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Last Updated on October 9, 2024
Whether you’re fresh out of school or
To decide, research the career options that seem best to you right now and find out as much as you can about what’s truly involved in working in these kinds of roles. If a job in human resources is one of your shortlisted ideas, read on for some ways to tell if it might suit you.
You Like to Understand People
You might already realize that working in HR requires a decent level of ability to interact with people and work with those from different backgrounds, ages, and industries. However, if you want a role in human resources, it also pays to be someone who has a keen interest in understanding people on more than a surface level. It helps if you’re fascinated by what makes people tick and why they do what they do.
There are so many career paths to go down that it can be overwhelming. If a job in human resources is one of your shortlisted ideas, read on for some ways to tell if it might suit you.Click To TweetAre you someone who has always loved taking quizzes in magazines, reading personality profiling books, or watching TV shows and discussing why characters did or didn’t do certain things? Perhaps you took numerous psychology classes at
Those who handle human resources functions in their roles often have to do tasks that involve understanding organizational psychology,
You’re Excellent at Strategy
Some people might think of HR workers as those who focus on lots of little details all day. While this can be true, human resources staff must be excellent at strategy, too. If you have a habit of being the one to plan a trip for your family or friends or were always happy to come up with a plan of action to get things done for charities or events you’ve been involved with, HR could be for you.
Having a strategic mind and seeing the big picture and the various parts of a puzzle are necessary for this type of career. If you work in HR, you’ll regularly have to weigh up competing interests and priorities and determine possible solutions to problems and the short-term and long-term effects of decisions you make or suggest.
You need to wrap your head around the various factors that go into making business decisions and create plans that take many people and components into consideration.
You Have Wonderful Communication Skills
As you might imagine, being in HR requires being a formidable communicator. You need to get along with people from all walks of life and make people feel at ease in numerous situations, as well as handle tough conversations in person or over the phone or online conference calls. You must also be able to write effectively, whether emailing people, coming up with clear job descriptions, detailing reports of incidents, or compiling other texts. Knowing how to clearly communicate tasks and positively influence people is essential, too.
If you’re someone with the gift of the gab, who always excelled in English classes at school, made friends wherever they went or loved participating in debate or speech activities, you might be well primed for an HR career. Similarly, you may find that human resources takes advantage of your strengths if you have a background in writing fan fiction, novels, articles, or other content.
Also, if you notice that family members and friends often come to you to share their burdens, offer advice, and help them solve interpersonal issues, communication is likely one of your top skills.
You Can Be Creative and Flexible and Like Variety and Growth
Those who work in human resources positions typically have to handle a wide variety of tasks in their day-to-day, even if they specialize in one area such as recruiting or labor relations. They also often have to work with people both in-person and remotely and deal with those inside and outside organizations.
You might work for an HR outsourcing firm such as Workhuman, handling tasks that other businesses can’t handle in-house, for example, or you might work as the HR leader in a small, medium, or even a large corporation. These roles all require different skill sets and knowledge. As such, being creative and flexible is essential to success in this career path.
Similarly, it would help if you were someone who enjoys variety in their work and is interested in continually learning and growing. Management styles, HR rules and regulations, societal expectations, and many other things change from year to year, meaning you need to be able to keep up with change. You must keep developing as an HR executive if you want to climb the career ladder and excel at and enjoy your work.
As you can see, there’s much involved in being an effective human resources worker, so don’t jump into this area lightly. Consider your interests and strengths and determine the right path for you from there.
