No matter how happy you are in your current HR gig, you've seen or heard of a job that sounded good to you. Maybe you even made it part of your career plan (only Stalin had a five year plan, so I don't put timeframes on career maps)..
How did you mentally map out that career plan? Maybe you thought to yourself, "I need to work on area X,
Y and Z to prepare for that role." Or "I'll get some stretch exposure in succession planning to be ready the next time that Director of HR role comes open". That seems logical..
Or did you think "You know, I'm the number 2 here and I really don't feel like waiting. I'll just break Samantha's wrists so she can't type, and then I'll slide into the number 1 role".
You didn't? Good!!! But some people in society do... In a truth is stranger than fiction item, a former backup punter for the Northern Colorado football team was convicited of stabbing the #1 punter to win the starting role in 2006:
"Prosecutors said Mitch Cozad was so obsessed with becoming Northern Colorado's starting punter that he plunged a 5-inch-long knife into his rival's kicking leg.
A jury agreed, convicting Cozad of second-degree assault Thursday. But he was acquitted of the more serious charge of attempted first-degree murder.
The 22-year-old from Wheatland, Wyo., now faces up to 16 years in a Colorado prison for the attack on starting punter Rafael Mendoza.
Mendoza was ambushed outside his apartment on the night of Sept. 11. He couldn't say who attacked him in the dimly lighted parking lot. He testified the assailant was dressed in black from head to toe and had a hood cinched up so only the eyes were visible.
Cozad was a junior walk-on when he joined Northern Colorado's football team last season after transferring from the University of Wyoming. Over the six days of testimony and arguments, prosecutors portrayed him as an ambitious but frustrated athlete who stabbed Mendoza because he couldn't outplay him on the field.
The attempted murder charge could have meant a sentence of up to 48 years."
That's proactive career advice straight from the Tonya Harding academy. Watch your back!!
Your first three paragraphs brought up a very good point, and I'd like to expand upon your statements.
HR is a interesting profession to get into. Most people think that if you are a "people person" with business skills, then one of the areas you naturally gravitate towards is the HR area.
I started out as a Benefits Analyst 20 years ago and always had the choice of going down the path of pure HR (Policies, Employee Relations, Training & Development) or down the path of Benfits and Compensation (401(k), Health Benefit Plans, FSA's, Merit Budgeting, Merit Reviews, etc). Being an analytical, numbers and dollars kind of guy, I was led down the latter and am glad my career has taken that direction.
Believe it or not, you could spend an entire discussion asking HR professionals 1) which road they prefer and 2) which road they eventually took. Now there are those who do it all (mostly in smaller to mid-size companies), but when you get to the larger companies (larger than 1,000 employees) you start to see a separation of the pure HR and Benefits responsibilities.
My main point is that for a person who is very analytical, likes to interact with the human component of business, and wants to be in the forefront of where the action is headed (i.e., health care, 401(k), social security, etc), benefits and compensation is the place to be. You don't really plan for a career in this area (at least I initially didn't). It usually happens because of the needs of the company. The CEBS designation now allows for an individual to become certified in the area of benefits administration, and that is the favorable designation to pursue as a benefits professional. If you have the characteristics I mentioned above and think the HR area might be the place for you, you could find a very promising and satisfying career in the benefits and comp area.
Posted by: Alan | August 10, 2007 at 10:43 AM