Human Resource Management

Your knowledge of Human Resource Management will provide you with many subject specific skills, enabling entry into areas directly related to your degree. In addition, your degree programme is underpinned with a broad, analytical and integrated understanding of business areas sought after by a wide range of employers. You will typically be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of areas such as marketing, customers, finance, law, people, operations, information systems and economics, ICT and business policy and strategy.

Skills

Employers look for evidence of personal qualities and skills required for their company and roles. Many examples of these qualities and skills can be obtained from extra-curricular activities; membership of clubs and societies; jobs; family responsibilities and volunteering. A useful analysis of skills and responsibilities required in Human Resource Management is on the Prospects and The Chartered Institute of Personnel and development website. 

As a graduate in business and management related subject you will typically:

  • be able to demonstrate understanding of organisations, the external environment in which they operate, how they are managed and the future needs of organisations
  • have skills in critical thinking analysis and synthesis, including being able to identify assumptions, evaluate statements, detect false logic, identify implicit values, define terms adequately and generalise appropriately
  • be effective at problem-solving and decision-making, using appropriate quantitative and qualitative skills and also be able to create, evaluate and assess options, together with being able to apply ideas and knowledge to a range of situations
  • be effective in communication, using ICT and a range of media widely used in business, for example, business reports
  • have numeracy and quantitative skills including modelling and data analysis, interpretation and extrapolation
  • self-manage their time, behaviour, motivation, initiative and enterprise
  • have an appetite for reflective, adaptive and collaborative learning
  • be self-aware, sensitive and open to the diversity of people, cultures, business and management issues
  • have leadership, team building, influencing and project management skills
  • be effective at listening, negotiating and persuasion
  • be able to research business and management issues
  • be able to address issues at European and international levels

(SOURCE: Student Employability Profiles, Higher Education Academy)

Human Resource Management graduates go into a wide variety of professions. They can utilise their degree in roles such as:

In addition, Human Resource Management graduates are in the position of being able to access a wide range of other work opportunities including approximately 40% of graduate jobs that are open to graduates of any discipline. Potential roles that are available to Human Resource graduates are diverse and can include:

You may need to take further qualifications or gain additional experiences to progress into these roles, so it is important to investigate as early as possible. 

Current Issues in the Industry

Employers often expect graduates to be commercially aware and will expect you to keep up to date on the latest issues affecting the industry. They may even ask you questions at interview that will 'test' your commercial awareness and knowledge. To keep abreast of the issues affecting your chosen industry read the industry specific trade papers and refer to the professional associations web pages listed.

Trade Papers and Professional Associations

As well as advertising vacancies, trade papers and professional associations can help you to keep up to date with the industry news and can even help you to identify organisations to whom you could make speculative job applications. Some of these have websites with job vacancy listings and also a 'directory of members' which can prove to be effective sources of information on companies to whom you may want to target a speculative application. 

Last modified: 
Wednesday, April 4, 2018 - 14:46