The author offers career advice for students and beginners in HR

Students and newcomers to the HR profession often have many questions about how to start and navigate a career in this ever-changing field: What college courses should I take to prepare for a career in HR? Is it more advantageous for an HR career to work in a small or a large company? How can I present myself as marketable if I have no HR experience?

SHRM online spoke with Kay Maddox-Daines, Ph.Dl, author of How to get ahead in HR (London Publishing Partnership, 2021) on these and other pressing career questions. Maddox-Daines is the founder of Future People Learning Ltd., an HR training center headquartered in Wimbledon, London. She also directs the School for People and Culture at Arden University in Coventry, West Midlands, England, and is a visiting scholar at the University of Suffolk, whose center is in Ipswich, England.

His comments have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

SHRM online: You write that “a career in HR has always presented a variety and a good mix of opportunities, but the profession is changing rapidly and this requires a diverse range of skills, knowledge and skills.” What types of skills would you advise students interested in a career in HR to focus on acquiring?
Maddox Daines: What I see and advise my own learners is to really think about the skills of tomorrow. People analytics, technology, the ability to learn deeper and more complex analytical skills are three key areas to focus on.

They must be able to analyze and present [analytics] in a logical and meaningful way for leadership groups, … and present it in a more narrative way so that HR professionals are all the more influential in promoting what they can do to shape and support the company in the future.

At entry level HR know what data is, how to analyze data from a very basic Excel spreadsheet to make sense of it to e.g. aid decision making, look at workforce shape works at a much higher level of detail, look at the projections of who we might need [to hire] go forward.

SHRM online: For someone starting out in HR, is it better to do it in a small organization or in a large one?
Maddox Daines: Small organizations will bring you this vast experience. Larger organizations give you that in-depth experience. If I was looking for a plan for my career, I would want to have exposure in both. I think it’s a great opportunity to get involved in a small business because you get such a generalist awareness… [and] you have much more influence over the whole organization. Large organizations [offer the] capacity for depth and progression; you have the ability to specialize and also progress in specialized areas.

SHRM online: The third chapter of your book looks at the value of professional HR organizations. You note there that there are over 80 such groups in the UK and dozens in the US. You have devoted nearly three pages to the Society for Human Resource Management, including information on the SHRM Body of Competency and Knowledge® (SHRM BoCK)®. [now the SHRM Body of Applied Skills and Knowledge™ (SHRM BASK™)].
What specific value do these organizations offer someone just starting out in an HR career?
Maddox Daines: Before we have accumulated the [job] experience, we need a helping hand. What I love about being part of a professional body is the networking. He comes into contact with other people who have been there and can provide good clues as to what needs to happen [careerwise].

You have a one-stop shop with your professional body that can keep you informed and also [provide] a professional framework to self-assess where you are in relation to your professional card, your career guide.

It raises your profile. [There is] the mentoring, the coaching, all these informal opportunities that you get through these groups. Belonging to a professional body is incredibly helpful when you put more into it. The more you commit to it – by getting involved in the chapters – the more you do it, the more you get out of it.

SHRM online: Preparing a CV that attracts a recruiter or hiring manager is essential, but how can someone new to the profession, or a new graduate with little or no HR experience, create a compelling CV? Is there a point, for example, in including hobbies or voluntary activities?
Maddox Daines: The first thing is that we are not just a working person. When I look at my skill set, I’m looking at my whole person skill set. We can rely on our hobbies, our interests, especially our volunteer experience, to help us land our next role. Think about the skills you pick up along the way that you can highlight on your resume. What an employer is looking for is the portability of those skills.

SHRM online: Can you offer advice on networking?
Maddox Daines: Whenever you think of a career in HR, tell everyone you know. Shout it from the rooftops. Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your teachers, anyone really. When people know this is what you’re looking for, they’ll know someone who knows someone who will have an opportunity, … your doctor, your dentist, whatever. There will be someone in your network who can help you as long as you shout it from the rooftops.