just curious....

Lola815

I was just wondering if you could go back in time, knowing what you know now, would you still go into human resources????

Hunter1

You bet! Of course, the other alternatives I either considered or tried were: electrical engineer, police officer, truck loader, butcher, factory worker, electronics technician, panel wireman, retail sales, print shop employee, and accountant. This job is much more interesting than those.

hrbanker

Absolutely! I taught high school, calibrated gages in a factory, worked retail sales and teller before being chosen for a job in HR. This is the ideal job for someone who likes people, wants to make a difference (even within the confines of the company), and gets satisfaction out of working through problems.

Betty I_O

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-24-03 AT 08:07AM (CST)[/font][p]I didn't intend to "go into" HR--I just sort of "landed" there umpteen years ago because I thought it would be a challenge. That was after a stint as a ladies' retail sportswear buyer and living and working in Italy as an English-speaking liaison. I couldn't have planned the successes and failures and joyful and tearful times and the many laughable moments that have encompassed my HR career. There have been bright days and sad days, losses, and LOTS of surprises, too. Would I do it all over again? You betcha(and I wouldn't change a thing)!!
)

bamahr

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-24-03 AT 07:47AM (CST)[/font][p][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-24-03 AT 07:46 AM (CST)[/font]

My degree is in Criminal Justice so my other option is police office, probabtion office, parole officer, or correction officer. Now that I think about it there are times I am all of the above. I love what I do - have those days, but the good out weighs the bad.

LeeR

My undergrad degree is in Justice so I worked as a Probation Officer in Alaska, Virginia and Kansas also as an insitutional counselor in Alaska and Mississippi. Sold bras door to door, worked in a steel mill, printed patterns for McCalls and newspapers all over. HR is not as fun as selling bras door to door but it pays better lol.

Crout

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-24-03 AT 08:42AM (CST)[/font][p]Besides using the time machine to meet Jesus, hunt with Daniel Boone, swap stories with Abraham Lincoln, buy Polaroid in 1941, Apple in '77, and Intel in '84, I would most definitely go into HR again, but I would do in the year 1960.

Oops! Forgot Babe Ruth.

TN HR

Without a doubt! I cannot imagine a more rewarding and fulfilling career! Oh, and I'd also do everything Crout wrote about and would add Microsoft in '75 and Dell in '84. But wait......I was only two years old in '75

HRgalME

I wouldn't have to go back too far, but yes, would still choose HR. But then again, haven't been in it long enough to become jaded.

cebudragonlady

Yes,definitely would had gone into HR way back when, would have finished my degree back home, instead of waiting so long to do it here in the States. So after graduating here, I got my first HR job in 1994.

Chari

blw

I'm not sure. Maybe a different side of it. If I could go back, I think I would go to college and become an employment attorney. I like the law and I love debate!

LFernandes

Most definately - I love my job. But I would have gotten my advanced degree first (I'm still working on it 20 years later) in employment law.

Whatever

Absolutely. I can't imagine doing anything else.

ray a

After 19 years on the dark side in manufacturing management, I love the HR world.

Leslie

Definitely. But like others, I wish I had gotten the employment law education first. My baptism was strictly line of fire.

Pork

AS A MYERS BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR OF AN IFTJ PERSON, THIS IS THE ONLY FIELD of vocation FOR ME! I was also successful as a military combat Leader/killer; however, it was only because of my leadership / temperment that I was also partly successful and left after 22.5 years. My last 10 years in the military was oriented toward and prepared me for the HR side of life. I believe I would choose to follow my same footsteps in the clouds.

PORK

Parabeagle

As did many people, I sort of "fell into" HR from general management. Looking back, I honestly can say I don't think I would do it again, if I had it to do over. I would have pursued my first love, radio.

Steve McElfresh

I would be tempted by a very few other options, particularly those allowing a different kind of travel (hello Jacques Cousteau!).

But, knowing what I know now, I would also be delighted to end up in HR, and do love the work, the challenges, and especially the people I get to work with.

By the by, for those who talked above about wishing they had gone to law school, it is not too late. I did it in a night school program, starting at age 35. Took 6 years, through two jobs and the birth of two kids, with consistent 60-hour work weeks in the mix. But it can be done IF you enjoy school and the law.

Well, it may also require that you be married to a saint.

Regards,

Steve Mac

Steve McElfresh, PhD
Principal & Founder
HR Futures
408.605.1870

HRQ

Like many of you, I "landed" in HR. If I weren't in HR, it would be in some similar type of role. I like the mix of human and analytical skills the job requires. I'd be unhappy in a job that is too analytical or too warm and fuzzy.

This thread has kind of evolved into a "how did I get here?" theme - like another thread from a while back. So - how did I get here?

- popcorn maker and butterer at a drive-in movie theater when I was 14
- dance teacher (jazz, tap, ballet)
- counter clerk at a pocorn store (kind of like Baskin Robbins)
- various telemarketing jobs. Hated it - didn't stick around long!
- Hotel airport driver, bartender, front desk clerk, reservations manager, accountant, controller, HR manager (not all at the same time. Well, on SOME days...!)
- HR Director for a small childcare company

What would I do differently? Get more training in the "why's" of HR. In my other HR job, I knew all the procedures and had tons of resources at the corporate office. Now I AM the resource at the corp office. I'm finding that I knew a lot more than I realized, and that I have a lot more to learn than I realized. Been an exciting ride so far!

Lola815

When I asked this question I was having an incredibly bad day and I was ready to quit, but things are better now. I really love HR and since I have to work, then this is something I am happy doing. Although, I think I'm in need of an assistant. Anyone need a job out there?? x;-)

HRQ

Do I get a helicopter as a transportation perk? Wait a minute - it snows in UT, doesn't it? Forget it, unless I can telecommute.

marc

I acquired my HR hat by volunteering to absorb the duties in addition to all the other things I do for the company. It is rewarding and challenging. The front line people issues take on an entirely different context. I would not change that part. Having a time machine tho - hmmmm, I would change a few things but that is a post for another day.

Mentel

I am with blw. I should have gone on to get a law degree. This was my intention when I graduated from high school but ended up with a BBA in Industrial Relations and wanted to make some money. While it may not be too late to go back, I don't know if I want to work a job and go to law school. Once my youngest graduated from high school in a couple of years, who knows. But I would definitely study employment law.

Don D

In this part of the country, the law firms are merging left and right and I see employment law attorneys moving from group to group just to try and keep billable hours up. Same with the quality paralegals with labor law expertise. I'm told by some of the lawyers that this type of work is diminishing and this is the state's capital. Maybe the Forum is making them less needed xclap. Sounds like an occupation I would not go into right at this moment. Quality HR people are in a seller's market right now, not lawyers. At least where I am. I feel as if I 'wasted' years in state government although it was HR work. It supported my family but everybody knows the money you make in government work. But I can say that I loved parts of it that involved me with industrial recruitment work, intimate involvement with the development and building of industrial training programs and career development vehicles, providing labor to industrial groups of every type, the human element of helping counselees and first time job entrants. The success enjoyed in watching people build careers knowing I played a role in it. Helping the government roll out programs like ADA, FMLA and I9. On and on. I have encouraged my son to go into this type of work. It's not only rewarding; it's also the only job I know that enjoys the flexibility and maneuverability that it does. No one is tied down in an HR job, really. In a way, I wish I had crossed the creek to private industry earlier, but then, who knows what I would have missed where I was.