New York, NY 10038
(111) 100-3838
Find-a-Job, LLC
John Green
111 Fulton Street
New York, NY 10038
Dear Mr. Green:
I am writing to you to represent the results of my research regarding the career outlook in the sphere of HR.
Today, prospects in HR remain uncertain since employers maintain a wait-and-see attitude about hiring and HR managers have to work under their pressure. Moreover, as the economy continues to recover, competition is becoming fiercer, and HR offices around the world are not an exception ("Prospects in Human Resources").
Human resources managers may wait for their job growth at nearly 9 percent through 2024 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). HR department usually has the same hiring trend as other spheres: when more of new employees are hired, a company usually increases the number of HR managers to serve them and control their salaries and so on ("Prospects in Human Resources").
The requirements for human resource specialists will have a tendency towards advanced master’s degrees. Since the competition on the labour market is strong, the majority of companies sets more strict experience and education requirements for their potential employees ("Prospects in Human Resources"). The popularity of outsourcing will not decrease in the near future and it will have a huge influence on the hiring HR staff because a lot of companies prefer HR specialists from outside, entailing the creation of additional jobs in HR companies.
There are a number of job types with their typical responsibilities. As for recruitment and selection, professionals’ primary task is to fill in open positions within a company or an organization. Their duties also include writing job adverts, checking CVs, interviewing candidates and recommending the candidates to managers. The jobs to be engaged in such a function may be recruiter, recruitment manager or staffing specialist ("Prospects in Human Resources").
Another sphere is the compensation and benefits, and such specialists have to make sure that employees receive their fair salaries. They also provide employees with health and life insurance, as well as different kinds of coverage (dental, vision coverage, short-term disability an so on). Some of the employees working in this function are benefits specialists, reward managers, payroll managers, and many others ("Prospects in Human Resources").
There are also people whose duties are connected with operations in health and safety spheres. They develop various safety programs, implement the respective policies and grant compliance with national regulations. These people are safety coordinators, safety managers, directors of employee wellness and so on ("Prospects in Human Resources").
It is also necessary to have someone who works in the field of labour relations and may conduct negotiations between management and workers ("Prospects in Human Resources"). These tasks may be performed by a labor relations director who can also handle labor complaints between employees and employers and coordinate grievance procedures. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Finally, all these functions are supervised by high-ranking managers and directors who oversee the work of the entire human resources team. Managers may connect employees and employers, take part in making up the company strategy and provide recommendations for new staffing policies ("Prospects in Human Resources"). An HR director is an expert in the field of human resource management; he sets the objectives for his staff and help them to achieve these objectives. Such kind of job requires perfect skills in conflict resolution and mediation, as an HR director often deals with controversial and sensitive cases.
HR is a sphere with the perfect advancement opportunities. According to the materials provided by the BLS, all the candidates wanting to get a position of a human resources specialist must have a combination of education and several years of related work experience. Recent graduates usually start their career working in a general HR role, having a chance to move into a more senior position with responsibility for a number of HR officers (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). A qualified HR specialist may be promoted to director or vice president of human resources department (About.com Careers).
As for money, HR managers’ annual wage ranged from the minimum of $60,440 to the maximum of $183,590, and the average wage in May 2014 constituted $102,780. Wages also varied in different industries: for example, an HR manager working in scientific services earned about $116,740 compared to the one in healthcare earning $87,610. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Besides high salaries and good prospects, HR specialists usually face some difficulties. The main disadvantages of their work are the strong dependence on the total amount of jobs proposed by a company and frequent cases of working overtime (since about 30 per cent of managers work more than 40 hours per week) (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Taking all the findings into account, my recommendations for the students and all the people who want to start their career are as follows. Firstly, students should be prepared for the situation when they will do all kinds of tasks from filling in documents to interviewing candidates. It does not mean that they will do it all the time, an employer just needs to see their skills first. Secondly, whatever their major may be (HR, Business, Finance etc.), the main qualities they are expected to have are communication and interaction skills to be able to solve arising problems. Furthermore, despite the fact that a bachelor’s degree is considered sufficient, candidates with master’s degrees are usually given preference, and I believe that those strongly wishing a career in the HR sphere should continue education to get a master’s diploma.
Sincerely yours,
Works Cited
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Web. 7 Jan. 2016.
"Prospects in Human Resources." Work. Web. 7 Jan. 2016.
"What Does a Human Resources Specialist Do?" About.com Careers. Web. 7 Jan. 2016.
