Kealey Gill

SLCC
BUS 1010-011
Eric LeDuc

Assessing a Career in Business

Saying I work in Human Resources is a broad statement. There are many
available jobs in the field and each require a different level of education. Until recently I
had no knowledge of what these jobs were or what they entailed. I was forced to
narrow my view down to one single job title: Human Resource Administrative
Assistant. All I knew was that I want to love what I do. I want a job that is flexible and
allows leeway incase an emergency arises.
I thought human resources would be a good fit for me because I like numbers. I
always enjoyed math in middle and high school and thought I would choose a career
that involved numbers and calculations. My academic advisors recommended that I try
my hand in accounting, take some classes and see what I think, with the idea that it
would satisfy my love of numbers and formulas. After taking some accounting classes I
realized that accounting is a language all its own and used more financial processes
than calculations. Accounting uses a few formulas and some basic addition and
subtraction, but I was looking for something a bit less tedious. A friend of mine told me
that her daughter works in human resources and loves it. She recommended that I look
into it. So I did. It seems that human resources has two sides: financial and managerial.
One side deals with payroll, insurance benefits, keeping track and maintaining records,
and timekeeping. The other side deals with human interaction in the workplace such as
recruiting potential employees and conducting job interviews with them and mediating
employee relations. I want to work in the numbers side, the financial side.
Not everyone starts out with a specific job in mind. Some people start with a

dream and pursue it by making a plan and following it until their goal is achieved.
Other times a job falls into their lap, and they adjust. The field is dynamic. You may
have
to go back and learn new things regardless of your starting point.
Marci Burk for example, never planned on being a Business Manager, she started
out working in the Office at The McGillis School. She says, I did not begin my
education
with the aim of achieving this job.
five

She then obtained an education over the span of

years at Salt Lake Community College, learning some office skills and computer
programs. And after her education was complete she worked her way up to becoming
the Business Manager.
According to Bryant and Stratton College, an HR Assistant is the right hand to
the head of HR. You can serve as a jack-of-all-trades, providing a variety of services for
the HR department from administrative assistant responsibilities to maintaining
accurate records of the company's employees. You might also need to provide accurate
employee reports for employee evaluations and promotions. It is the perfect training
ground to put your human resources degree to work as you learn hands-on the various
roles of the HR department.

Marci said that The big responsibilities of my job include pay roll, employee
benefits, and renewing the insurance liabilities. In this job you need to be time sensitive,
dependable, and detail oriented. Denise Johnson, an HRAA at Central Carolina
Community College says this about her job, I handled the annual scheduling of the
schools in the 10 counties of my district, HR matters of the staff, benefits, payroll, and
accounts receivable/payable.

AboutCareers.com says human resources assistants need at least a high school

diploma or a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) although some employers prefer to
hire candidates who have an associate or bachelor's degree. Successful applicants also
have training in performing general clerical tasks, using computers, maintaining filing
systems and in human resources practices.
Marci suggests developing skills such as collaboration, communication, people
skills, and
programs

other office skills. She also suggests learning some basic computer

such as Microsoft office, Quick Books, and databases.

According to ONET, the median wage for a human resource assistant was $18.49
an hour and $38,040 annually. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the national
mean hourly wage for this occupation is $18.74 with and paying $38.980 annually.
Massachusetts is the highest paying state for this occupation, paying $22.54 an hour
and 46,880 annually. Thats not a bad salary for an entry level position in any field.
During out interview I asked Marci Burk, Business Manager at the McGillis
School,
what she sees in the future for human resources. She said, HR will become more and
more necessary and regulated. Instead of just one person doing it all (as she does in this
small business), there will be a group or many people, each doing their own part. It will
keep growing.
Marci described her job as being flexible, relaxing, and breathable, she works five
days a week and has a very understanding boss. She says this job can be flexible. It
depends on the specific job you get and the company you will be working for.
I think this job would be a good fit for me. It is flexible, I would get to work with
numbers, and I could start even before finishing my degree. However, I think it would

be harder to finish school if I was working and taking classes all at once. I think it
would be better to finish my current degree first. It will be a long while before I finish
my schooling. Once I finish I could possibly take some internships as a human resource
assistant and see if I still like it. If I decide that I still want to work in human resources I
plan to get a job as an HRAA and work my way up from there.

Citation
McKay, D. (n.d.). Human Resources Assistant - Career Information. Retrieved April 16,
2015, from http://careerplanning.about.com/cs/occupations/p/hr_assist.htm
Central Carolina Community College (CCCC). (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2015, from
http://www.cccc.edu/collegeservices/humanresources/hr-bios/
Jobs You Can Get with a Human Resources Degree. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2015,
from http://www.bryantstratton.edu/global/bryantstratton/online/insights/jobs-youcan-get-with-a-human-resources-degree
43-4161 Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping. (n.d.). Retrieved
April 16, 2015, from http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes434161.htm
43-4161.00 - Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping (43-4161.00 Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping) Retrieved April 16, 2015,
from http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/43-4161.00
Burk, M. (2015, March 10). Marci Burk,Business Manager [Personal interview].