A professional is well advised to look into the career possibilities present in a human resource agency. The trick is in knowing how to do so especially with the intense competition across all industries, said competitiveness further reinforced by the recession with its layoffs.
Anticipate the Job Prospects
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in the human resources sector are expected to grow faster than average (20 percent or more) in the next few years until 2012. Said jobs include areas related to wages and benefits, retirement and pension, equal employment opportunity, occupational safety and health as well as training and labor relations, to name a few specializations. And because of the increasingly international nature of business, information technology systems and international aspects of human resources management are also factors in the growth of the sector.
For the specialists, demand for their service is higher than ever for many reasons. For one thing, emerging technologies affecting the practice of human resource management often cannot be mastered by one individual. Thus, it is often necessary to hire many specialists to work on one project. For another thing, specialists often keep themselves updated on the latest in their area. With the rapid changes in the industry, said updated expertise is very valuable indeed.
The human resource agencies are often the best sources of job prospects for the professional. You just need to present the right qualifications in order to gain the positive attention of these HR agencies and, hence, make an advantage over other applicants.
Acquire the Qualifications
The best thing about a career in human resources is that your 4-year college degree need not bear the human resource management stamp. There are other degrees that will get a professional hired in a human resource management capacity, said related degrees including industrial and labor relations, personnel administration, industrial psychology and business management, to name a few possibilities. Indeed, an HR holder may not necessarily have an edge over another applicant since training and experience also affect hiring decisions.
When it comes to advanced education, a match will be made between the advanced degree and the demands of the job. For example, a master's degree in labor relations and law is a prerequisite for jobs as contract mediators, negotiators and arbitrators.
Often, the more important considerations are training and experience. Although work experience in a related field is not required for entry-level positions, it is an asset. As for senior positions, it is expected that the professional has racked up sufficient number of years experience and training hours. Usually, the HR agencies will provide comprehensive information on the qualifications necessary to be qualified for a particular job, thus, doing away with the need to directly contact the company offering the position.
But of course, it is not just education, training and experience that play significant roles in attracting the positive attention of human resource agencies. You must also possess the personal traits and skills mainly involving dealing with various types of people - reasonable, honest, and credible, with good judgment of people and situations, and the ability to work under pressure with many other professionals.
Know the Responsibilities
It is also very important to know the responsibilities that come with the jobs before submitting your resume. Keep in mind that with each failed attempt at a job that you were ill-suited to in the first place, your resume can get buried with all the other junk applications. Again, ask the human resource agency for the specifics of similar jobs and then tweak your resume to reflect said qualifications and responsibilities.
Ultimately, with the help of the HR agencies, starting annual salaries of $35,000 for entry-level HR professionals can be yours, with opportunities to advance to senior level positions paying as much as $115,000 per year.
