I haven’t held a job in Corporate HR in over two years.
As I explained to Peter Clayton on Total Picture Radio, I left Pfizer in 2007. We planned on moving down to North Carolina and I had every intention of finding a real job. Seriously. I have a spreadsheet that outlines every job I’ve applied for during the past two years.
Then this blog happened and I developed a personal brand — something that never really happens to HR Generalists and Recruiters. I became known as a woman who provides common sense career advice from the perspective of a disaffected HR professional. I also became known as a crazy cat lady. Both observations are true.
Unfortunately, I was recently advised to drop the moniker of Human Resources professional. I was told, “You’re no longer a Human Resources generalist and you don’t recruit, anymore. You’re a critic and you give out career advice. No offense, but you are not HR.”
Pow.
Never mind that I write a column for The Conference Board Review called HR: You Are Doing It Wrong. Forget that I’m an active member of SHRM and work overtime to influence the national debate on elevating our career field. Let’s ignore the fact that I speak at HR conferences and have several on my docket for 2010.
No, let’s focus on important things. Let’s have an inter-HR disagreement about who is and isn’t part of our profession because that’s what strategic thinkers and leaders do.
And obviously, I’m not HR enough for some people.
*
After two difficult conversations where I defensively laid out my bona fides, I decided that I was done with this mediocre conversation. A very good boss of mine once told me that I should receive feedback and simply say thank you. So thank you, dear colleague, for the feedback — but dammit, I can’t help but explain why it’s wrong to say that I am no longer worthy of being in HR. (I’m my own worst enemy.)
Yes, I am a writer and a critic. I am also a very good Human Resources practitioner, which is almost sad for me to admit. Some people can make great art. I can plan and execute HR strategies. I see things differently. I don’t wear brooches, I don’t believe in team building, and I don’t ask for buy-in. I’ll never be HR enough for some people in this field, which is why this field needs to change.
I realized that there is one thing I can do, though, to silence my HR critics: I can recertify for my SPHR.
After receiving my SPHR at the ripe old age of 25 and maintaining my expert-level certification for nearly 8 years, I let my certification lapse at the end of 2008. I thought, “If I want to take a standardized test, I’ll take my LSAT and go to law school.”
Unfortunately, if I want to impress the General Foods International Cappucino Cooler Hazelnut coffee drinkers in my field, I need more bona fides than wearing a scarf and a pantsuit.
So I’m taking the SPHR test on December 17th — and I’m tacking on the exam to a trip to Atlanta. I found a testing center, I ordered the books, and I’m ready to go.
I hate being defensive, and I can’t address all the criticism that hits my blog — but I can show a few people that I am the new face of HR and I know my stuff.
Watch out, suckers.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 65 comments… read them below or add one }
My 2 cents says it bullshit that people in a “field” will only take you seriously if you have some sort of initialed crap after your name. No one everyone secretly fears everyone else in their field: we’re still forming high school-level cliques based on who is wearing what brands. (And the coffee joke was killer, I have to say.)
Having said that, the fact remains that sometimes you have to take one for the team for the betterment of everyone watching the game and I commend you for taking on the challenge. The best way to change the rules is from inside.
Oh snap! International Coffees suck and someone needed to say it. I have a snazzy feather brooch that’s yours the next time we meet.
Some people are linear thinkers and that’s cool. We need them. They do the sucky boring jobs and don’t run off to write blogs and influence the profession. They plug away, day after day, doin it the same way until someone wearing a scarf *and* a brooch tells them to do it differently.
I’m with 50 (Fitty?) Cents on this one…”let the haters hate and watch the money pile up”. And no, I don’t mean that it’s about money. If you permit me to take a bit of license with rap parlance, I think Fitty is saying do your thing, collect your accolades and ignore your detractors.
Crush the SPHR!
I wished people realized that just because you have letters after your name doesn’t mean you have common sense. Isn’t doing what’s right for people and business common sense?
Yo go, Laurie! You’ll rock the SPHR! But remember, just like Ann said, you don’t need letters behind your name to prove you’re worthy. You’ve proved you’re worthy by the awesome content you provide, the connections you’ve made, and the community you’ve built. YOU did that, not a bunch of letters.
It’s especially funny that 2 years out of HR would be considered “no longer HR” when most HR business practices haven’t evolved significantly since the 1950s (performance reviews anyone?).
Just listened to your podcast with Peter Clayton. IMHO You have established your credentials simply by what you do and your work speaks for itself. I love the thumb your nose attitude and hope your recertification will shut up at least some of your critics.
BTW, A few blogs ago I told you that you gave great advice and should do this for a living…..It was supposed to be funny. But, just in case you thought I was one of those nitwits I wanted to let you know it was just my very dry, sometimes lame sense of humor.
That’s bizarre. That’s like saying that Marcus Buckingham is no longer a management expert because he no longer works for Gallup and instead just does his own thing. (I have no idea whether he left Gallup or not, but that was the first illustration that came to mind.)
As I said in an earlier thread, don’t let the criticism bring you down. Do let it fire you up to show your critics how irrelevant they are. People of little relevance often are threatened by those who have significant relevance, which you do. They try to tear you down so they don’t have to justify their own irrelevance.
It isn’t easy being important, Laurie. But you wear it well. It is much more becoming than a brooch.
Good luck on the SPHR! (I assume everyone else here knows what that is.)
Why are you so unemployable? You seem to have great qualifications and have worked for well known (although deplorable) companies. Hello, Monsanto.
*fistbump*
Hmph, you may be a certified (and certifiable) HR Pro but you are also a Brooch-Hater, and that I WILL NOT stand for.
What about the people who will judge you as a conformer because you have your SPHR?
Laurie, you have a strong personal brand, the only reason to do it is because it effects your ability to work with clients you really want to work with, or need to work with.
If I were a stereotypical high level executive, I would be very concerned about hiring someone with her own blog who was outspoken. Consider: a lot of executives that are *fired* walk away with millions of dollars in the process. A high level exec that disagrees with the status quo could be very dangerous.
But then again, I think we should end off-shore tax loopholes, cap executive compensation, provide disincentives for companies to manufacture products overseas that are sold here, etc.
Who died and made “them” the HR Gods, defining who and who isn’t a HR Pro?
Good luck on the test.
Don’t worry. The certification will not stop of the haters. They will come-up with a different issue.
When I told someone that I had my PHR, I was asked by one of learned peers how was I eligible. After listing all of my non-comp hr experiences, the HR professional commented: You do not have any union experience or safey experience so you are not HR.
I have spent my entire career in banking, insurance and financial services (and this HR Pro knew this) which do not have unions or major safety risks. Oh well.
Join the club. What do professors know about actual HR?
Good Luck on the SPHR! Although you have already proved yourself as an expert in the field, re-certifying is a great way to further distinguish yourself. The SHRM Learning System is a great resource to have on hand for studying and reference throughout your career.
Congratulations and good luck!
http://twitter.com/SHRM_PHR_SPHR
Sorry, you are HR. You don’t get to escape the field that easily, even if you didn’t follow the guidelines detailed in the employee handbook. Yes, you will scare the policy police to death. Good. Pick up your coffee cup and keep marching.
Fuck them Laurie. You do what you gotta do to put yourself right, but as someone who has worked in HR as a non-exempt employee for five years and CAN’T even get her PHR, our association tells me everyday that what I do isn’t actual HR and that I’m not a professional. Obviously I beg to differ.
You keep me sane and you keep me focused on why I’m in HR – it would be so easy to just go with the double-speak, the rhetoric, and doing things the way the scarf-wearers want us to. You remind me that there is another school of thought and some days that’s the only thing that keeps me going to work to try again.
Talk about some brooch wearing, scarf tying, go choke on your Hazelnut Belgian Cafe bullshit…go get those letters and then please let us know who you make eat them first.
For those who questioned your HR cred, the hell with them. I have followed your blog since meeting you in New Orleans and you have plenty of cred and show your knowledge of the field constantly.
I think that having the SPHR behind your name (for transparency I have that) does show at first blush that you have mastered the body of knowledge and you can impress on them in further conversations that you can apply it with common sense and “street smarts”.
Good Luck on the exam.
It is a garbage argument to begin with but the response is troubling too. SPHR means very little in the real world. Whoever compared it to a CPA exam is on drugs too. Not even close. I know too many bonafide SPHR’s that couldn’t HR themselves out of a paper bag.
I have decided there is one and only one reason to take the SPHR: money. If I have a verified employer or client who will pay me 10k or more because of those stupid letters, I will take the exam, I will pass it and I will deposit the 10k into my bank account. If it isn’t worth that to an employer or client, it isn’t worth it to me.
Degrees without smarts? That and a buck will get you a bus ride – and I’ve got the sheepskins.
Haters, get off the train. Laurie – you’ve got great street cred as well as the alphabet soup. Your peeps got your back.
In the majority of institutions, HR is a necessary evil, an antiquated crock of BS. Hey, I’m in HR… I know from experience. People talk big talk and have a hard time getting the worker bees and the management to walk that talk. But they keep trying and trying and trying and trying and… But alas, there has to be someone to process the paperwork. The person who told you that “you’re not HR” just feels like you’re pissing in her/his pool. I have learned more from this blog than I have from dozens fo HR helper how-to guides. So with my snarky HR comments out of the way, I say re-certify if you want. Largely, people listen to you and people trust the majority of what you have to say. Heaven forbid that someone might even get a LAUGH from your blog. (HR… not a place for laughter.) Maybe it’s time for Senor Naysayer to shove it. Indeed.
Laurie, there have been no earth-shattering, ground-breaking advancements in our field in the last two years, so you haven’t missed anything. If you were HR two years ago, you are still most definitely HR. Come to think of it, I can’t remember anything this occupation has done that’s been very forward-thinking, and I’ve been in it since it was called “Personnel” and SHRM was ASPA. But the hell of it is, I’m sitting for the SPHR for the first time myself next month because somehow or other SHRM has managed to convince enough non-HR folks that the letters are important. Humbug!
hmmmmm, that person may have posted something on my site as well. Thanks for sharing, and as you know by now that HR is something hard to walk away from. It’s like “Once In HR, Always In HR”. You contribute to our field in so many ways, and when was the last time this person whom you speak of actually contributed something?????
People really need to mind their own business. Obviously being closed minded doesn’t get HR practitioners very far. In fact, they will become the Secretaries of tomorrow. More than likely your haters will hate you because you are able to be successful outside of the glass walls & ceilings. And be soooo damn good at being a thought leader!!
You Go Girl!!
Oh, bugger the haters! I keep being harassed to just get my PHR so I can be a “real” HR practitioner. What the crap, man? I work real HR every day! I’ve resisted all this time because 1. I think certification is a racket that will require me to sit through useless re-certification seminars taught by others who believe that you’re only real HR if you have letters; 2. I’m a Gen X-er, and this all feels like Heathers to me.
I’m sure there is value in having a PHR or SPHR, but I’ve yet to hear anyone make a solid case for it aside from proving myself to other HR types. And I’ve yet to have positive real world experiences with SPHR’s. I know a number of them who are incredibly booksmart, but they’re all doing Old School HR. This past year has shoved us into Brave New World turf. The Old School just isn’t going to work anymore.
Besides, I suck at test taking.
OMG, have I conformed to the stereotypical HR chic???? I just bought Madeline Albright’s book “Read my pins” because I’m in HR and I’m also a Huge Pin Collector!!!….don’t hate on me for fitting the typical HR fashionista with pant suits and all…..you go on with your bad self and get your cert and show those beaooochhes what you can do…There will always be haters no matter what you do, so do what you want. BTW, I was on the fence about getting my SPHR and knowing you’re getting yours just push me over….
I’m not vain enough to think you’re referring to comments I made on one of your earlier posts – comments which by the way were not necessarily directed at you. Whether or not you’re in the “HR Club” (which is kind of a lame club – the parties rarely have alcohol and never involve nudity)you offer an insightful, direct, and refreshing perspective (based on real professional experience) which could only be offered from at least one step removed from the profession. “Practicing HR Professionals” are sometimes too close to this gig to offer a critical stance on anything of substance. You help us do that…every day…and that’s cool with me.
Funny: I just deleted the SPHR from my LI profile because it looks and feels too much like, “Look! I have letters, too!” in the context I work in now.
Agreed with Lance that the game’s not worth a candle unless there’s some cash incentive involved (and adding: or unless you’re in the midst of a career-change and need some 3rd-party validation). Also agreed with H Aria that the recertification classes are *brutal* time-wasters, with a few rare exceptions — especially for someone with your practitioners’ chops.
Dude, I’ve got to go with Lance on this one: the argument makes no sense. Show me the causal relationship between SHRM certification and success and/or results, and then we can talk.
Sadly what I think is really happening here is that other people want to show a correlation between your success and your brand to your certification. They in turn will feel that because they have the same certification as you do, they by some weird from of osmosis, have the same potential for success as you’ve had.
And let me ask you this, what does being part of HR have to do with commenting and critiquing HR? Did the, with all due respect, jackass that gave you that nugget of wisdom about not being HR, ever tell her or his CEO, CFO, CIO, etc, etc, etc to take a leap because they weren’t HR and had no business telling her/him how to do their job.
Laurie, your choices are you own, and if this decision allows you to make more scratch, then you have my full support, however, it will always feel like another victory for the small minded, underwhelming, least common denominator types that over populate the field.
Holy kamoli Batman, wow…all i can say is you probably have forgotten what most HR practitioners have not learned or experienced…If I had a national consultancy in HR (you never know) you would be the first recruit for partner for your HR prowess…get that resume dusted off!
M
Lori! You pumped me up!
I’m working on my CHRP (the Canadian equivalent of SPHR), although those letters won’t mean that I don’t know my stuff. Just because my background is retail, and I’m young, I feel the need to prove my skills.
Thanks for all the great reading!
I AM HR GOD! STAND BEFORE ME AND BE JUDGED! NO SOUP FOR YOU!
Funny, but I actually visualize the HR god being a woman in a pantsuit.
You. Go. Woman!
“you are not HR.” What a narrow perspective! The problem with a narrow perspective is that it excludes too much valuable information. Once those of us who practice HR mature to the point where we value the perspectives of those who are new, old, recent, former, inside, outside, etc. then, and only then, should we be thought of as a profession.
You’ve not only “been there, done that and got the T-shirt” but you’ve taken HR to new levels and modeled that behavior to the rest of us. Your success speaks volumes more than any certification. (Disclaimer, I hold the SPHR certification.)
What HRpufnstuf and Lance Haun said.
When did HR become such an exclusive club that people want to control membership? We would be eliminating a lot of people that make the rest of us think if we close the doors to everyone that is not a current practitioner.
Reading your post as I take off my scarf and hang the pants suit up. I love it Laurie. I know the awareness of OSHA violations will be invaluable to you. Can I have your study materials when you are done? (If you pass).
Laurie-Whoever told you that “you are not HR” provided you and your readers with a perfect example of what’s wrong with the HR brand. Thanks for opening this dialogue, and good luck on the exam.
All I have to say is that these critics need to (bleep) off. Seriously. A rose by any other name and all that crap. If you aren’t HR then I don’t want to be what they consider HR either. Go kick ass on that exam, not that you need it.
Rather than International Coffee and a brooch, I believe in vodka and a tattoo.
Good luck on the exam, though I definitely agree that you don’t need it to be HR. I think whoever told you that has too narrow a definition.
go ahead, call me a hater…
i left journalism. so, i don’t call myself a journalist anymore, even though i write and read about it a ton. it stings, but…ya gotta own the new you. it’s ok. you’ll get used to it.
They are just jealous because you OWN HR. Who said that? I want to beat them up.
Screw them Laurie. Anyone with the nerve to tell you you’re not an HR professional is ignorant and threatened by your non-conformist personality – which, by the way, is one of the things that makes you so essential to this field. I know I wouldn’t pass their narrow-minded definition either. After all, I’m an ex-corporate HR pro turned business coach. Whatever!
@Simone Ultimately, I think you’re right. If I can help change things from within, it might make the future better. Also, I want Lon O’Neil’s job — although I’m not sure he has his SPHR. LON YOU ARE ON NOTICE. YOUR JOB IS MINE IN 20 YEARS! http://www.shrm.org/ABOUT/GOVERNANCELEADERSHIP/BOARDOFDIRECTORS/Pages/default.aspx
@Peopleshark I always go to 50 and Martha Stewart for business advice. Seriously. They know empires.
@Ann I wish.
@Molly Thanks. SPHR means nothing to anyone outside of HR. Like you. So thanks for commenting!
@DanFlan Slow like molasses. It took me two years to get an exit policy reviewed by the board of directors. You’re right.
@Fran I knew you were joking. You are awesome & thanks for the props!
@Alison Do you think Marcus and Lindsey Buckingham are related? Both British. Both kind of kick butt in weird ways. I’m going to wikipedia it.
@BZ I wish SPHR stood for something cool. Thank you. xoxo
@Lori I’m not unemployable. If anything, I am very employable. I just decided to go a different route in life. I applied for jobs but nothing was a good fit — except for writing.
@Kerry ::terrorist fistbump::
@Maren I like brooches that are ironic — but not cat brooches. Never.
@Nelking Dammit, you’re right. I’m a total conformer. I can’t win either way.
@pete It’s the executives who want to hire me. The HR people are a little wary. They say things like, “She’s not a good cultural fit.” Exactly. That’s the point.
@Penny LOL. I want the HR gods to bestow good fortune on me.
@salescomp OMG, you are so right. If not unions, then safety. If not safety, then OD/OE stuff. HR people fight over the smallest piece of pie in the universe. Pathetic.
@bruno I take comfort in the fact that we BOTH know shit.
@kewee Dammit, I was hoping someone would tell me that I’m not HR.
@Jackbuilt The list of people who can eat it is long.
Thank you.
@John Thank you. So sweet & nice. I have you fooled, apparently.
@Lance I’m hoping some HR leaders will fork out more money to have me speak to their internal HR teams on my new Punk Rock HR toolkit which includes the Rebranding HR model, new HR innovations model, and getting your heads out of your butts model.™®
@Marsha Thanks but I paid for the test and I’m taking it.
@CJ Oh shucks, that’s so nice. Thank you!
@ScottS Humbug indeed. Thanks for the props.
@Yonica Thank you so much. We’re in this together.
@H.Aria I’m a Gen-Xer, too, and I want to punch these cliques in the face — but I also want to own the cliques just like in Heathers. So I’m torn.
@Latina HR I totally own pantsuits. I talk a good talk but sometimes you have to don the uniform.
@Charlie Thank you. I don’t remember your specific feedback — except when you told me how awesome I am, how you want to be like me, and not to tell your boss. That’s all I know.
Thank you.
@kentropic I want to start adding fake accreditations to my name. Lauren Ruettimann, SPHR, PI, XOU, RP, esq.
@Puf SNAP. I know that I’m giving into the dorks and the small-minded, but I paid for the test so I’m taking it. Then I’ll kick some ass and take names — and never take it again.
@Mark F. I accept the job. Keep me posted!
@Tracey Keep me posted on your success.
@Dan All of my pantsuits are unfortunately paired with spanx to tuck in my belly and my fat ass. This is how I know that god is a man.
@Low THANKS!
@Larry Thank you, Mr. SPHR.
@JMnichol HR is such an exclusive club — and people are beating down our doors to join, right?
@Matt They’re yours. You can have them in fifteen days.
(Also your comment made me snort.)
@Frank Thanks, dude!
@Minion Word. Thanks.
@Robin S. I support this new line of HR thinking.
@Tim Well thanks, too.
@Alice You’re not a hater. You’ve boiled down the argument to the core — but we are who we say we are until we stop claiming it. I’m still in HR. Does that make sense?
@Amanda Pffffftt. Please, no biggie.
@Alicia We are two of a kind — except you make money.
I don’t know anything about the SPHR, but I do know two things, Laurie: you’re one hell of a writer, and your blog has provided this poor soul (and others, I’m sure) with great career advice and how to survive in the work world — better than I’ve ever gotten from any HR professional in more than 15 years of working for a living. If that isn’t providing “Human Resources” I don’t know what is.
HR are all is all encompassing. So are those pant suits. Do let the pantsuits win!
Atlanta- yeah! See you soon.
When you pass the test…. don’t put the SPHR after you name to show them. You can pull out your credentials when you get into one “those” discussions again.
Look – you can be a professional in the field of Human Resources and not work in a corporate HR position or some would say be a “practitioner.” I agree. Lots of people do it. But, recertifying for your SPHR doesn’t prove anything does it? A test isn’t what makes ANYONE an HR Professional. You know that — don’t you?
So why are you doing it again?
You need to stop listening to jealous, intellectually challenged people.
I just wrote about this very topic in my blog…. it took me entirely too long to realize it after I was laid off, but no one can take your mojo from you. Just because someone isn’t paying you, or validating your wisdom via a performance review, doesn’t make your work and your worth any less valuable.
I actually think that if/when you choose to practice the art of HR again, the company that hires you is going to hit the jackpot. People in any industry (including HR) can get too insulated and/or up their own @ss if they’re only seeing a single perspective. You’re bringing added value to the table. As well as a lot of cat hair.
This is precisely why I don’t get along with most “pro-corporate” people. They can’t prove their point with facts or justify their arguments with actual REASON, so they attack the person. That comment was meant to devalue you as a person, a professional and an entrepreneur. It’s bull crap and utterly ridiculous. Screw the SPHR. Blog on.
My mom would say, “Shake the dust off your feet.”
I agree with the author and wrote something through Mixx.com which I thought would be posted as my comment.
In a nutshell, I think we need to stop quarreling about who belongs or doesn’t belong in HR, and start including and extending ourselves within our organizations so that our functions are viewed as vital to its success. The longer we keep others in the dark as to what it takes to practice good HR the longer we will perpetuate a perception of elitism, and inflexibility, and we will be ignored, avoided or eliminated.
Much success on the SPHR exam!
You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone! You are HR, and whoever can’t see that needs to check themselves before they wreck themselves, yo!
I come here often but rarely post. But I have to say that the a-hole who said you are not HR is a real….well, you know. I have a love-hate relationship with the whole PHR, SPHR initial thing. Seems like a necessary evil to shut some people up. But as Robert Smith sings: “Everyone’s happy They’re finally all the same ’cause everyone’s jumping Everyone else’s train…”
“we are who we say we are until we stop claiming it”
- i donno, i keep thinking of these dudes i knew back in the day, who would claim that they were CEO’s or Entrepreneurs and make up fake power lunches to maintain the illusion. sometimes who we say we are just ain’t da truth!
There are reasons to get and keep certified. A lot of it comes down to marketability. No matter what you think of the exam and the practitioners who have past, the fact is there are companies that require it and use it as a Kick-out question on their job boards. Can you get around it with your awesome networking and HR Fu, sure but not having it makes it that much harder to get on to the right person’s desk…
Does that really apply to Laurie? I don’t know, but it might be easier for her to sell her brand if she has it. For better or worse, it is one of the few yard sticks we have.
As for Laurie not being in HR, that is ludicrous. She is more knowledgeable and entrenched in the HR field than most 20+ year veterans I know.
I think this is actually a very good question for the next generation of HR folks to attempt to answer – do we need a certification? Really? Unless your planning on going mega-corporate, the story of your career, your ability to present yourself and your ideas, and your personal brand should be enough to get you the job.
The last three jobs I’ve applied to have all required a SHRM certification. I don’t have one and I don’t wear pantsuits. I’ve gotten all three jobs, and I’ve rocked ‘em.
The way you dare to buck the traditional role of HR is why I follow this blog – and honestly, I see the SHRM cert. as the membership card of the old guard…
Besides, Laurie, you’re punk, right? As Mr. Marx’s said:
PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION. I DON’T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT ME AS A MEMBER.
Hey Laurie!
Congrats on your goals to get recertified! I am sending you lots of good thoughts and wishes!
I have a love/hate relationship with the PHR/SPHR. I certified as a PHR and to be honest, I use NOTHING that I learned in my position as an HR Manager. However, I use the business acumen that I’ve learned over the years, along with the advice of several mentors. Believe me, I am truly grateful for all of the terrific supervisors and mentors that I’ve had over the years!!
Out on a limb here…Speaking from personal experience only, I find the content on the PHR/SPHR exams to be of little use in the various HR jobs I’ve held and dammit, I do a great job as an HR professional! Our department heads and organizational leaders talk in dollars, ROI, efficiency, savings, etc. They could care less about “theory”.
I applaud everyone who has taken the cert exams. Kudos to you! I just don’t think that having 3-4 letters behind your name makes you any smarter or “more worthy” than anyone else in the field.
You rock, your blog rocks, and I am glad I stumbled upon it.
Best to you, nail the exam, and make sure you pet your cats every day!
I am a recruiter with experience without a diploma in this field, and I have been told the same. I am going back to school to show them the damn paper !
The field of HR would benefit to have more people like you.
Eve Lessard
@bhired
@Patrick @MattyMat @nelking Thank you.
@Jenn Your mom is so wise.
@Ivana Thanks.
@JL YO & thanks.
@debbie @michael @icepick Thank you so much.
@KHG you had me at robert smith.
@Corey I heart you. Thanks. That was nice to read and very good points on the marketability and relevancy of the certification.
@Lindsay I think the Groucho comment is so funny. Thank you.
@HR/DC Thank you so much. I’m with you on the love&hate.
@eve Good luck @ school. You can do it.
Again, congrats on your efforts to recertify. I had to send you yet ANOTHER comment on this subject because it’s so relevant!
I have a close friend who works in the legal field and is taking the PHR for the first time. He sent me an e-mail last night stating that he was so disenchanted with everything he was learning that he was questioning going into the field at all. He remarked that the study guides were so filled with corporate jargon that he had a hard time understanding the meaning of the modules.
TRUST ME, I UNDERSTAND!!!! I LOATHE CORPORATE JARGON!
Hrmph.
I really took this to heart because my “dislike” side of HR says that “PHR” is nothing but a three letter word that may get a person some extra cha-ching in their check when they are looking for a new job.
My love side says, hell with it…Take it. What do you have to lose? You may, in fact, have EVERYTHING to gain!
I advised him to think hard about what his career goals are but to also remember that HR is constantly evolving and that the “body of knowledge” that SHRM puts out is only a fraction of what he will probably use in his career.
Is that bitchy?
I am good at my job and I love HR…I love HR-related technology and how it is propelling organizations and management forward when it is embraced and used correctly.
I also love your column and the posts I get daily because they keep me from going insane.
I wish you the best in 2010 and I am so thankful I have your posts to read when I get to work. They give me hope; they make me proud of working in HR; and let me know that there’s a different and sometimes better way of doing things aside from what a “test” tells us to do.
Peace to you and keep blogging!