Human resource management will be increasingly becoming a critical function inside of most businesses and more plus more b-schools in India are selling specialized courses in AN HOUR. As a matter of fact, MBA as training is moving towards better specialization and it is not uncommon for an MBA aspirant these days to find himself shortlisted with regard to five different courses — an MBA in Financial from SP Jain, the PGDHRM from XLRI, the PGP in agri-business through IIM-A, an MBA within Rural Management from IIFM Bhopal and a Procedures Management course from NITIE.
A possible reason for such common specialization among MBA lessons is that with the proliferation involving b-schools all over India, the higher quality ones are trying to strengthen their very own brand by offering tailor-made lessons based on their core competencies. This way, the institute keeps away from the rat race involving general MBAs and forms for itself an image of any market leader in its distinct domain of MBA training.
While it would be premature for you to signal the end of the standard MBA course, it is indisputable that specialization is going up and MBA aspirants have to, in addition to cracking the front door exams, prepare themselves the group discussions (GDs), personalized interviews (PIs) and phrases of purpose (SOPs) on the specific function that they have given to.
Given this context, I have, via my experience as an interviewee for and now a student in an HR course tried to merge seven points that an aspirant for an MBA in HUMAN RESOURCES may do well to bear in mind. As the issues mentioned below happen to be specifically related to a HUMAN RESOURCES interview, I believe they would use in a similar vein some other specialized courses as well. But my success in a HUMAN RESOURCES interview and my encounter in an HR course restrict my observations to the HUMAN RESOURCES domain only.
1 . Learn about HR as an occupation. If asked about which domain name in HR you find fascinating, you should not stare blankly just like you thought specialization ended along with selecting the MBA(HR) choice on the application form. The HOUR function has many sub-functions in it, like Compensation, Employment, Selection, and Training along with Development, Performance Management along with Industrial Relations. Read upwards broadly on the various areas and try to delve a bit straight into any one domain that would seem interesting to you from the exterior.
This equips you to use fodder for an informed debate with the panel. For instance, in the event that IR (industrial relations) captures your interests, you could read up on the latest business strikes in the country and a tad on the different trade assemblages that are there and their political affiliations, so that you can substantiate your own interest in the subject by giving good examples. Always remember that the best evidence of interest is knowledge.
2. Communication is not a primary HR skill. Never say your communication skills (or any other so-called ‘soft’ ability for that matter) will make a person an excellent HR manager. Conversation is a basic skill that’s needed by any manager within any organization. In fact, an advertising manager working with brands or possibly a production manager on a retail outlet floor needs to communicate more profoundly on a daily basis than an average HOUR manager working with payrolls or maybe appraisals. He would never need to talk to clients or manufacturers, and even within the organization, the interaction with employees is usually to a far lesser magnitude than the immediate supervisor’s.
However, an HR manager building a compensation system with regard to 10, 000 employees will need as much analytical and quantity crunching skills as might someone in finance or even operations. The perception consequently that HR is all about smooth skills is completely wrong 1 and talking about soft abilities as a core competence in the HR interview could be a recipe ingredient for disaster.
3. Seem realistic about the prospects throughout HR. Do not sound like Barco when talking about where you notice yourself in the long run. It is great to say that you wish to be the CEO but be prepared for the counter-attack from the panel providing you with a dim statistical possibility of an HR manager actually becoming the CEO of the company (though there are these kinds of examples). You should be aware of the employment opportunity of a typical HR professional, in functional HR as well as in typically the consulting domain.
You should also know that a shift to a standard management role from an HOUR role is not possible at any kind of time or at every stage throughout one’s career. Usually, this sort of shift is possible merely at the senior and top-rated management levels where underneath they gathered enough functional competence to be able to take on a tactical role. In most of his occupations, an HR professional might gather expertise as a generalist or specialist in a collection role (inside any organization) or as a consultant within a consultancy firm (like the actual Hay Group or KPMG).
Finally, you should also be aware of the essential difference between a collection of functional HR parts and a consulting role and also the challenges associated with each. Really broadly, a functional HR office manager works within an existing HUMAN RESOURCES framework in an organization, whilst a consultant designs frames for various organizations’ diverse sizes, ages, and customs and advises them with policy and implementation.
4. Be clear as to why HR. That question would haunt you actually in any interview of different sorts, and it is better to be prepared with a specific answer instead of giving a general answer for ‘why MBA’. While there is no ‘model’ answer to this question, An excellent opportunity to give a frank and simple result instead of something that involves your current inborn ‘people skills’ or perhaps ‘communication skills. Something as easy as ‘my cousin is actually a senior HR manager from P&G and I like the performance he does could be a flawlessly acceptable answer, provided you realize broadly what your cousin will. You have to come up with your own response based on your past knowledge in or exposure to the organization world and if it sounds authentic, there is no reason why a board should doubt your cause for wanting to do an HOURS course.
5. Be clear that explaining why ‘XYZ’ is to HR. You may well be asked to justify the reason you want to shift from employment in software coding to at least one in HR. Personally, There are faced this question in two of the top HR organizations in the country, viz., TISS in addition to XLRI, and more so mainly because my background was one thing as unlikely as buildings. Most aspirants often face the mistake of trying to connect their past work or perhaps education with HR and also justifying how skills paid for in one will come in handy in the other. (On a brighter note, most panelists feel you don’t acquire any expertise in a software job! ) Do that only if you can firmly relate the two, else stay clear of it.
The best answer to this will again be a frank response and one that is relevant to your individual experience in life. In my scenario, I told them this architecture was exciting for a course of study, but as a career, it turned out overhyped in terms of creativity in addition to stagnating in terms of progression. I need an MBA in HOURS because, firstly, MBA gives my career a fillip, and HR was an issue that I could grapple with, presenting my background and inclination (as compared to finance, operations as well as marketing).
6. Reflect on AN HOUR’s issues in your workplace. In case you have worked before, then consider what problems you yourself experienced in your workplace and how you should try to solve them should you were the HR supervisor in the company. A friend of mine who was a correspondent before joining the AN HOUR course mentioned in the woman interview that she understood too well how a sub-editor is overworked and underpaid, and her entire meeting turned in the direction regarding employee satisfaction in the journalism industry, something she can talk for hours on. For that reason knowing about HR concerns in your past job demonstrates that you are aware of the problems an HR manager would certainly typically face in a business.
7. Do not aggrandize HUMAN RESOURCES. Finally, HR is not the best profession in the world. It is only of the same quality or as bad as every other corporate function. Do not make statements that recommend HR as the reason behind almost all corporate successes or which HR can solve almost all corporate evils. Be aware of the constraints of human resource management each as a function in a business and as a career for yourself. Simultaneously, emphasize the fact that HR is definitely an emerging field and most of the unsolved or unattended issues in organizations today sit in the domain of HOUR, and even as a support purpose, well-designed HR policies along with practices can help HR participate in a strategic role from the success or failure of a company.
Obtaining the above points in mind can hopefully help any aspirant to an HR course to generate a positive impact on the interviewer along with conveying an impression of legitimate interest in pursuing a career in human resource management.
Read also: 3 Typical Interview Questions And The Way To Answer Them To Get The Employment
