Does anyone work in HR?

[Greenandmighty]

Thinking of seeking work in HR and just want to hear from anyone with experience in this field. What are positives and negatives about this area of employment? Am considering taking a level 3 course in CIPD human resource practice. Currently working in pastoral care sector of education (but redundancies are likely next year) have a degree, counselling qual and experience in international organisation. Thanks for any advice or information.

[Queazy]

I have worked in HR for about 15yrs. I specialise in a particular area, though I've done generalist HR in the past. The pluses are you work with people and can make a difference to their careers, the downside is that in this economy you might be working on projects that end rather than support someone's employment. The admin can be heavy. It's often possible to be part time in an HR role though, and you often have access to senior management and some interesting projects etc xx

[maggiethemagpie]

I work in HR, I love it. I specialised in employee relations/advice/guidance so I support a team of managers to deal with people issues, there is a fair bit of dismissing which some may not like, but it's never dull!

A big part of the job is not just your technical competence but being able to build effective professional relationships with senior people. There's a fair bit of office politics which I am not keen on. Some roles are quite admin heavy but luckily my current role doesn't have so much of that.

If you can, doing interim or temp work is a good way to build up your skill and knowledge base and find out what industry sector you want to work in. It can be hard to get that first break though.