Over the years, I’ve concluded that if you are an HR professional and want to get ahead, then you must engage in relentless, continuous, uninterrupted, constant self-promotion in order to keep your HR career moving forward.
As an HR professional, I confess I’m an introvert. I’d much rather e-mail, or write in this blog, than attend a meeting. I just dread them. It’s a tough place to get heard. Lots of voices compete for the floor. And if you don’t say much, you’re not viewed as leadership material. If you’re introvert too, sound familiar?
Take 10 minutes to view this video by Dr. Randy Pausch. It’s truly inspirational, especially if you feel your career and your life is not moving in the direction you want it to move. He will be dying in the next couple of months. Doctors have told him they can’t do anything more…
One of the toughest things anyone does is to decide to leave their job. Leaving the familiarity of your colleagues can be uncomfortable. Figuring out days you’re going to take off to interview is a pain. Polishing up your interviewing skills is no fun. Going through the gauntlet of interviewers can be brutal. So arriving at this decision is not easy. Here are the indicators that it’s time to move on to your next HR role:
“I apologize. I made a stupid mistake. I didn’t check out the facts personally as I normally do. Here is the correct information….”
If you want to advance your career in HR, you’ve got to be LinkedIn. There are more than 8.5 million experienced professionals (lots from HR!) from around the globe in in LinkedIn. Get this, all 500 of the Fortune 500 are represented in LinkedIn! 499 of them are represented by director-level and above employees. And it’s FREE. What else do you need to know. LinkedIn needs to be part of your career advancement strategy. To find out more, Guy Kawasaki has compiled a top 10 list of ways to use Linkedin to help you increase your visibility and you access to the job. It’s the best I’ve seen. Check it out here.
I recently read about the Chief HR Officer of a large software firm who once tried an experiment. He offered new hires in one of their new small divisions the choice between the title HR Manager and HR Representative. Although the Rep job was $1,500 a year more, most people took the Manager title.
It’s clear that HR professionals that have mentors have an edge over those that don’t. They perform better on the job. They get promoted more quickly. They earn higher salaries. And they report more job and career satisfaction. It’s an undisputable fact. So acquiring a mentor should be one of your highest career development priorities.
With almost daily news reports of companies laying off workers, or filing for bankruptcy, or going out of business altogether, losing your job suddenly doesn’t sound all that unlikely. That not only applies to folks in Human Resources, but to just about anyone in business as companies try to stay competitive. You don’t want to be surprised when this happens…or unprepared if you’re called on the red carpet. With that in mind, here are some strategies either to avoid being laid-off, or to cushion the blow if it comes.
….MAKING THE JUMP FROM BEING AN INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTOR TO BEING A MANAGER OF OTHER HR PEOPLE.
To be perfectly frank, if you think you’re going to get an executive HR job by surfing websites alone, you’re crazy! If you’re looking for a Director, VP or Senior VP level role in HR, you are a heck of a lot better off doing other things. Like networking, leveraging your relationships, working with headhunters, presenting at HR industry conferences and following up on leads that you hear about. Having said all this, you absolutely can get some good HR leads by spending time at the right websites. However, don’t waste your time going to 100 sites. Here are the top 10 executive websites that would will give you the biggest bang for the buck in your HR job search:
Bootstrapper has come out with 100 articles that every Human Resources professional should read. This is an awesome list of articles that range from management development, recruitment, talent management, interviewing and more. Laura Milligan has done a great job in compiling this list. I would really urge you to take the time to read through all these articles. However, if you don’t have the time, here are the 3 best articles on this list that you absolutely MUST read…
I was talking over lunch with an HR colleague of mine who heads up college recruiting at another company. She shared with me an amazing story that has huge implications for advancing your career in HR.Apparently, she was looking to hire a Human Resources master’s degree candidate for a lucrative, full-time position in her organization. The job was in a prestigious HR fast track, entry-level leadership development program. Job had just about everything you’d want. Great pay. Great benefits. Great company. Great location. Awesome future. A job most HR folks I know would have killed to get right out of school.
On this blog, you find our candid, no BS advice for enhancing your career, impact and income in HR. Some you'll agree with. Some you won't. Give us your comments directly on this blog or to our editor at alan@successinhr.com.