5_49/ai_n6036861

Roberts, Bill. (Jul 2002). "Content to order: a knowledge base is one key to Seagate's HR systems strategy." HR Magazine. Retrieved 16 Apr 2007. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_7_47/ai_89025024/pg_2