Hello from San Diego where I’m attending the SHRM 10 Annual Conference.
I’m sorry you aren’t here with me.
Today is a fun day because I’m speaking to a bunch of students who are studying HR — and I’m sharing mistakes I made as a Human Resources professional. Here are my slides.
I’m a lucky woman (sorta). I was able to take my career in HR and turn it into something fun. Not everyone has the same opportunities as me, and I am honored (I’m serious) to write and speak for a living. My story can’t be replicated — but it can be improved upon by future HR and recruiting professionals.
I want to make sure that HR students are thinking about the right issues as they enter the marketplace. If they burn out when they are 30, so be it. I want them to do something cooler and more profitable than Punk Rock HR.
Take. Over. The. Freaking. World.
That’s all.
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Steve Forbes is speaking on Sunday. To butter me up for some positive SHRM coverage, he put me in his magazine. Well, technically it’s his website. Whatever. It’s right here.
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While I’m away at the conference, I’ll have some guest bloggers who kick butt & take names. I am looking forward to watching the discussions. Should be fun.
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Finally, if you have any recommendations for me in San Diego, let me know. I won’t have much time to leave the area, but I’ll be piling in a car and visiting peeps (& the ocean) in La Jolla for a few minutes. I’m looking forward to that.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello Laurie & welcome to Sdiego! You are headed to my favorite part of SD which is LaJolla, simply takes my breath away! Please also make sure to visit Coronado Island, the drive over the bridge is exhilirating! Little Italy, Old Town and Petco Park right by the SHRM Conference are must sees! If time allows certainly take a boat tour of North & South Harbor- enjoy yourself and all the cool hr peeps….
Point Loma lighthouse – at the end of the road. As I remember, more of a rustic and rural adventure. Unless of course the area has become more developed since when I was last there – could it reall be – thirty years or so ago.
Why same-gender relationships? Seriously…that one is confounding my brain.
@mouse HR is like 66% women, but I often partnered with men to the exclusion of working with women. The women in HR seemed too soft. They always wanted to gossip, bond, and emote. I had no time for those relationships. Later on, when I needed strong women in my life to teach me how to be aggressive and get shit down without excluding other people, I had very few women I could reach out to…
Lesson learned. Make friends with women. Also, I hate the Queen Bee & Alpha Male syndromes. It’s pointless in the 21st century.
@RMS THanks!
@Cecily Awesome. Thanks. PS – Did you know I’m from Chicago, too?
I would love to hear the presentation that goes along with the slides. As a non-HR person, I think your guidance would be relevant for any career.
1- Always watch and learn from those who have gone before you. Learn from their successes and mistakes.
2- Math and science skills will be needed for the jobs of the future. Everything is going hi-tech.
3-Getting an education is a MUST. And an MBA can work for you no matter what you do. After getting 2 art degrees and a counseling degree, I wish now that I had an MBA.
4- Building relationships is the foundation for any career. Using social media to broaden your reach makes you have global marketability.
5- Ditto Laurie’s response to Mouse. it just makes sense in any workplace.
6- Never put all your eggs in one basket. Seeking opportunities beyond your current strata could identify diamonds in the rough for you. We all hafta grow.
7- My way or the highway should be your words, not someone else’s. Being prepared for the inevitable or the surprise attack is never a bad idea.
Let me know if you see some cool galleries in San Diego, Laurie. My work has quite the West Coast appeal, so I have heard.
Have a good time!
I’m sitting in the audience listening to you speak!!
Fish Tacos. Anywher in La Jolla or Pacific Beach. San Diego is the first place I ever hear of fish tacos.
You can add in the missing e and d where they belong.
If you have the time, the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park (not the famous zoo itself) is great. Less than an hour from downtown. A little like Jurassic Park. Hop onto the back of a pick-up truck, drive into a large enclosure full of African or Asian animals. Giraffes come up to the truck and you feed them by hand, marveling at their three-foot long tongues. Well, they are tall!
Hi Laurie,
Just a note from a fellow HR soldier, I was in HR for 15 years and with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for the last 26 years and I have seen it all. I finally promoted out 3 years into a budget analyst position!! I love your sight and I have always given advise and career developement how-to’s to the new kids coming into our organization. I do this because I don’t want them to fall into the same pit falls I did. I was 20 when I joined the department (it was only suppose to be a seasonal gig). So now I see your site and pass it along to everyone. Most of your readers and your advice was learned be me along time ago, and I have the bruises and tears to prove it. So I hope all of your readers learn from your seminars and this column. It makes me smile, when i get your updates.
Irene Kyes, AGPA ( and hard-core punk, Oy, Oy, Oy!! )
CIM Hospital
CDCR/HCSD