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Textbooks and lectures are one thing in the Human Resources field, but the reality of being a Human Resources Professional is something that is all together different. The textbooks and lectures are what all Human Resources Professionals dream of achieving, transforming an organization's human resources into a high performing team, recruiting only the most talented people, and rewarding those talented people in order to get the best out of them. However, before you enter into the Human Resources Professional you need to consider that it is not always possible to have a high performing team, or to recruit only the most talented people, and rewards, in these economic times, having a job alone is a reward!

Some things to think about before you consider a job in the Human Resources field are you need to understand that not all organizations are going to operate in what you think is the most effective way in order to maximize their Human Resources. In other words some organizations don't value people. So if you are going into the Human Resources field because you want to value people and you want to help them achieve their very best, understand that your goals may not align with their goals.

Most organizations are out to earn a profit, and the good ones see how maximizing their Human Resources can help them do this. For example, spending money to recruit the best employees often pays off in the end. But how do you show the return on investment for each new hire? It is easy to do if you are hiring a sales person, just look at their annual sales vs. what the annual sales of another sales person, or compare to last years sales. How do you do that with a clerical person, say a receptionist, a little harder to do.

I would say anyone considering going into the Human Resources field needs to understand how to show an organization what their return on investment will be for things such as recruiting practices, training courses etc. " Show them the money" in other words, that is what an organization strives to do is make money. Then you need to deliver on what you say you can do.

Another key item when considering a job in Human Resources is you need to be able to be disliked. HR professionals have to do the dirty work of firing, disciplining employees and they are not always the most popular folks in the orgnization. Get used to no one really being your friend, and don't have friends in the organization because one day you may just have to fire them.

Learn more about this author, Carrie Ricketts.
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