Careers in Human Resources
Human resource management (HRM) is one of the professions that exist in all organizations. Every organization is made up of people bound by a shared goal or objective. For the achievement of the goal or objective, the people have to be properly trained, supervised, motivated, and rewarded. This is the core of HRM -- managing people with the aim of achieving a defined purpose. Therefore, the importance of the HRM profession cannot be overemphasized. Indeed, HRM is crucial for organizational success. Without the right people for the job, as well as equipping them with the necessary resources, support, skills, and capabilities, an organization may not successfully achieve its mission and vision. Managing people involves a wide array of processes, ranging from recruitment and selection to training and development as well as payroll management, performance management, and employee relations. This means that HRM is a broad field with several areas of specialization. The field entails positions such as recruitment specialists, payroll managers, talent managers, and employee relations managers. In this paper, I describe the responsibilities, tasks, salaries, and lifelong learning opportunities associated with three careers in the field of HRM. I also describe why HRM interests me as well as the content knowledge expertise required for success in this field.
The three careers in my field of interest that are the most appealing include a payroll manager, an employee relations manager, and...
The responsibilities and tasks of these positions differ accordingly. Payroll managers are tasked with supervising all things related to the timely payment of
employees and contractors. Recruitment specialists are tasked with finding and placing the proper candidates for the proper job positions that are available (Martinez, 2001, p. 48). An employee relations manager, also referred to as a director of
labor relations, supervises general policies for employment. In fact, they oversee virtually all aspects of
employment from benefits and
compensation to complaints, while contending with global change in labor practice (Townsend and Wilkinson, 2014, p. 203). Depending on what specific industry payroll managers and employee relations managers specialize in, they can make upwards of $100,000 a year. Headhunters tend to make about half of that annually. The lifelong learning opportunities for these positions are all relatively similar. It is advisable for serious candidates to earn post-baccalaureate degrees in fields related to human resources. Additional opportunities include professional
certification from various certifying agencies in this field. The vast majority of them include continuing education in the form of attendance of seminars, online seminars, and continuing education units at formal educational institutions.
There are several areas from the field of human resources -- particularly as it relates to the aforementioned three career possibilities -- which…
