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What does someone who goes into HR do?

If I decided to go into HR with my degree, what would I do? What do Human Resource people do? #human-resources #hr

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Thank you comment icon Hello Katelyn! HR has a lot of diverse fields, which makes it an excellent field to work in! For instance, payroll, HR generalists, training, employee legislation, Employee relations, benefits, talent acquisition, diversity & inclusion, recruiting, and onboarding, and HCIS (Human Capital Information System) are all examples of job responsibilities. Because there are so many distinct sectors in HR, there are a lot of opportunity for growth and diversification. In general Human Resources is a fantastic field to work in since you can apply your abilities to any sector like healthcare, oil and gas, tech, and education are some of the fields in which you can work. Melissa Villarreal
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Breanna’s Answer

There are many different fields in HR which makes it a great field to enter! There are job duties that range from HCIS (Human Capital Information System), payroll, HR generalists, training, employee laws, Employee relations, benefits, talent acquisition, diversity & inclusion, recruiting, and onboarding. Being in the HR field allows immense opportunities for growth and diversity due to the amount of different areas.
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Amanda’s Answer

Thanks for asking this question! I would echo what others have said about the various types of roles within HR. I can provide you a "day in the life" of the sorts of things my team and I do on the "HR Operations" team.

  • Host New Employee Orientation - Welcome new hires when they first arrive, give them a tour of the office, explain their benefit options, make sure they know where to go if they need help)
  • Issue Offer Letters - We draft and send the employment agreements to candidates once the recruiters and managers have decided they would like to make an offer
  • Administrative Onboarding - We make sure all of the required/legal pieces are coordinated for new hires (background checks, employment verification, etc)
  • Answer employee questions - We respond to questions that employees have about their benefits, time off, and other HR-related questions
  • Offboarding - We help coordinate the administrative side of offboarding once an employee has decided to leave the company (making sure they have their final pay and any other information they may need once they are no longer employed)
  • Employment Verifications - Talking to banks and lenders over the phone and via email to confirm that employees are employed with our company (which helps them get loans for cars and homes!)

There is a lot of work on the computer, and some in-person meetings. Lots of it involves paperwork and keeping things in order, but all of it impacts the life of the employee which is very rewarding!
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Nancy’s Answer

There are many different things you can do. You can specialize in one area, such as benefits, compensation, safety, training, HRIS, employee relations, Workplace Laws (ADA, FLSA) etc. or you can be a Generalist and do a little bit of everything. In small companies you would most likely be a generalist, where in large companies there are entire departments focused on just one area of HR. I have worked in a small nonprofit organization of 125 employees where there were two HR employees and we took care of all areas of HR including generating Payroll. I have also worked in a large organization (80K) where the main functions were centralized in a headquarters location, and then in the regional offices they staffed four to five HR employees consisting of a manager, a couple of generalists and an administrator.
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Angela’s Answer

Just as the others said, there are many specializations that are possible within HR. I would first try to hone in on what type of work you enjoy doing? If you love being in spreadsheets and analyzing data, look towards perhaps Compensation or People Analytics . If you like the idea of interacting with employees regularly, you may want to go the generalist route. In any specialization, there will likely be a cross-over of skills (like in Comp, you will also need develop advising skills as you discuss pay situations with leaders), but each has particular areas of focus.
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Christie’s Answer

There are lots of jobs under the human resource umbrella. The have recruitment type people (resourcing), employee communications, employee development, training, conflict management/employee relations, benefit specialist, performance improvement, annual review etc.


I have a friend whobos a compuisation analyst. She is responsible for salary reviews for the US and UK. She makes quite a bit. Lot of management professionals come out of human resources. There are also lots of certifications available for Human Resource personnel that will make you more desirable. Last thing, Human Resources is a great discipline because you can take those skills to any industry. Medical, oil and gas, education

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Laura’s Answer

Hi there! A career in Human Resources can be very rewarding, especially for someone who enjoys variety and multi-tasking. HR varies from Compensation & Benefits, compliance, recruiting, employee relations, culture & vibe, people metrics, training & development... essentially anything that has a hand in the employee experience. HR roles can vary from being very specialized into certain areas of HR (most often in larger organizations) to more generalist (multi-scope).

It's always great to get exposure into many areas before deciding where to focus. I started my career off in a Generalist capacity in a global company of around 150 employees. It allowed me to see what I enjoyed, didn't enjoy, what skills needed developing etc...
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Victoria’s Answer

Everyone who has already answered this question has done an amazing job. Something else I wanted to add is that HR is changing a lot and has changed a lot, especially over the past year. There are a lot of exciting things happening in the industry with many more to come. Just check out this really cool HBR article about "21 New HR Jobs of the Future" - https://hbr.org/2020/08/21-hr-jobs-of-the-future. I hope this helps! Good luck!
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Ioulia’s Answer

The main aspect of HR is to connect people, candidates and the employers. So no matter which role you chose in HR, some skills include people skills, such as communication, ability to listen, and transferable skills such as conflict management, organization skills, project management, multitasking.
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Michelle’s Answer

Hi Katelyn,

Great question! Human Resources actually has quite a few different areas you can choose to specialize in. Here are some examples below:
- Talent Acquisition (Recruiting & sourcing talent for your company)
- Learning & Development (Training & development can include upgrading skills for your company's employees, as well as on-boarding and training new employees)
- Compensation (Compensation looks at the pay structure of the company, and helps to develop and implement the total compensation package, including salary, bonuses, incentives, benefits, etc.)
- Health & Safety (Policies, procedures, trainings, grievances, WSIB, etc.)
- Employee & Labour Relations (Mediation, employees rights, etc.)

You can choose to be a generalist if you like wearing multiple hats, or you can choose to specialize in any of the above or more! Don't be afraid to reach out to people on LinkedIn who work at a company or have a title that interests you to learn more about what a day in the life can be like.
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Jason’s Answer

I am in HR and I love what I do. Specifically I'm in a field called "Learning and Development" sometimes also called "Talent and organizational development" You may not hear about this role all the time.
My job is all about bringing out the best in our employees through training and other development programs. I mostly teach workshops on softskills like giving feedback, having a growth mindset, running better meetings, focusing on your career and general leadership skills.
I find this incredibly rewarding . People often tell me how I made their work more meaningful and how much they loved attending my trainings.
There are so many options in HR. If you feel like you are a "People-person" and enjoy helping others, this is the field for you. I started as a training associate, and then moved into a senior instructional designer, and now I'm a manager of learning and development.
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Josephine’s Answer

This is an over simplification but someone in HR playing an advisor and trying to protect the interests of the Company while balancing and advocating for the needs of the employee.
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Cynthia’s Answer

Human Resources is a vast field with numerous specialties and areas of expertise. Its core function, as many have pointed out, is to bridge the gap between individuals and organizations. If you're intrigued by aspects like technology, program management, and operational elements, such as answering employee queries, you'll find that every HR team has roles that cater to these areas. It's a wonderful opportunity to explore various interests and gain deeper insights into the diverse facets of Human Resources.

Many organizations offer roles in these areas as a starting point, providing exposure to a wide range of specialties. This not only helps you understand the field better but also assists you in discovering the area you're most passionate about. So, dive in and let your HR journey begin!
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Candace’s Answer

As others have said, HR encompasses a wide variety of duties. Larger companies tend to have specialists where smaller companies use generalists. Employment law, recruiting, interviewing, new hire engagement, payroll, benefits, event planning, employee retention, disciplinary actions and employee counseling, terminations, leaves of absence including FMLA and ADA are some of the areas an HR professional would deal with.


HR professionals need to be organized and detail oriented. We must keep information confidential. HR should be the employer's representative to the employees and the employee's representative to the employer.
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