Human Resources and Careers Essay

Careers in Human Resources

The three careers in my field of interest that are the most appealing include a payroll manager, an employee relations manager, and a recruitment specialist (also known as a headhunter). The responsibilities and tasks of these positions differ accordingly. Payroll managers are tasked with supervising all things related to the timely payment of employees and contractors. Recruitment specialists are tasked with finding and placing the proper candidates for the proper job positions that are available (Martinez, 2001, p. 48). An employee relations manager, which is also referred to as a director of labor relations, supervise general policies for employment. In fact, they oversee virtually aspects of employment from benefits and compensation to complaints, while contending with global change in labor practice (Townsend and Wilkinson, 2014, p. 203). Depending on what specific industry payroll managers and employee relations managers specialize in, they can make upwards of $100,000 a year. Headhunters tend to make about half of that annually. The lifelong learning opportunities for these positions are all relatively similar. It is advisable for serious candidates to earn post-baccalaureate degrees in fields related to human resources. Additional opportunities including professional certification from any number of certifying agencies in this field. The vast majority of them include continuing education in the form of the attendance of seminars, online seminars, and continuing education units at formal educational institutions.

There are several areas from the field of human resources -- particularly as it relates to the aforementioned three career possibilities -- which are desirable to the author of this paper. Firstly, it is a field with a lot of interaction with others. Some careers do not offer this opportunity to communicate with others directly and in person on an almost daily basis. This field, however, does, which is exciting for an avowed people person such as myself. Nonetheless, the cardinal reason I am drawn to this field is the degree of importance human resources has for organizations across verticals. Human resource departments perform some of the most important functions for organizations. They are a central cog in the very structure of any enterprise, without which no organization can exist. The attraction associated with this reality is that this field is vital to modern business itself, especially "strategic human resources" (Mustafa et al., 2016, p. 273). I enjoy the thought of working in this field because it would enable me to function…