<p>I have heard and read that Human Resources can be a difficult career/job to get into. I am already taking classes for a HR minor. I might take more with the electives that are required when I can eventually afford it. </p>
<p>Is HR hard to start a career in?</p>
<p>Is it easier to begin a HR career after you have some business experience or administrative experience?</p>
<p>I'm just searching and looking at different jobs/careers that I would like and ones that are realistic for me. </p>
<p>I realize this was posted a little while ago, but maybe you’ll still come across it.</p>
<p>HR is tough to get into with little or no work experience. So do not expect to graduate college with no relevant internship/work experience and snag an HR position right away.</p>
<p>If you know you want to work in HR, then look for HR specific internships - many are HR/office assistants who help with resume screening, interview scheduling, new hire paperwork, filing, etc. Many internships can lead to full-time job offers.</p>
<p>Another option is to pursue the career you want and move into HR later. Once you are working for a company and an HR position opens there, it is easier to move over into that spot than it is to get an HR position with another company. </p>
<p>I work in the retail industry. When I graduated college I wanted to pursue graduate school, but due to financial reasons I took up the first full-time job I could find: which was a department sales manager at a big box retailer. I worked there for about 7 months and did very well. When the HR position opened at my store, I thought it was better related to my degree in psychology so I applied despite no relevant academic or work experience. Due to my success in my sales department I was enthusiastically promoted. I have been in that position for 1 year and 10 months, and just accepted a salaried HR manager role at another big box retailer for twice the salary (just waiting on my finalized paperwork ). </p>
<p>So in summary, there are two common strategies: start with HR while in school and gain as much work/internship experience in the field as you can, or pursue another path and move laterally into HR at a future employer. Once there, you have more opportunities to pursue HR positions at different companies and work your way up. I’ve seen this in other industries as well, not just retail.</p>
<p>Since you are not decided on HR and just exploring options, you may find that gaining any business experience and then moving over into HR later works better for you than devoting yourself to HR now. I would still consider HR internships just to get a taste for the field, but do not limit yourself unless you’re sure it’s something you want to do. HR has a different perspective than sales management and consulting, and some people hate it where others enjoy it.</p>
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