20 Brutally Blunt Tips For Moving Your HR Career Forward…Starting Today!
By Alan Collins
1. “There’s nothing more useless than doing something really well which does not need to be done at all.” –Peter Drucker
2. “If you’re a candidate for an HR job and the hiring manager spends 45 minutes talking about himself, the company or his Harley, let him. He’s going to come out of the interview saying you’re a great candidate.” –Kris Dunn, Chief human resources officer at Atlanta-based Kinetix, who blogs at HRCapitalist.com
3. “Go to godaddy.com or another domain name service, and buy a URL that represents something in Human Resources you’d like to do someday. Just owning the domain lets you know that the possibility is there for you when you are ready. In my case, I bought the domain name SuccessInHR.com over six years ago. I held it for three years before I finally got off my butt and did anything with it.” -Alan Collins
4. “You have become a great HR coach when you can give real, authentic, actionable feedback to people…without pissing them off.” -From “Best Kept HR Secrets”
5. “Resolve something that you deeply regret doing…once and for all. Make the damn phone call. Write the freaking letter (you don’t have to actually send it!). Man-up and have the face-to-face chat. Or simply decide that you are no longer going to drown in the lingering remorse or disappointment from this horrific experience in your past. Whatever, just put it behind you then get on with your life!”
6. Relationship building is critical in advancing your HR career. “You can build more relationships in TWO MONTHS by becoming interested in other people than you can in TWO YEARS by trying to get people interested in you.” –Dale Carnegie
7. “Your job in HR won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends, spouse, partner, relatives and parents will. Stay in touch.”
8. “Most of us use applicant-tracking systems that scan résumés for key words. The secret to getting your résumé through the system is to pull key words directly from the job description and put them on. The more matches you have, the more likely your résumé will get picked and actually seen by a real person.” Yes, I know you’re a pro in HR and already know this, but it needs to be said. –Chris Ferdinandi, HR professional in the Boston area
9. “The time for creating your new HR career is not the day you get downsized or when you decide it’s time to move on. You need to plan this months in advance. This planning is mainly because you need to grow your network first. In my case, I started networking 18-24 months in advance.” -Mark Griffin, founder InHisNameHR.com and former VP-Human Resources
10. “To achieve true success in HR, you cannot see HR as just a job. Or even as a career. And it’s certainly not as something that is owned by the company you happen to work for at the moment. You must regard HR as a CALLING. A calling because, as an HR professional, you are in a unique position to make a difference in people’s lives and help create inspiring work places.”
11. “If your HR job is repetitive or can be documented in a manual, then someone else can do it cheaper and it can be outsourced. You need to figure out what makes you special in this role or you’re expendable.”
12. “If you’re dream ain’t bigger than you, there’s a problem with your dream” -Deion Sanders as he was inducted into the Football Hall-of-Fame
13. “Know your boss…what makes him tick and what ticks him off.” –From Closing the Engagement Gap
14. “To enhance your HR career, you MUST get feedback. But, don’t be surprised if the feedback you get is unclear, doesn’t make sense or even seems unfair. Very few companies give feedback clearly. Don’t let this stop you. Probe more deeply to get beyond vague and cryptic statements and dig out the REAL concerns about how you’re TRULY viewed in the organization…and then act on this feedback anyway.”
15. “The Blackboard Test: When Lee Iococca took over Chrysler he spent the first week calling people into his office and gave them the “blackboard test.” He told them to go over to the chalkboard and take 7 minutes to diagram for him how whatever they did directly contributed to Chrysler’s primary business…selling cars. Anybody that couldn’t draw a clear diagram was fired. ” As an HR professional, if you were called into your CEO’s office, could you pass his/her blackboard test?” — From the book, Where Have All The Leaders Gone? (Note: If you pass this test, then go see if you can survive the Steve Jobs “Elevator Ride” from hell)
16. “The key to success in HR is authenticity. If you can FAKE that, you’ve got it made!” –Unemployed Senior Vice President of HR having difficulty landing a job
17. “Clients will do business with you the first time because you can give them something they want – expertise, advice, or valued information. They will keep doing business with you because they like you and they trust you. So part of your main job in HR is just bonding with your clients.”
18. “When interviewing, don’t ask, ‘Can you tell me about your business?’ Seriously, HR folks. There’s an Internet. Look it up. Instead, impress the interviewer with your knowledge of their business – then ask a deeper, more specific question based on that knowledge.”
19. “Perform a quick, free branding study on yourself. Ask three people from different areas of your life, “What are the three most valuable ways I contribute, add value, or make a difference to you?” Now find a common thread in what they told you, and develop a private tagline for yourself. For example, “From my family to my office, I provide great insights and support” or “My creativity and ability to think out-of-the-box stimulates and inspires others.”
20. “When you walk into a restaurant, you don’t just say, ‘Bring me some food.’ Instead, you’re very specific – you pick exactly what you want from the menu. Do the same with your HR career. Don’t say, ‘My goal over the next five years is to just get promoted.’ Be specific. Imagine your HR career three years from now,living the life you desire: doing rewarding work that you love, fit and healthy, engaged in loving and supportive relationships, joyful and without stress. What’s the role? What kind of organization? The clearer and more vividly you visualize your career goal, the easier it becomes to reach it. When that ONE image is solidly in your mind, ask yourself this question: “What is the one thing that I did today that created the opportunity for me to live that life in my future?” Are you willing to do that one thing? If so, start today.
Got comments or tips of your own? Feel free to add them HERE.
About the author: Alan Collins was Vice President – Human Resources at PepsiCo where he led HR initiatives for their Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses. He is now Founder of Success in HR, Inc. and the author of the HR best seller, UNWRITTEN HR RULES . His new book, BEST KEPT HR SECRETS is now available on Amazon.
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When you doubt someone’s benefit, you should no longer give them the benefit of the doubt.
Greg – awesome! Love it and will add it to the list.
Huge thank you for posting this, I needed it. It seems as though when you read something, you absorb what’s applicable at that moment, but when you read similar or even the same advice later it applies differently in a whole new area. Love it, thanks!
And P.S. Just finally launched my own website a week ago, thanks to your advice.
Ashley – thanks – timing does appear to be everything! Glad you got your blog launched! Pls continue to keep us posted. Best, Alan.
Greg – I love what you added!
These are blunt but oh so true and extremely valuable if you can get past the initial shock of how candid some of the tips are. Steve Job was probably HR’s worst nightmare and yet I admire him deeply for his results and business success. It just goes to show that a cookie cutter approach to business and HR is not always the only way.
Best,
Amy
Thanks Allan for your great tips in success in HR. It has really helped in many ways, especially getting to do other things with myself, networking and getting out of the office a bit more.
Look forward to greater tips.
Peggy
Hi Alan,
I have been reading your posts since last couple of months now and I have been deeply moved by most of them. Never before I have come across such practical advice for HR professionals.
Since I have been trying to follow some of your suggestions to take my HR career in top gear..I am glad to inform you that I have posted by first HR Blog today and it feels great.
Will be writing and sharing more from here on.
thx
Amit
Hi Amit – Congratulations on your blog! Way to go. Please share your link, would love to drop by and check it out. Fantastic.
Best,
Alan
[...] Collins operates a site called Success in HR and recently offered 20 Brutally Blunt Career Tips to Ponder.. One stood out for me – one that wasn’t even among those he highlights, but which is [...]
Allan,
Tha aticle is truly amazing!
I love every point described!
The only thing that ipressed me so muh was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdh2ZB5BKrI which I have watched recently.
Thanks!
I especially love the last point – set a clear, vivid and meaningful goal for your self, and then start acting on it. Link everyday’s work to contribute to that goal. Dear to dream!
To enhance your HR career, you MUST get feedback. But, don’t be surprised if the feedback you get is unclear, doesn’t make sense or even seems unfair. Indeed sometimes we feel depressed when we get a feedback that we think unfair, but things exist for reasons. Open your heart, reflect on these feedbacks.
The Culture of an organization is an elusive and indefinable entity. That said, the backbone of the Culture lies within unwritten policies of that Organization.