Human resource management is increasingly becoming a critical function within most businesses and more and more high schools in India are offering specialized HR courses. In fact, the MBA as a course of study is moving towards more specialization and it is not uncommon for an MBA aspirant to find themselves shortlisted for five different courses: an MBA in Finance from SP Jain, a PGDHRM from XLRI, a PGP in Agribusiness from IIM-A, an MBA in Rural Management from IIFM Bhopal and an Operations Management course from NITE. One possible reason for this widespread specialization among MBA courses is that with the proliferation of business schools across India, the best ones are trying to strengthen their brand by offering customized courses based on their core competencies. In this way, the institute stays away from the general MBA rat race and builds for itself an image of a market leader in its particular domain of MBA education. While it would be premature to signal the end of the general MBA course, it is undeniable that specialization is on the rise and MBA aspirants must, in addition to passing the entrance exams, prepare for Group Discussions (GD), Personal Interviews (PI) and statements of purpose (SOPs) of the specific function to which they have been applied.
Given this context, from my experience as an interviewee and now a student in a human resources course, I have tried to put together seven points that an aspiring MBA in human resources may do well to keep in mind. While the issues below have been specifically related to an HR interview, I believe they would similarly apply to other specialized courses as well. However, my success in an HR interview and my experience in an HR course limit my observations to the HR domain only.
1. Learn about HR as a profession. If you are asked which area of HR. H H. If you find it interesting, you should not gape as if you think that the specialization ends with the selection of the MBA (HR) option in the application form. The HR function has many sub-functions within it, such as Compensation, Recruitment and Selection, Training and Development, Performance Management, and Industrial Relations. Read widely about the various domains and try to dig a little deeper into any domain that seems interesting to you from the surface. This equips you with fodder for an informed discussion with the panel. For example, if you are interested in IR (industrial relations), you could read about the latest industrial strikes in the country and a bit about the different unions that exist and their political affiliations, so that you can base your interest in the topic. giving examples. Always remember that the best proof of interest is knowledge.
2. Communication is not a basic HR skill. Never say that your communication skills (or any other “soft” skills for that matter) will make you an excellent HR manager. Communication is a basic skill that is required of any manager within any organization. In fact, a marketing manager working with brands or a production manager in a plant needs to communicate more on a daily basis than the average human resources manager working with payroll or appraisals. She would never be expected to speak to customers or vendors, and even within the organization, her interaction with employees is far less than that of her immediate supervisor. By contrast, a human resources manager designing a compensation system for 10,000 employees would need just as many number-crunching and analytical skills as someone in finance or operations. Therefore, the perception that RR. H H. is all about soft skills is completely wrong and talking about soft skills as a core competency in an HR interview could be a recipe for disaster.
3. Sound realistic about the prospects in human resources. Don’t sound naive when you talk about where you see yourself in the long term. It’s nice to say you want to be a CEO, but be prepared for a panel counter attack that will give you a weak statistical chance of an HR manager becoming a company CEO (although examples do exist). You should know the career path of a typical HR professional, both in functional HR and in the consulting domain. You should also keep in mind that a move to a general management role from an HR role is not possible at any or all career stages. Typically, these changes are only possible at senior and higher management levels, where one has gathered enough functional experience to be able to take on a strategic role. For most of their career, an HR professional would accumulate experience as a generalist or specialist in a line role (within any organization) or as a consultant at a consulting firm (such as Hay Group or KPMG). Finally, you should also be aware of the fundamental difference between an HR functional or line role and a consulting role and the challenges associated with each. In very general terms, a functional HR manager works within an organization’s existing HR framework, while a consultant designs frameworks for various organizations of different sizes, ages, and cultures and advises them on policy and implementation.
4. Be clear as to why human resources. This question would haunt you in any interview in a number of ways, and it’s better to be prepared with a specific answer rather than a blanket ‘why MBA’ answer. While there is no ‘model’ answer to this question, I would suggest giving a straightforward and simple answer rather than something that involves your innate ‘interpersonal skills’ or ‘communication skills’. Something as simple as’my cousin is a senior human resources manager at P&G and I like the work he does‘might be a perfectly acceptable answer, as long as you know roughly what your cousin does. You have to come up with your own answer based on your previous experience or exposure to the corporate world and if it sounds genuine, there’s no reason a panel should doubt your reason for wanting to take an HR course.
5. Be clear as to why ‘XYZ’ to HR. You may be asked to justify why you want to switch from a career in software coding to one in human resources. I have personally faced this question at two of the top HR institutes in the country, namely TISS and XLRI, and more so because my experience was something as unlikely as architecture. Most applicants often make the mistake of trying to link their previous job or education to human resources and justify how skills gained in one will be useful in the other. (On a lighter note, most panelists believe that you do not acquire any skill in a software job!) Do that only if you can strongly relate the two, otherwise stay away from it. The best response to this would again be an answer that is frank and relevant to your own life experience. In my case, I told them that architecture was exciting as a course of study, but as a career, it was overrated in terms of creativity and stagnant in terms of progression. I wanted an MBA in HR. H H. because first of all, the MBA would give my career a boost, and HR. H H. it was something I could deal with, given my experience and inclination (compared to finance, operations, or marketing).
6. Reflect on human resource problems in your workplace. If you have worked before, think about what problems you yourself faced in your workplace and how you would try to solve them if you were the HR manager at the company. A friend of mine who was a journalist before joining a HR course. she could talk for hours. Therefore, being aware of HR issues in your previous job shows that you are aware of the challenges that an HR manager in an organization would normally face.
7. Do not enlarge HR. Finally, HR is not the best profession in the world. It’s as good or as bad as any other corporate function. Try not to make statements that suggest that HR is the reason behind all corporate successes or that HR can solve all corporate ills. Be aware of the limitations of human resource management both as a role in an organization and as a career for you. At the same time, emphasize the fact that HR is an emerging field and that most of the unresolved or neglected problems in organizations today are in the HR domain and even as a support function. Well-designed HR policies and practices can help HR play a strategic role in the success or failure of a business.
Keeping the above points in mind will hopefully help any HR course aspirant to have a positive impact on the interviewer and convey an impression of genuine interest in pursuing a career in HR management.
surav sengupta
