I just saw that you asked me a question about getting an HR gig on an old thread and I never answered you. I am not sure how old you are but it does not really matter. I did not study HR in college originally but I did later get a trade degree in it. You can always get these online in less than a year. They cost about $3500. Anyway you don't really need to go through all of that because I think you already have your degree in HR. So just work your way up in Kroger (become a lead, then Dept manager, then SOM. Whenever you are in charge of people that is HR experience. Here is what qualifies as HR: hiring, firing, recruiting, disciplining employees, supervising people, payroll, benefits, managing employee files, mediating conflicts, training employees, writing manuals, doing schedules, interviewing, investigating issues. That is called HR generalism. You should be able to get jobs doing that with a degree if the job is entry level and not too complicated or competitive. Are you in a big state, big city like New York, California or Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta? Or are you in a smaller place like Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Kentucky, Kansas? The competitiveness of the place you are in may be the issue. You are female, and women have HR on lockdown!!! :)
HR strategy and Employment Law are a bit more complicated but pay more. You can do that farther into your career. That is what I am hoping for. HR generalists can make anywhere from $40-55,000. Hr strategists can make $50-70,000 and even more if they are a top executive. If you work in employment legal area (not as a lawyer) you will also make about $50-70,000.
The problem with being a human resource generalist is that the way things are going more and more companies are foregoing having in-house HR. Instead they are outsourcing HR and some American companies even Offshore HR. Much of HR generalism can be automated. So your skill set needs to lean more strategic and legal. Get in while the getting is good and hone your skills fast! The best areas to specialize are ones that are harder to offshore or outsource such as investigations, interviews, and benefits. Also avoid redundancies like supervising. Companies are eliminating Chiefs and Indians in favor of robots!
I'm not BakerChick25, but I am curious: How long does it take to work your way up? I've been told a long time. I don't know whether to talk with my HR who hired me or just keep showing I'm willing to work? I'm not really the type of person who likes to bother others, when I know they have work to do also. So, I just do my job, drop hints here and there, and keep hoping they recognize that I'm willing to move up.
I'm not BakerChick25, but I am curious: How long does it take to work your way up? I've been told a long time. I don't know whether to talk with my HR who hired me or just keep showing I'm willing to work? I'm not really the type of person who likes to bother others, when I know they have work to do also. So, I just do my job, drop hints here and there, and keep hoping they recognize that I'm willing to move up.
This is my solid advice. I would go to you HR Manager and Store manager either separate or together and tell them each ONE time OPENLY and CLEARLY that you have aspirations to move up in your store and the company.
1)Tell them that your plan is to complete your certifications and hands on training over the next several weeks
2) including certifying as a LEAD so that you can accept the next lead position that becomes available.
3) tell them that you have been trying to do your best at the store and appreciate any feedback from them and your department head on how to do better and prepare for more responsibilities.
4) Finally ask both the HR manager and Store manager is there anything else besides these steps (certifying and doing hands on training) that you suggest I do in preparation to move up in the company?
Write down their advice. Tape it to the inside of the door that you exit every day to go to your car to get to work in the morning. Follow that advice and complete your certifications and hands on. DON'T BUG YOUR MANAGERS. Don't let your department head feel like you are trying to take his/her job. Just do your work and learn from them quietly and helpfully. My dumbarse DH is so jealous of me and I don't even want her job. The last thing you want is drama. Keep checking the job wall for internal openings or openings at nearby stores. MOVE UP even if it takes transferring. Success waits for no one and there is no timeline. You write your story.
I just saw that you asked me a question about getting an HR gig on an old thread and I never answered you. I am not sure how old you are but it does not really matter. I did not study HR in college originally but I did later get a trade degree in it. You can always get these online in less than a year. They cost about $3500. Anyway you don't really need to go through all of that because I think you already have your degree in HR. So just work your way up in Kroger (become a lead, then Dept manager, then SOM. Whenever you are in charge of people that is HR experience. Here is what qualifies as HR: hiring, firing, recruiting, disciplining employees, supervising people, payroll, benefits, managing employee files, mediating conflicts, training employees, writing manuals, doing schedules, interviewing, investigating issues. That is called HR generalism. You should be able to get jobs doing that with a degree if the job is entry level and not too complicated or competitive. Are you in a big state, big city like New York, California or Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta? Or are you in a smaller place like Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Kentucky, Kansas? The competitiveness of the place you are in may be the issue. You are female, and women have HR on lockdown!!! :)
HR strategy and Employment Law are a bit more complicated but pay more. You can do that farther into your career. That is what I am hoping for. HR generalists can make anywhere from $40-55,000. Hr strategists can make $50-70,000 and even more if they are a top executive. If you work in employment legal area (not as a lawyer) you will also make about $50-70,000.
The problem with being a human resource generalist is that the way things are going more and more companies are foregoing having in-house HR. Instead they are outsourcing HR and some American companies even Offshore HR. Much of HR generalism can be automated. So your skill set needs to lean more strategic and legal. Get in while the getting is good and hone your skills fast! The best areas to specialize are ones that are harder to offshore or outsource such as investigations, interviews, and benefits. Also avoid redundancies like supervising. Companies are eliminating Chiefs and Indians in favor of robots!
Hey!
Thanks for responding back to me. And yea, not ashamed of admitting my age(30), kind of got started rather late in my career path, as my mom was often very sick and we needed someone to stay home with her til she passed away a couple of years ago. So I haven't had much time to get out there as often as most people my age. But yea, I got my Associates from a technical college and received my Bachelor's from an online college too while I was home.
Thank you as well for the explanation of all of that. As I often wonder how my current skills can apply towards what I really want to get into. And sometimes I don't even know how they connect together. But I really appreciate you spelling things out in a very clear and informative manner. I'm living in Ohio, 3 hours from Cleveland actually. And actually 30 mins south of Columbus in the suburbs. Hmm, not sure about the competition really. Cause even when I tried doing my internships in college, my adviser seemed to act like she could barely find any places where I could learn HR stuff from. So I was placed with a retirement/rehab center at one place and pretty much did surveys where I collected folks thoughts on the meals when they had to stay there, helped serve people their lunches, filing and stamping envelopes in the mail room, distributing peoples' money allowances or whatever they were called(has been so long since I interned there so I forgot), and even helped the Marketing Director plan the party for the opening of their new wing. But never got much HR experience there. Although did get the experience of some nasty co-workers lying on me for sure(saying I wasn't showing up, walked off the job, that kind of thing. But given that it was a uber nasty winter that year, there was no way in the hell I was walking off anywhere. And even the Director I worked with said if it was too bad, I didn't need to come in. But still had my adviser think I was messing the internship up even though I had all my records of my time being there and never once did any of the things those people had said about me).
My second internship was with the local United Way. And to some degree I did some HR things, like coming up with Intern guides. And helping to type up different little documents for the office at times. But mainly it was doing things to help with their fundraising, like getting people to join their different events. Most especially their Day of Caring stuff. Where they would have various volunteers help with different community projects around town. Which was really fun and interesting. But yea, I totally appreciate hearing that HR is a female dominated field. Hear so many things about male dominated careers. That it's good to know women do have at least a few on lock too. ;)
Wow, yea, I can only imagine being an HR strategist or employment law in general would be some tough ones. But I have a feeling you will more than be able to handle it. And yea, you are right about the outsourcing for sure. That is why I always sort of considered doing the HR training specialist specialization as an independent contractor. Most especially I can see some major training fails in Kroger for sure at times. And Last I knew it was between $35,000 to $50,000 or so. Besides that, I just always wanted to help folks become better trained at their jobs, so they are always putting their best foot forward in their jobs every chance they got. And feel confident in their tasks.
But for sure I will keep in mind what you have mentioned HRChick. I have to ask though, roughly how many years did it it take for you to work your way up. And then transfer into HR?
I'm not BakerChick25, but I am curious: How long does it take to work your way up? I've been told a long time. I don't know whether to talk with my HR who hired me or just keep showing I'm willing to work? I'm not really the type of person who likes to bother others, when I know they have work to do also. So, I just do my job, drop hints here and there, and keep hoping they recognize that I'm willing to move up.
Depends really. I'm a dept head and it took me 5 years to get promoted. But one guy in my training class worked for the company less than a year. Others had 10 years+. So it just depends on how much management likes you or how persistent you are.
I'm not BakerChick25, but I am curious: How long does it take to work your way up? I've been told a long time. I don't know whether to talk with my HR who hired me or just keep showing I'm willing to work? I'm not really the type of person who likes to bother others, when I know they have work to do also. So, I just do my job, drop hints here and there, and keep hoping they recognize that I'm willing to move up.
Depends really. I'm a dept head and it took me 5 years to get promoted. But one guy in my training class worked for the company less than a year. Others had 10 years+. So it just depends on how much management likes you or how persistent you are.
I'll keep that in mind. And to be honest with you. I think my DH was hinting at me when we had our little performance review chat a while ago. Saying that if I even really wanted to stick it out with Kroger and move up. He'd recommend me for another store. As he really enjoys having the two back up managers he has now. So in a word, that definitely tells me right there, that I doubt he will budge any time soon on having any more.
Actually take that back, we had a chick that transferred in and now she is a second back up manager for Deli, since the other manager we had on that end. Is over bakery since they one we opened the store with, is permanently working at another branch not too far from us now. So yea, I'd most likely have to transfer in the coming years before I get on the path to managing anything.
And actually keeping my fingers crossed I can even see 6 weeks of full time hours too. So far I have 4. If I make it to 12 just based off folks being out for vacation, then I at least might be able to get full time status in no time hopefully. So at least be one step up. :D
I wasn't told anything about classes when I was told that I had the qualifications to become Department Head. That right there tells me that it was just talk. I appreciate you all verifying that.
