Guest blog written by Danielle Middleton, Digital Writer for Portfolio CBR.

Once the dissertation has been submitted and the final exam has been sat, most of you will be getting ready for the next phase of your lives – a career.

Dependent on the type of industry you are interested in working in you may have already begun interviewing for graduate schemes, or have summer internships in place for once term ends.

However, if you have yet to settle on a career, you may want to consider an industry that will enable you to develop valuable skills and experience while keeping your options open for the future.

What employable skills do you have?

If your degree has provided you with exceptional analytical, numerical and communicative skills, you will be an attractive prospective employee to a human resources (HR) department, particularly if you can demonstrate your drive and enthusiasm to succeed in all your endeavours.

Humanities, business and marketing degrees usually give students a good deal of the skills required to succeed in HR, particularly if you flourish in a team environment that allows you to work with people on a daily basis.

Typical daily responsibilities of an HR professional

The tasks you are charged with in your HR department will depend greatly on the type of company and business, for example, many large organisations have vast HR departments that are split into several teams. These may include: benefits and compensation, reward, international mobility and pension specialists.

All areas of HR necessitate that employees have the following capabilities:

• Strong analytical skills – you may be required to produce surveys and competitor analysis for benchmarking purposes.
• Effective organisation and prioritisation of your time and work load – your employer will be relying on your ability to cope with several tasks at any one time, ensuring that all are completed according to deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills – you will be required to have daily contact with employees at various levels in the hierarchical structure across a business as well as relevant professionals outside of the company. It is vital that you are able to communicate well and appropriately with everyone.

Gaining valuable experience for your future

HR may not be a career you had ever considered venturing into after university, though you may find you satisfy much of the criteria employers seek in candidates. It is an industry that can vastly improve your future employability, providing fresh graduates with experience in a highly regarded profession.

You will acquire a set of diverse skills that are applicable to a number of other industries should you discover that HR is not suited to you, as well as having the opportunity to establish a valuable network of contacts. You will also gain an understanding of the business you are working for, which could be anything from a town and country planning firm to a large construction firm.

Portfolio CBR is a recruitment agency for the compensation, benefits and rewards industry. Danielle produces original content for Portfolio CBR, with a focus on news and legislative changes affecting those working in the HR community.