Choose your career path in human resources

From analytics to academics, there are various avenues if you know how to manage people, writes Vijay Prakash Srivastava

Organisations are made of people who work together to achieve organisational goals. Organisations have many resources, of which human resources (HR) are the most important. Like other resources, HR also has to be managed and utilised efficiently. At least in large and medium-sized organisations, there is a functional department in which HR professionals are engaged.

As long as organisations exist, there will be continuous demand for people qualified in HR. We’ll see a jump in this demand as industries and businesses expand. In this age when jobs are scarce, HR stands out with potential.

Entry requirements to studying HR are liberal. We are familiar with the popularity of management as a subject of study these days. For a career in HR, one must have a postgraduate degree (MBA/MMS) or diploma in management and choose a specialisation in HR. Many universities and institutes offer dedicated courses like Masters/Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management/ Development.

A career in HR is also possible with a Master in Social Work (MSW) or a Master in Industrial Psychology. IIMs are a preferred destination for aspirants of a management qualification, but not everyone can get into these. Admission to IIMs is made through the Common Admission Test (CAT). Many other institutes, including universities offering management courses, also accept the CAT score. Getting into government universities is easier, and their fee is also less. In any case, your degree should be recognised by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). 

With your HR qualification, you may look forward to working in public, private, and non-government organisations. There are regular advertisements for HR specialists by PSUs, consisting of Navratnas, Miniratnas and others. Most of these recruitments are made at entry level as executive trainees (HR). On-the-job training is given, and candidates are put into regular roles after completing probation.

Emerging fields

Recently, a new trend has emerged. A few public service undertakings (PSUs) select these executive trainees based on their scores in UGC-NET. So even for those aspirants who don’t want to pursue a career in teaching, clearing UGC-NET with HR subject is advised. In public sector banks, vacancies of specialist officers are announced every year. Here, vacancies also exist for HR/IR officers. The recruitment test is conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection. You may work in HR firms and consultancies in all shapes and sizes.

Giants in the private sector and big IT companies have the practice of recruiting fresh management professionals through campus selection, but not necessarily all vacancies are filled via this mode. If you’re targeting this set of employers, create a strong profile on LinkedIn and other well-known job portals. It helps to keep visiting the career pages on these companies’ websites.

HR encompasses recruitment, industrial relations, compensation & benefits, learning and development, performance appraisal, employer branding, diversity and inclusion. This list isn’t exhaustive. HR is a specialisation, and within this, there are many sub-specialisations. During the initial years of your career in HR, you may be put in any of these or maybe rotated across the above sub-specializations.

Your career progression in HR may happen through lateral entry. As you add years of experience, you may explore higher roles available in HR.

In the corporate sector, growth opportunities may take you to the top roles, such as General Manager (HR). There are instances of HR professionals occupying the position of CEO. You should be exposed to all significant HR domains for higher corporate HR roles. If one or more of these domains interest you, you may build your skills to specialise.

The idea that HR needs to be segmented into transactional and developmental has gained strength in the past few years. We already see this happening in some cases. Developmental HR is focused on building people’s capabilities and skill development. It also covers management and leadership development through training. All that is not developmental comes under transactional.

You can take a call if these two are more appealing to you. Those willing to work in training may join the Diploma in Training and Development offered by ISTD, New Delhi.

HR analytics is another emerging area which is a form of Big Data Analytics. HR comprises enormous amounts of data, which, through analytics, may lead to insights to spot future trends, make decisions, build leadership pipelines, and plan for succession.

With a qualification in HR, you may also enter academics. Wherever management is taught, there is a requirement for HR teachers. A doctoral degree will improve your chances to teach at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. You may pursue your PhD at any university or join the Fellow Programme in Management at IIMs and other institutes, including IITs. A teaching career in HR is also possible once you’ve spent a few years in the corporate world or a consulting role in this area.