First steps to working in HR - How to get into HR and stay there?

 Few years after I myself wandered from nursing work to HR it suddenly seems that everybody wants to work in HR, including my former nurse colleagues! Large number of job opportunities seem to appear constantly, and HR attracts employees of a great variety of backgrounds. Particularly jobs related to recruitment are those that benefit from the worker’s expertise and understanding of the particular field as well as their ability in sales and marketing, even more than their previous background in HR, or the lack of it.

There are also a great number of different, HR related job titles, both in Finnish and in English. I have personally been intrigued by the role of a HR partner (or HR business partner) and how, if at all, it differs from the role of a HR specialist or a HR manager. However, in this blog post I have chosen to look into more entry level positions in spirit of this course.  As job postings are only valid for few weeks at a time, I have chosen not to include links to particular advertisements.

Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (Työterveyslaitos) defines the role and job of HR from the point of view of job ability management. The Institute underlines the HR’s role as a developer of policies and best practices, as well as a partner supporting the business operations, collector and analyzer of data. HR also works in co-operation with various entitities, such as management, occupational health care provider, employees’ insurance companies and KELA.

While job ability management is but one area of management, it still in my opinion includes multiple essential HR responsibilities: recruitment, staff turnover, employer brand and onboarding.

Recruitment company Barona Oy finds personnel also for HR jobs and a blog on their website goes through various ways to get in to the HR field, in particular without previous experience. It gives tips for looking for a trainee position, as well as jobs of HR assistant or Hr coordinator, both positions you can often work in without previous experience or while still studying. 

Henkilöstöasiantuntijan käsikirja (Joki 2018) published by Kauppakamari defines the role of HR specialist as a four fielded one: strategic HR partner, change agent, administrative expert and discussion partner of the personnel. This is very close to how I have come to understand the role myself. My own job as a HR specialist combines both strategic and operative work and I regularly work among developing new processes as well as  with daily work life challenges, such as termination and commencement of employment, recruitment, sick leave management, just to name a few.

Browsing through Duunitori.fi shows that HR assistant position often offers operative work related to practical organization of e.g. scheduling, administration of various systems (such as recruitment system or expense billing system), applicant communication and handling of documents. Particularly staffing agencies offer HR assistent and coordinator roles and they can be a brilliant first step to working in more demanding HR roles.

As mentioned earlier, also HR specialists roles in companies vary greatly from payroll to recruitment, onboarding and general employment support. Often the role of a specialist includes guidance and consulting of the employer and management, as well as strategic development of the company in co-operation with the business operations. However, more often than not the role of HR specialist requires several years experience of the field.

References:

Työterveyslaitos. Henkilöstöhallinto työkykyjohtamisen tukena. Työterveyslaitoksen oppimateriaalit. Verkkodokumentti, viitattu 9.9. 2023: https://www.ttl.fi/oppimateriaalit/strateginen-tyokykyjohtaminen/henkilostohallinto-tyokykyjohtamisen-tukena

Korkiakoski, S. 2021. HR-asiantuntijatyö - mikä HR-alassa kiinnostaa? Blogi. Barona.fi-verkkosivut. Verkkodokumentti, viitattu 9.9. 2023: https://barona.fi/blogi/hr-asiantuntijatyo

Joki, M. 2018. Henkilöstöasiantuntijan käsikirja. 6., uudistettu painos. Kauppakamari. eKirja. 








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