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2,502 Views | 14 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Astroag
bruh
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AG
Hello all,

I'm class of '13 and currently getting my MBA. I've recently been interested in the world of HR and wanted to see if I could talk to anyone working in that space about what you do in your day-to-day and if you have any first hand knowledge of good MBA - HR internship opportunities. Thanks!
Petrino1
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If you are interested in HR then a masters in HR from one of the top programs (TAMU, University of Illinois, Michigan State) will essentially guarantee you a really good HR job after graduation. Not sure how much an MBA will help unless you were already working in HR and looking to get into leadership.
Dark Helmet
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Does it? Didn't guarantee me jack crap. HR is quickly becoming over saturated. It's almost as bad getting a job for HR professionals fresh out of grad school as it is for JDs.
Petrino1
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Dark Helmet I don't know your situation, but every single person/coworker I know who graduated from the above schools with a Masters in HR had multiple offers from Fortune 500 companies right out of school. Every top company in the US recruits from the university of Illinois HR program (google, J&J, Facebook, Exxon etc).

The HR market is hot right now and doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. Every company seems to have multiple HR openings all the time.
bruh
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AG
So you don't think an MBA could help me pivot into a job like that? Just curious. I appreciate the feedback.
Petrino1
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Bruh, it's hard to tell without knowing your work history, undergrad degree, grades etc. But generally an MBA won't help you land an HR job unless you have previous HR experience.

You could network your way into an entry level HR job but you're probably overqualified for that and youll start out making $40-50k. Again, this is just general advice not knowing your work experience and undergrad education.
Dark Helmet
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ea1060 said:

Dark Helmet I don't know your situation, but every single person/coworker I know who graduated from the above schools with a Masters in HR had multiple offers from Fortune 500 companies right out of school. Every top company in the US recruits from the university of Illinois HR program (google, J&J, Facebook, Exxon etc).

The HR market is hot right now and doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. Every company seems to have multiple HR openings all the time.


I finished my graduate degree in HR from A&M not too long ago and many of my classmates are working retail. Their GPA is 3.8+, same as anyone else who went to grad school (graduate school GPA is also worthless since everyone does well if it isn't engineering). My best friend is working at a comic book shop with his masters.
cjo03
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AG
People are complicated and always will be.

Look into HR consulting ("human capital"). While the top firms may be hard to land without prior consulting or HR experience, an MBA could certainly help land an analyst/consultant position at a consulting firm. A few years with 3-6-12 month gigs at different clients will help you learn a lot quickly - and in my opinion accelerate a career path in HR.

Just be prepared for everyone to think you suck and for everything to always be your fault. And by "everyone" I mean employees and candidates.
hangman
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We have several people going into HR from the Vanderbilt MBA program. Deloitte human capital takes 2 every year out of about 12 who are interested and they make the same as the other consultants. P&G, Bridgestone, American Express, Microsoft, and citigroup also take 1-2 a piece. We have one of the top MBA-HR programs in the nation though so I do not think it will correlate unless your MBA program has already established those connections with employers. These are all 6 figure jobs.
Ezra Brooks
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AG
Dark Helmet said:

ea1060 said:

Dark Helmet I don't know your situation, but every single person/coworker I know who graduated from the above schools with a Masters in HR had multiple offers from Fortune 500 companies right out of school. Every top company in the US recruits from the university of Illinois HR program (google, J&J, Facebook, Exxon etc).

The HR market is hot right now and doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. Every company seems to have multiple HR openings all the time.


I finished my graduate degree in HR from A&M not too long ago and many of my classmates are working retail. Their GPA is 3.8+, same as anyone else who went to grad school (graduate school GPA is also worthless since everyone does well if it isn't engineering). My best friend is working at a comic book shop with his masters.
Graduates from the MS-HRM program at A&M?

While I'm 18 years removed from the program and haven't interacted with the program in 7-8 years, I still find this quite difficult to believe.

bruh - if you are getting your MBA at A&M, you should be able to take several of the MS-HR classes as electives (we had 3-4 MBA candidates do this with us in 2000-2001) and the companies that recruit the MS-HR program should still give you a look. You may be looking at a reduced salary vs a MBA starting salary, but there should be jobs out there.
Prince_Ahmed
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Dark Helmet said:

Does it? Didn't guarantee me jack crap. HR is quickly becoming over saturated. It's almost as bad getting a job for HR professionals fresh out of grad school as it is for JDs.
This also may depend on area of expertise. While HR generalist roles are saturated, experienced compensation and benefits roles and HRIS jobs are a dream market, especially if you have experience with cloud-based systems (Workday, SAP, Oracle Fusion, etc).
JoeOlson
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AG
Is the Masters in HRM or HRD/OD?
jonj101
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I've been in HR for approx 12 years, but I have primarily been on the HRD side vs the HRM side. The HRD side is focused more on the learning, organizational development, change management, etc responsibilities. The HRM side is more focused on your common HR management or administrative responsibilities as previously mentioned in this thread, such as benefits, HRIS administration, employee relations, etc.

From a general perspective, I have enjoyed my career and the productive work I have been able to do. I find satisfaction in contributing to development initiatives that actually bring value to the individuals within an organization and contribute to the overall productivity of the organization. That being said, I'll give you some of my personal general warnings about HR/HRD.

First, when things are going good, organizations are willing to invest in developmental efforts, but when there is a downturn, often one of the first areas on the chopping block is the training function. I personally have accepted this as a consequence of doing something I enjoy, but there is a reason that a number of experienced learning/org development professionals on LinkedIn have been employed across a variety of organizations and industries. Just be aware of this if you go this route.

Second, prepare yourself in the event that you are surrounded by unmotivated or indifferent people. There are definitely exceptions to this, and I've been on a few teams where we strongly worked together for a common goal, but in some organizations there are individuals who have been shoved into training/HR roles simply because they have no other useful place within the company. Someone in some position decided that such an individual could do minimal damage in the HR department, so thats where they were dropped.

Third, if you go the HRD route you will probably be involved in a number of pet projects or "feel good" initiatives in which you question the value or productivity that they bring to the organization. My personal perspective is that anything a L&D or HR organization does should add some strategic or tactical value to the organization. However, because of the limited ability of many L&D organizations to demonstrate their value to the bottom line a number of them engage in a laundry list or shotgun approach to justify their worth to the organization. They get it done (or sometimes don't), then head off in search of another fire or feel good initiative.

As far as education, I am currently in the HRD program at A&M. while I am enjoying learning concepts that compliment my experience, I do believe there is a significant difference since the HRD program is under the College of Education and the HRM is under Mays. I'll finish sometime next year, but I'm already considering getting another degree that will be more focused on the HRM side so that I can diversify my skill set a bit. I've been talking with Cornell about their online Executive Masters program, and it looks very interesting - but I'm not sure if it would apply to you since that particular program looks for individuals with a good amount of experience in the field. However, they also have a Master of Industrial & Labor Relations program available. I was unaware of the University of Illinois program until this thread, but I'll research that now.

Sorry for the essay, but just trying to help. One of my regrets is not getting enough info earlier into my career, so I try to pass along whatever I know and help anyway I can.
Dark Helmet
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Ezra Brooks said:

Dark Helmet said:

ea1060 said:

Dark Helmet I don't know your situation, but every single person/coworker I know who graduated from the above schools with a Masters in HR had multiple offers from Fortune 500 companies right out of school. Every top company in the US recruits from the university of Illinois HR program (google, J&J, Facebook, Exxon etc).

The HR market is hot right now and doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. Every company seems to have multiple HR openings all the time.


I finished my graduate degree in HR from A&M not too long ago and many of my classmates are working retail. Their GPA is 3.8+, same as anyone else who went to grad school (graduate school GPA is also worthless since everyone does well if it isn't engineering). My best friend is working at a comic book shop with his masters.
Graduates from the MS-HRM program at A&M?

While I'm 18 years removed from the program and haven't interacted with the program in 7-8 years, I still find this quite difficult to believe.

bruh - if you are getting your MBA at A&M, you should be able to take several of the MS-HR classes as electives (we had 3-4 MBA candidates do this with us in 2000-2001) and the companies that recruit the MS-HR program should still give you a look. You may be looking at a reduced salary vs a MBA starting salary, but there should be jobs out there.


"I am 18 years removed from the program"

And, just like that, you have confirmed my statement. Two decades ago things were different for young grads. Glance over LinkedIn and see what recent HR grads are doing. Here's a hint: "consultant" is code for "unemployed".
Ezra Brooks
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AG
My network doesn't contain too many new-grads in HR, but I'm still having a hard time believing that it's terribly difficult to get a job.

I'm on the hunt now for an HR position and I see A LOT of jobs suitable for new grads or less than 5 yrs. experience. This market upturn is creating a lot of space in that area. Unfortunately for me, I'm not seeing enough Manager/Director level jobs.

The MS/HR program has long prided itself on a 90%+ job placement rate after graduation - I'd be surprised if that isn't still the trend.

I saw a Linkedin post a month of so back saying that the new class was 30+ strong. Again, I'm not tied into the program these days, but back in my day there was at least a little bit of consideration given to post grad placement when accepting applicants for the next years class.
Astroag
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AG
hangman said:

We have several people going into HR from the Vanderbilt MBA program. Deloitte human capital takes 2 every year out of about 12 who are interested and they make the same as the other consultants. P&G, Bridgestone, American Express, Microsoft, and citigroup also take 1-2 a piece. We have one of the top MBA-HR programs in the nation though so I do not think it will correlate unless your MBA program has already established those connections with employers. These are all 6 figure jobs.
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