Question for HR Professionals...

kingolympics

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My nephew has an interview for an entry level job in HR and is struggling to articulate his answer for why he wants to work in HR.

Could anyone with relevant experience offer up a few pointers which he could use? Thanks
 
My pearl of wisdom.

It is a common misconception that the purpose of HR is to look after the company's employees.

The true purpose is to protect the company's interests from its employees.

In short they represent the company in issues related to human resources (employees).

Cheers,

Nigel
 
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I guess he want to work for the same reason as 99% of the population, for the money.

He should be honest, and say, "for the money"
 
I guess he want to work for the same reason as 99% of the population, for the money.

He should be honest, and say, "for the money"
It may be honest, but it's still frowned upon in most interviews.
 
I'd get him to email you his answer, however long winded and badly written he thinks it's and, with his permission of course, put it up on here so at least we have a starting point and something to work with. Otherwise we're all just taking wild stabs in the dark about why he does want to work in this particular field. His reasons will be different to someone one else's who works in the field as his motivation will be different. If we can at least see his attempt at an answer I'm sure there are people on here gifted in the written word who could help out :)
 
The true purpose is to protect the company's interests from its employees.

In short they represent the company in issues related to human resources (employees).

Cheers,

Nigel

Bang on! Human Remains is the most hated department in our company. It's staffed by the wicked witch and her sisters and she likes to sacrifice a worker atleast once a week to keep the rest in check. Honestly don't know how they sleep. Last time I had a barney with her she told me direct to my face 'there's plenty more where you came from!'

My view is find another department lol
 
Bang on! Human Remains is the most hated department in our company. It's staffed by the wicked witch and her sisters and she likes to sacrifice a worker atleast once a week to keep the rest in check. Honestly don't know how they sleep. Last time I had a barney with her she told me direct to my face 'there's plenty more where you came from!'

My view is find another department lol

I'm still working for the same parent company but transferred to a different division in November mostly because of how I was being treated by the previous division and its HR department.

Not saying that all HR organisations are the same but I found this one to be opaque, devisive, obstructive and disrespectful. I appreciate that what they were doing was this masters bidding but they were the face of all the bad things being rolled out so were, as you say, the most hated people in the division.

Ours were instigating indefinate pay freezes (effectively red-circling large groups of employees), removing benefits, regular redundancies (although, irronically I was waiting for the next one as a way out).

The HR staff also seemed to be highly graded, well in advance of their years, experience and ability by simple virtue of their need to access the confidential information and plans of the business.

What was worse at our business is that it could never come out and say "we are doing this because we want to" they always needed to spend loads of money with external contractors to come up with some jumped up reason why what they were doung was good and in line with the rest of the industry. More often than not what was presented was fundementally flawed any questions raised would simply disappear into a black hole.

So some interview answers to "why do you want to work in HR" :-

To receive advanced pay and grade not because of my experience and ability but simply because of the confidential information and plans that I have access to.

I have always admired the work of infamous secret police organisations and I would like to emulate their behaviour but in a legal way.

I have the ability to ignore and disregard any awkward questions raised by employees.

I relish the thought of rolling out processes that disrespect and hurt people.

I am adept at creating and presenting unfounded rationales to support the roll-out of processes that are going to erode the employees rewards, benefits and positions. I will answer benign questions instantly so that the business appears responsive and caring but I will deflect any well-founded awkard questions into a black hole.

I am skilled at creating ficticious FAQs to support unsavoury processes. I will ensure that no questions that are actually asked are added to the FAQ unless they are benign.

I don't have any friends and in general do not like or respect people.

I am physically very flexible and so would be able to walk whilst keeping my nose lodged in the anus of the appropriate member of the senior leadership team.

I find black uniforms decorated with silver skulls very attractive and appealing.

I want to dispel the myth that you have to be female to work in HR - (actually I know that isn't true but in my experience it is a mostly female domain, 80%+ in my long years of experience).

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
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Nigel that's made my Mon. So very true on every point. Do they learn this stuff at HR management school. Or is it just programmed in when they roll of the production line?
 
Do they learn this stuff at HR management school.
Yes they do,
My wife is in HR and it is a very demanding, stressful and demoralising job. They do not just sit there working out who to get rid of next.
Problem is that employees have no idea of the processes and protocols that have to be followed just to keep them employed and the business viable.

I personally am not a fan of HR departments either, particularly when it comes to applying for a job but I do have an understanding of why they need to exist and that they can help people employed by the business.
 
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HR is a Sleeper Cell for the Union of Doctors Receptionizts. ;)
 
Agreed. A better answer is 'for the totty'.

I remember being asked in an interview, "so, what kind of annual salary are you looking for?"

My answer? "As much as you'll give me!"

I got the job. :)
 
It may be honest, but it's still frowned upon in most interviews.

Yes, I'd say the exception would be sales based jobs.

Op - I'd suggest you can't get an authentic answer here as it needs to come from the man himself. As suggested he should try and give us an honest answer and we can work from that. Much better if it is based on some truth as it will show, we can then tweet to to be appropriate.

One tip I'd always suggest for interviews is to frame it as what you can offer them, not why it is the perfect job for you. So many make this mistake and it just isn't something employers want to hear. You can demonstrate passion in a way that offers them something.
 
Yes, I'd say the exception would be sales based jobs.

Op - I'd suggest you can't get an authentic answer here as it needs to come from the man himself. As suggested he should try and give us an honest answer and we can work from that. Much better if it is based on some truth as it will show, we can then tweet to to be appropriate.

One tip I'd always suggest for interviews is to frame it as what you can offer them, not why it is the perfect job for you. So many make this mistake and it just isn't something employers want to hear. You can demonstrate passion in a way that offers them something.

100% agree with this, no company wants to employ a new member of staff because they've got £35,000 p/a burning a hole in their pocket...
 
Exactly - as a candidate you represent a potential investment, it is up to you to show why they should invest in you other any other pitch. Demonstrate quantifiable indicators to back up flowry claims any can and probably will make, even if it was in day to day life if you haven't got work experience.
 
Isn't the point of the 'why do you want to do this job?' question to figure out who has a real interest/passion/history in the work involved. In which case, not knowing why you want to do a job is surely a red flag to both employer and employee.
 
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he should tell them that he's also applied to be a traffic warden, a bailiff, a cold call salesman, and a call centre worker and that this seems to be the best one..
 
Personally I love the way that the thread title is 'question for HR professionals' and no-one here is one lol! I can only just spell HR, but I still threw my tuppence-worth in!

I normally steer clear of threads that are anything to do with my actual job, just in case someone else posts something that corrects my knowledge and I feel stupid :rotfl:

Anyway, does anyone need any professional building advice? I'm not a builder, but I'll give it a bash.

Edit; please no jokes about doctors that look at lady parts...
 
My wife is in HR and it is a very demanding, stressful and demoralising job

No less stressful than operations? production? maintenance? I'm sure your wife does a cracking job and I'm really just generalising when I mention HR. But they don't help themselves half the time is what I'm saying. I'm sure you need a hide like a rhino but it doesn't mean you need to stomp like one aswell lol

As for the OP would imagine going in on the people person angle would work well in a HR role
 
To the OP I'd say I'm interested due to the varieriety in the job role, recruiting, training, industrial relations, investigations, organisational development. Don't just say you want to work with people or worse 'like people' because believe me people rarely like HR. Your nephew needs to realise HR is another management tool and you're there to represent the organisation, sometimes the interests of the company and employees are the same and everyone has, at best, a neutral view of HR; sometimes the interests are polar opposites and you get the kind of ignorant biased opinions of HR demonstrated by some here. It can sometimes be be tough and stressful but always thankless.

Incidently it's curious to learn a man actually wants to choose HR as a career, I spent 12 years doing the job and every man I knew in HR, myself included, got into it by accident and not by choice.
 
I spent 12 years doing the job and every man I knew in HR, myself included, got into it by accident and not by choice.
Promoted sideways? (joking)
 
Bit harsh, some of those opinions will be completely true :p
It's probably because they have HR staff who wanted to 'work with people' and when the realities of the job dawned on them they stuck their heads in the sand. There's a lot of that in HR people sneaking around keeping their heads down because they don't want to fully accept they're an arm of management.
 

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