Starting an HR Career: Should I Begin as an HR Generalist or Choose Another Path?

Hello sir, I am Priyanka Adhikary. I am pursuing an MBA with an HR specialization and want to build my career in the HR field. There are various departments in HR. Which department should I start with? Please suggest.

Starting with an HR Generalist Profile

If I start with the HR generalist profile, what will be the first step for me to take? How much career growth can I expect in the HR generalist profile? Please guide me through the steps that I should take one by one.

Regards,
Priyanka Adhikary

Congratulations on Your Interest in HR!

This is for showing interest in HR and the willingness to build a career. As you know, HR is a broad area with different specialties and industry-specific practices as well.

First of all, you need to be clear on your interests, abilities, and willingness to learn new skills—do a SWOT analysis. I suggest a wide scan of citehr to understand the depth of HR, challenges, practices, etc., and then decide.

If you plan to enter PSUs, Banks, MNCs, etc., the entry level could be interns/executive trainees. You can see a career path once you get in. If looking at highly specialized areas like Manpower Staffing, Hiring, HRO, HR Technology (ERPs, Enterprise Software, SaaS), you need to plan accordingly. Another area would be Labor/Industrial Relations, Statutory Compliance, etc.