Seeking Advice: Which Industry Offers the Best Start for an HR Career?

Hello seniors, I am Anup, and I am pursuing my postgraduate course in HR from one of the top colleges in India specializing in HR. Currently, I am undertaking my summer internship at one of the "BIG 3" Indian IT companies. I chose this company based on recommendations from my seniors who mentioned the quality of summer projects offered here. I have indeed been assigned a very interesting summer project, but I am not keen on initiating my career at this organization due to the sluggish HR processes. Whenever I propose something new, the immediate question is how I will justify it to the managers. There seems to be a lack of respect for HR within the company.

Guidance on Career Opportunities

Could you please guide me on potential companies where I could kickstart my career? I am eager to begin at a reputable organization that can offer me substantial exposure. Additionally, I would appreciate advice on which industry sector would be ideal to start my career in, such as FMCG, pharma, banking, etc.

Thank you in advance.

Regards,
Anup

The Value of All Companies

If you start distinguishing between good and bad companies, my suggestion is that you should run your own venture instead of working under anyone. No company is bad at all. Even a grocery shop, a shop in a slum area, or a pan bidi shop, all are good. All these teach something. It’s the employees who work there that bring the company goodwill. People don’t even respect any sales guy who acts as an uninvited guest entering any office. But when the salesperson provides a solution and the client is happy, even the client himself respects that salesperson, regardless of how fresh or experienced he is.

Misconceptions About HR Roles

All employees think HR is only needed for recruitment and salary distribution at times. So there is nothing wrong even in that company too. When they ask you how you are going to present that to management, it is a very genuine question. Have you realized, did you realize how? You are doing a summer internship, and you have not even faced a situation where HR Heads need to sit with other department heads.

The Importance of Finding Solutions

Complaining is very easy, but finding a solution is very difficult. If you want to learn, stay in that company only. There is always something to learn in every organization. You must find the opportunity. No one will come and give you.

Regards

Job Connect Consultancy,

Thanks for replying to my post. I am not sure whether you understood my query completely, but I would like to reply to some points raised in your query.

"If you start distinguishing between good and bad companies, my suggestion is you should run your own venture rather than working under any one."

I don’t think so. There are lots of good companies that have solid HR practices. Even among IT companies, there is Infosys where HR practices are criticized (please don’t give me the number of awards they won; it’s people’s opinion that matters) while companies like Accenture have good HR practices. Now, if you want to start your career as an HR with an IT company, there will be a huge difference in the outlook and exposure you get with either of these.

"No company is bad at all. Even a grocery shop, a shop in a slum area, a pan bidi shop, all are good. All these teach something."

Correct. You will learn a lot of things, but the amount of learning, exposure, and experience will vary when you start with a grocery store compared to starting with, for example, P&G. I hope you agree. The situations you are describing only happen in Bollywood.

"It’s the employees who work there that bring the company goodwill. People don’t even respect any sales guy who, as an uninvited guest, enters any office. But when the salesperson provides a solution and the client is happy, even the client himself respects that salesperson, no matter how fresh or experienced he is."

It’s a very generic statement that everyone knows. However, for a person to excel, one of the factors is his exposure, his peer group, and the environment where he works. It’s then that his real skills come out. If you work in a company that is very hierarchical and all you do is bootlick the boss, no matter how good you are, there will be a limit to your growth.

"All employees think HR is needed only for recruitment and salary distribution. So there is nothing wrong even in that company too."

This line really made me question your exposure and attitude towards HR. If you really think HR is just for paying salaries and recruitment, then please don’t read further. I would recommend that you read "Human Resource Champions" by Dave Ulrich. I hope that one day you will realize that HR is much more than just salary and recruitment. So much more that now such tasks are often outsourced in most companies and are no longer handled by corporate HR.

"When they asked you how you are going to present that to management, it is a very genuine question. Have you realized how? You are doing a summer internship, and you have not even faced a situation where HR heads need to sit with other department heads."

It is indeed a genuine question, and I completely understand it. But if the company culture is such that there is so much lack of trust in HR that more than half of the time HR has is spent explaining things to people, there is a serious issue with the credibility of HR in that company. It means that there is an inherent lack of trust in HR. If, when the company releases its quarterly results, all the managers ask the finance department for proof and breakdowns, and half of the finance team’s time is spent explaining, then you can understand the loss of efficiency in that department.

"Complaining is very easy, but finding a solution is very difficult."

True. But the point is, there should be a culture that tries to find solutions instead of sweeping issues under the rug. That makes all the difference.

"If you want to learn, stay in that company only. There is always something to learn in every organization."

No, I will not stay in that company. Even my seniors from earlier batches advised me against the company.

"You must find the opportunity. No one will come and give you."

True. This is something that I learned very early in life.

This post is by no means intended to be rude. It’s just to clarify my intentions, and I still stand by my point. Where you start your career makes a huge difference. To any HR aspirant reading this post, please research your interests, the companies, and the company’s work culture before making a decision. It will make a huge difference.

Thanks :D

Anup

I completely agree with what you have said about HR. People who still think that HR is just a supporting function are not aware of the fact that HR has shifted from just being a support function to an equivalent business partner today. It was really shocking the way someone mentioned the functioning of HR (recruitments & salary). HR builds the culture of a company; it's the face of any organization. It prepares the company for change, identifies the cultural characteristics that the firm should reduce or eliminate to optimize competitive advantage, and defines the required culture, including the specific behavior and technical knowledge & skills that the organization needs to create to support the sources of competitive advantage.

I can go on and on about the role of strategic HR in an organization, but trust me, you will come across such people in almost every organization who will not skip any chance to criticize the HR function. But it's not their fault; it's us who perhaps have still not succeeded in showing them the power of HR.

I agree with the fact that we learn something from even the worst experiences of our life, whether professional or personal, and hence I'm sure that even you would have learned something from being in this company (maybe you learned how to deal with such people). Here's wishing you all the very best! God bless. 

Regards