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Faced with a choice between an MBA in HR and a general MBA, I had to ask myself a lot of questions. In addition, peers who were in similar situations helped me by discussing their queries, and helping me answer mine. I am trying to reproduce my answers to some questions here, hoping they'll be useful to some of the readers.

Disclaimer: All these questions were asked to me or my friends by peers, colleagues or seniors at sometime or the other. Please do not be offended by any of them. The idea is not to malign any college/career/gender/person but to answer some questions.

Myth 1: HR is for people who are 'good at interacting with others.'
Reality: Any profession needs people who are good at interacting with others. Can you be a successful football player, if you can't 'interact' with others? A salesperson? An advertising guy? Whatever! The core responsibility of an HR person is to maximise the returns on the money spent in hiring/retaining human resources. Of course, this needs to be done fairly, and within certain legal boundaries. HR has vast scope, and is broadly divided into:
1) Recruitment - includes strategic planning, forecasting, hiring, and selection
2) Learning and Development - training, learning management and administration, career enhancement
3) Performance Evaluation - appraisals and promotions
4) Industrial Relations - mainly for blue-collared jobs
5) Consulting

Now, think about it. Would just being an extrovert, and having a liking for 'talking and interacting with people' qualify you for a job in any of these fields? No, right? You'd have to work just as hard as any other professional, to do well.

Myth 2: No one picks HR. It's only because they have no other choice, that they do an HR course.
Reality: Whoever told you that! In the little circle of people that I know, I can count at least 5 people, who have opted for HR over marketing/finance/operations. And mind you, all the colleges that called them were sterling institutes. But, if you are clear in your mind that HR is your calling, go for it, then!

Myth 3: HR is a women's profession.
Reality: That's been a case because HR was perceived as a 'softer' profession earlier, but not any more. HR is as competitive as any other stream of management today. There are tough targets in hiring, selection, training, appraisals, consulting etc. Men and women are on equal footing. For example, in my 6 years of workex, I've seen a fair gender mix amongst HR professionals. So, have no worries on that front.

P.S. I'll be back with more. I don't claim to be an expert or a 'know it all'. These are just my opinions augmented with some research and interaction with HR gurus in my organization. Please feel free to add on, agree, disagree with me. Also, please post further queries and I'll try getting answers from some senior HR folks I know.

Acknowledgments: Thanks to nidhi_rawal, skeptic, bugs bunny, harshadk, and diva12 for enriching discussions and opinions.

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rpradeephere

30 Apr '08

During career counselling from a well reputed organisation which also studies Psychology, I was told that having extra ordinary verbal skills is useful for MBA HR. Are they essential?The question is not framed perfectly. i.e. "Verbal Skills or Basic english skills" are necessary/essential for MBA...

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rpradeephere

08:07 PM, 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

During career counselling from a well reputed organisation which also studies Psychology, I was told that having extra ordinary verbal skills is useful for MBA HR. Are they essential?

The question is not framed perfectly. i.e. "Verbal Skills or Basic english skills" are necessary/essential for MBA itself since most of the course content would be in English and having a good grasp of English would definitely be helpful. However, "Extra-ordinary verbal skills", whatever that means, is something I wont vouch for. I don't see a reason why thats necessary. Only way I can understand what they would have meant is HR would have more cases/theory/more to read and less number crunching and hence just as being good in mathematics may help you in MBA Finance, being good in English may benefit you in HR.

But making it sound as if that is the core skill required to be a MBA in HR is, according to me, laughable.

Having above average sympathy and empathy is dangerous as far as MBA that too MBA HR is concerned.....Please explain

I don't know how all these companies/organizations come up with all these "packaged material" with all these high sounding words. However, answering your question, I think what they meant in a complicated way is that HR dept exists for the company and not the employees. Which means the company's best interest must be kept in mind. If one is "sisterly and motherly" they feel it may lead to a conflict of interest and one may irrationally support an employee (maybe while firing a person for under performance and he is the sole breadwinner of the family and you start shedding tears and stuff like that).

And again, the sympathy and empathy and whatever is good to have at the right proportion. Its not good to have excess of those while working.

However, having all those is not dangerous while doing an MBA for sure.

. (which is what your actual question meant!)

Can you please enlist best institutes especially for MBA HR? or the list for general MBA doesn't make a difference....?

XLRI-PMIR, TISS

My 2 P.

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gammastep

30 Apr '08

I am younger than the people discussing here
and indeed doing a great job for MBA HR aspirants.
Few points I wd like to raise:
During career counselling from a well reputed organisation which also studies Psychology, I was told that having extra ordinary verbal skills is useful for MBA ...

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sumitrocks

30 Apr '08

Click here to read the story online. Also, there is a link to related stories on that page that opens.
Pradeep, valid point about the head-hunting bit. And that's where one's networks with folks will probably come in handy.

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rpradeephere

30 Apr '08

Junta,
Please buy this week's Business World ( 5 May 2008 ). Cover story is on HR and how HR is redefining itself.
"Solving the People Puzzle. How companies are re-imagining Human resources management" is the heading with a series of articles.
(Have not read it. Just now saw it and wante...

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rpradeephere

30 Apr '08

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rpradeephere

02:30 PM, 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

There is a particular profession/career path in HR which is not discussed much here. Highly lucrative. Its Senior Management Head Hunting.

Sounds boring? Not exactly. This is not the kind of head hunting which normal Head hunting firms do. Like calling up and getting some stupid details.

This is for the "C" level employees and Board members. (CEO/CFO/COO) etc.

Though its the same job, the challenges are much different.

- The news must not leak out by any chance with the media

- One must have high level contacts nationally and internationally (which means having the contact details of every VP and above person in India)

- It also requires tracking where each one is moving

- Interesting part is, one would actually get into the indepth details of the job and discuss with the potential employee in restaurants and golf courses. No, this is not like selling insurance. You are equal to that person and you are a HR consultant. Since many are always interested in new job opportunities, you will be welcome (provided you have the right background and pedigree)

- More senior the position, more difficult and challenging the job becomes

-Commission/Compensation is pretty high. Avg Salary of recruitee can range from 50L to 4-5 Cr. The HR firm will pocket 1 month salary of that usually for every final deal.

- The job is not so easy. There will be compensation lawyers from either side battling out each and every point of the employment and terms and conditions etc. Its not as easy as our job offers where they send something and we sign and send back. The conditions will include how esops will be given, performance metrics will be decided and etc etc.

- Usually people enjoy this since you will know a lot of people by their first names and stuff

- But this career is like what VC/PE is for finance junta. Mostly done towards the saturated times of their career paths (35+).

Obviously its not necessary that one has to be a HR guy for this. Though few from HR get into this for the better money and lifestyle.

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alagati

30 Apr '08

Well, most of the times, the work HR does is not let known to the employees....dont you'll have a " Meet ur HR" program every fortnight ??!!!
I wud compare HR to a footballing referee...he has done a good job if he remains un-noticed and not the person who changed the match..!!!
Also, depen...

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jshah29

30 Apr '08

and more often than not they are plain dumb...
acc to me, reason is that the guys who manage these things at employee level are graduates who could not not get any other decent job... otherwise why would they agree to do such menial jobs... and still mess up things so badly thaht employees lo...

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monsterkartik

30 Apr '08

Yeah more often than not HR is hated the most because of certain things
In my internship, the problem i faced with HR were as follows:
1) They never give the details u want
2) My Full n Final was done after 3 months
3) I had to get one form completed for my internship certificate and ...

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sumitrocks

30 Apr '08

In some organizations, yes! However, you can't really generalize it to all HR folks. For example, there are folks who deal with employee retirals (firing employees). Even if they do it for a genuine reason, they will obviously not be loved and worshipped.
Folks who deal with appraisals and c...

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freakinbubu

30 Apr '08

then again I have one more question directed towards the people.......Rohit Bhai had given the link to a blog in his post probably in the first or second page......
there is a small line in it that says HR PEOPLE ARE SOME OF THE MOST HATED PEOPLE IN THE BUSINESS.......even I have heard things ...

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freakinbubu

30 Apr '08

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freakinbubu

12:14 PM, 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Jshah, fair points! I guess many of us get disillusioned with HR, because our line HR folks are unavailable or busy or never have answers. I used to be one such person, long ago.

In the two organizations that I have worked with, I have been really happy with the functioning of the corporate HR folks. Though, I must admit, the line HR has left me dissatisfied on more than a couple of occasions.

Yes, on a day-to-day basis, it will be your manager who will deal with issues like compensation, leave, medical reimbursements et al, but if you look at the global picture, all these are dealt with, by HR. Your manager can at best be a channel to link you with your HR.

Now, here's another question that I was asked:

Question: Don't you think you might regret taking up HR, six months down the line, when you feel it is not rewarding enough as a career?

Answer: Well, I might regret buying a car after six months, if I feel I could've picked a better model. I might regret marrying a girl now, coz after six months I might be able to pick a better 'model.

Not at all. All of us are 20+ years of age. We need to have at least a faint idea of what we want to do with our respective lives. If you're taking up HR, just because it is the only available choice, I'd say you're making a mistake. I feel you need to decide what your priority is. If you have even an iota of doubt about joining HR, either get rid of the doubt, or get rid of the idea of joining HR. :)

Harsh words, maybe, but that's what my take is.

P.S. Trying to find out the ratio of freshers to experienced folks. I'll edit this post and put the ratio here. :rockon:

Exactly Sumit......totally agree with u.......I have felt from the start that HR is a passion......a hobby........but then as is the case with most Indian students passions tend to get checked due to various pressures.....and u know what......that is precisely what I am afraid of.......I just want to have the conviction that I can choose HR over other courses when I join next year in a B-school........but then again, what I feel is that there is a marked difference between a fin or a marketing degree and an HR degree from lower rung B schools..........I mean for the good b-schools, there can be no perceivable difference but once u consider the B schools that are a bit below standard, considering an HR degree before a marketing and Fin degree in them can put u in a problem........so if at all we want to choose HR over marketing or fin, then the college has to be definitely above par than other colleges........hope that I could get my point across

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freakinbubu

30 Apr '08

no man...definitely not......I am not definitely in it just for the money........my inclinations for HR began the day I wanted to do an MBA just because I like that field and I am pretty sure I can excel a lot in it....u know its like my true calling............in fact I may not go for anything e...

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