Experienced HR Manager revealed SECRETS to great job interviews: HR interview questions and answers

Summary

Natalie Pepper, an HR veteran with two decades of experience, shares insights into the dynamic and flexible nature of human resources. As a project manager leading a review of Los Alamos National Labs' compensation system, she emphasizes the importance of curiosity, thoughtfulness, and the ability to make informed decisions without complete information. Pepper discusses her role in facilitating conversations, influencing outcomes, and the significance of understanding employee motivations. She also touches on the challenges of having difficult conversations and the evolution of HR with technology, offering advice for those considering a career in HR.

Takeaways

• 🌟 HR roles require a combination of common sense, curiosity, and the ability to make judgment calls without complete information.
• 📞 The initial interaction with a recruiter can be a significant indicator of a candidate's passion for the company.
• 📈 Natalie Pepper's current role involves leading a review of the compensation system at Los Alamos National Labs, which includes defining the project plan, identifying resources, and creating a timeline.
• 🗓 Project management in HR involves meeting with managers and employees to understand roles and comparing them to market standards to determine appropriate compensation.
• 🔍 A typical day in HR can be highly variable, with a mix of meetings, project work, and one-on-one conversations to understand employee motivations and career aspirations.
• 💼 HR professionals must be adept at having difficult conversations, balancing the needs of the organization with those of the employee, and delivering hard truths with empathy.
• 🏫 A background in business classes, finance, economics, and statistics can be beneficial for those looking to enter the HR field, as they provide a foundation for understanding business operations and analytics.
• 👥 Being part of a project team can help develop neutrality and open-mindedness, which are valuable traits in HR for gathering information and forming balanced opinions.
• 📝 Analytical thinking and the ability to articulate specific experiences and lessons learned are highly beneficial in progressing a career in HR.
• 🌐 HR professionals should understand the importance of company culture and how it aligns with their own values and work style before pursuing a role.
• 📈 The field of HR is evolving with the impact of artificial intelligence, mobile learning technologies, and advanced data analytics, which are changing the way recruiting, learning, and talent management are conducted.

Q & A

What is Natalie Pepper's current role in HR?

Natalie Pepper's current role is a project manager leading a review of Los Alamos National Labs' compensation system.

What are some key skills Natalie mentions for success in HR?

Natalie mentions that being good at HR requires common sense, being comfortable making judgment calls without all the facts, curiosity, thoughtfulness, and the ability to consider all facts.

How does Natalie describe the role of HR in an organization?

Natalie describes the role of HR as facilitators of conversation and outcome drivers, rather than directors telling everyone what to do.

What is the significance of the first phone call with a recruiter according to Natalie?

Natalie believes the first phone call with a recruiter is significant as it can reveal a candidate's passion for the company and provide insights into the company's culture.

What does Natalie's role involve in terms of managing projects?

Natalie's role involves defining the project plan, identifying necessary resources, and creating a timeline for project completion.

How does Natalie approach understanding an employee's role and compensation?

Natalie meets with managers and employees to understand their roles and compares that information with market data to determine appropriate compensation.

What does Natalie suggest for someone looking to progress in their HR career?

Natalie suggests being open to asking questions, being curious, and being comfortable with not having all the facts, as well as being adaptable to different situations and roles within HR.

How does Natalie handle hard conversations in her HR role?

Natalie handles hard conversations by balancing the needs of the organization with the needs of the employee, ensuring that both parties feel heard and understood.

What advice does Natalie give for someone considering a career in HR?

Natalie advises that a career in HR requires a good understanding of business, analytics, and customer service skills, as well as a genuine interest in helping others and facilitating positive outcomes.

How does Natalie view the impact of artificial intelligence on HR?

Natalie sees artificial intelligence impacting the recruiting process by making it easier to find and reach out to candidates, as well as in learning and development through mobile technology.

What personal advice does Natalie give for someone interested in HR?

Natalie suggests that if you love what you do, every day at work won't feel like a chore, and encourages people to explore opportunities and not be afraid to make a change if they find a better fit.

Outlines

00:00

📈 HR Project Management and Daily Variance

Natalie Pepper, an experienced HR professional, discusses her role as a project manager leading a review of Los Alamos National Labs' compensation system. She emphasizes the importance of flexibility, curiosity, and thoughtfulness in HR, highlighting that everyday tasks can vary significantly. Natalie's role involves defining project plans, identifying necessary resources, and establishing timelines. She also speaks about the significance of initial interactions with recruiters, which can reveal a candidate's passion for a company. Her day-to-day tasks include meetings, project discussions, and talent development conversations, showcasing the dynamic nature of HR work.

05:03

🗣️ Balancing Organizational and Employee Interests

The paragraph delves into the challenges of HR professionals, such as having difficult conversations with managers and employees. It underscores the need to balance the interests of the organization with those of the employees. Natalie shares her experiences, including instances where she had to deliver both positive and negative feedback professionally. She also touches on the common misconceptions about HR and clarifies that HR's role is to facilitate, not dictate. The paragraph also discusses the importance of practical wisdom in HR, which is often learned through experience rather than formal education.

10:03

💼 Insights on HR Career Progression and Skills

Natalie provides insights into career progression in HR, suggesting that starting in a specific discipline like recruiting or compensation can lead to opportunities in other areas, eventually leading to a generalist role or specialization. She emphasizes the importance of understanding business operations, finance, and analytics for HR professionals. The paragraph also covers the value of being part of a project team, asking probing questions, and approaching situations with an open mind. Natalie shares her views on the importance of customer service in HR, the significance of dependability, and the ability to handle tense situations.

15:04

🔍 Preparation and Strategy for Job Interviews

This paragraph focuses on the importance of preparation and understanding the company culture when attending job interviews. Natalie advises candidates to research the company, understand the job description, and align their responses to demonstrate how they would be a good fit. She also discusses the evolution of HR and recruiting, with technology playing a significant role in finding and reaching out to candidates. The paragraph concludes with Natalie's personal career journey, including her decision to pursue HR after initial experiences in other fields.

20:05

🌟 Career Transitions and Adapting to HR

Natalie shares a story of an accountant who transitioned into an HR representative role and later moved into an HR analytics position, highlighting the potential for career shifts within the HR field. She discusses the impact of artificial intelligence on recruiting and the evolution of employee development through technology. Natalie reflects on her own career, the opportunities she's had, and the importance of continuous learning. She also considers her future options, including the possibility of relocation or a change in her professional focus.

25:07

💡 Personal Growth and Advice in HR

In the final paragraph, Natalie receives advice on maintaining professionalism and not apologizing unnecessarily, which she applies to her own work and shares with others. She discusses the importance of building respect and influence in the workplace. The paragraph also covers her personal interests, such as her love for suspense novels and movies, and her advice for those considering a career in HR. Natalie emphasizes the importance of finding a career that brings excitement and aligns with one's interests, making work feel less like a chore.

Keywords

💡HR (Human Resources)

HR refers to the department within an organization that is responsible for personnel management, including hiring, training, and managing employee relations. In the video, Natalie Pepper, who works in HR for twenty years, discusses her various roles and responsibilities, emphasizing the importance of HR in facilitating conversations, making judgment calls, and ensuring fair compensation within the company.

💡Project Manager

A project manager is an individual responsible for the planning, execution, and closure of a project. Natalie's current role as a project manager involves leading a review of Los Alamos National Labs' compensation system, which includes defining the project plan, identifying necessary resources, and establishing a timeline. This showcases the strategic and organizational skills required in HR for managing complex projects.

💡Compensation System

The compensation system is a structured approach to determining how employees are paid, including salaries, bonuses, and benefits. In the context of the video, Natalie is working on reviewing and potentially redefining the compensation system to ensure it is competitive and fair, aligning with market standards and employee roles within the organization.

💡Recruiter

A recruiter is responsible for finding, screening, and hiring new employees. The script mentions that Natalie started her career in HR by doing a lot of interviews and training, which are key tasks for a recruiter. It highlights the role of recruiters in identifying passionate candidates who are a good fit for the company culture.

💡Talent Development

Talent development involves nurturing an individual's skills and career progression within an organization. Natalie discusses looking at career enablement, which includes understanding how employees can move from one role to another and how HR can support their growth, showcasing the importance of talent development in HR.

💡Workforce Analytics

Workforce analytics is the use of data and statistical methods to predict and manage an organization's workforce. Natalie mentions the importance of understanding the workforce's future needs, such as predicting retirements and preparing for them, which is a key aspect of workforce analytics in HR.

💡Customer Service

Customer service in HR refers to the support provided to both employees and managers within an organization. Natalie compares her early career in a call center to HR, noting that both involve addressing employee issues and providing excellent service to ensure satisfaction and resolution.

💡Performance Management

Performance management is the process of reviewing and improving employees' performance in the workplace. Natalie recalls her experience in conducting performance reviews and counseling, which are part of performance management, emphasizing the need for HR professionals to be skilled in this area to help employees grow and develop.

💡Hard Conversations

Hard conversations refer to difficult discussions that need to be had, often involving sensitive topics or disagreements. Natalie talks about the necessity of having hard conversations with managers and employees, illustrating the challenging but crucial aspect of HR work that requires diplomacy and tact.

💡Entry-Level HR Position

An entry-level HR position is an initial role in the HR field, often providing foundational experience in various HR functions. Natalie discusses her own journey and the potential paths for someone starting in HR, including moving from entry-level positions to more specialized or generalist roles within the HR department.

💡Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is mentioned in the context of its impact on recruiting and talent management. Natalie reflects on how AI has changed the way recruiters find and engage with candidates, as well as its potential to influence learning and development within organizations.

Highlights

Every day is different in HR, requiring adaptability and good judgment calls even without all the facts.

HR professionals need to be curious, thoughtful, and consider all facts to facilitate conversations and outcomes.

The first phone call with a recruiter can indicate a candidate's passion for the company.

Natalie Pepper, with 20 years of HR experience, is currently a project manager leading a review of Los Alamos National Labs' compensation system.

As a project leader, Natalie defines project plans, identifies resources, and creates timelines.

Natalie's role involves meeting with managers and employees to understand roles and compare compensation with market standards.

In the last 10 years, Natalie has experienced a variety of tasks, including multiple meetings and project discussions.

HR's role is to facilitate conversations and help drive outcomes, not to dictate what others should do.

Having hard conversations is part of HR, balancing what's good for the organization and the employee.

Natalie's first long-term job involved customer service and dealing with employee issues, which was her introduction to HR.

HR professionals should have a basic understanding of business operations, finance, and statistics.

Being part of a project team allows HR professionals to practice neutrality and gather information before forming opinions.

Analytical thinking is crucial for progressing in an HR career, involving situation analysis and theory development.

Natalie suggests that having work history, even in customer service, can demonstrate dependability and problem-solving skills.

Understanding the job description and company culture is key to answering 'Why are you the best candidate?' effectively.

Doing homework on the company and being sincere in the interview shows the recruiter your genuine interest.

Natalie emphasizes the importance of being curious, making judgment calls, and understanding business needs for HR success.

HR professionals may start in specific disciplines like compensation or recruiting and later move to broader roles or generalist positions.

Graduate school can be a pathway to HR for those who want to change careers or specialize in a specific HR discipline.

Artificial intelligence and mobile technology are impacting recruiting and employee development in HR.

Natalie shares her career journey, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and exploring new opportunities within HR.

She advises not to apologize unnecessarily in the workplace, especially for things out of your control, to build respect and influence.

Natalie's favorite movie is 'Sixteen Candles', and she enjoys suspense in her free time, highlighting her personal interests.

She encourages people to pursue HR if they enjoy variety and are not seeking repetitive tasks, valuing the excitement of daily work.

Transcripts

every day's different I have a lot of

flexibility and my role a lot of being

good at HR is common sense you have to

get comfortable making judgment calls

well you don't have all the facts to be

successful you need to be curious you

need to be thoughtful and consider all

the facts or HR tells everyone what to

do and really our our jobs to help

facilitate the conversation and get to

an outcome you can get all that

information from that first phone call

with recruiter that's how you know if

somebody's really passionate about the

company they work for you know is when

you talk to them my name is Natalie

pepper and I've been working in HR for

twenty years now my current role is a

project manager I'm leading a review of

Los Alamos National Labs compensation

system

[Music]

really being a project leader so

defining what the project plan is going

to look like identifying the resources

that we need to complete the project and

putting together a timeline and that's

really where we're at at the moment but

we will be kicking that off starting

here in a couple weeks and then my role

at that point will really be meeting

with managers and employees to

understand what their roles are and then

to take that information and compare it

to what we see in the market so we can

determine what compensation should look

like

[Music]

I think for me I'd say last 10 years

every day's different so I don't usually

have a typical day I can say okay I'm

gonna going in the morning and I'm gonna

start out and usually I check my email

now make sure that there isn't any

emergency but beyond that there's not a

typical day um yesterday was full of a

lot of meetings some days are like that

yesterday I had multiple meetings one

specifically addressing the project and

really working through what phase one of

the project with that scope was gonna

look like and then talking about phase

two so that was a teleconference with

the individuals in New Mexico and then I

had three other meetings that day just

really working on different projects one

of them looking at related to

compensation as well but also one that

was bigger really looking at courier

enablement so for in a you know an

employee how do you know how do you move

in your career if you if you start out

as a recruiter how could you become the

senior recruiter and then maybe the

manager so really looking at talent and

how that you know how you develop

someone so usually if I'm gonna you know

have that conversation with an employee

it's I started out by asking them just

to tell me about what they do what is it

about your job that you like what is it

that you wish was different really you

know like a lot of the Y questions and

kind of probing in each time you know

maybe asking them okay what interests

you right to figure out do you prefer to

be more actively engaged and talking

maybe maybe you want to be in sales or

business development or do you prefer to

work more one-on-one so you know just a

series of questions like that to see

what it is and then based on my

knowledge of what positions we might

have then I might go that next step of

of describing another position that we

have in the organization that seems like

it's a good fit and really just a

dialogue back and forth to try and

figure out you know maybe it's

introducing them to something that they

didn't realize was there you know what

another

should that be might be out there so

really it's just a lot of asking

questions

[Music]

I like the fact that it's not the same

every day and I have a lot of

flexibility in my role in terms of being

able to manage my own time and what that

looks like and make decisions this

compensation study would really be

taking another step in looking at that

as well in terms of helping people

understand how they move from one level

to the next level how they might be able

to move from one job to another job that

they might not even thought about also

making sure that they're compensated

properly you know in that market you

know that we're competitive so they you

know are able to have that fulfillment

as well

[Music]

having hard conversations you know a lot

of times you've got to have that

conversation with the manager where you

might disagree with their position on

something and part of the role is to as

an HR professional it stick it's a

balance between what's good for the

organization and what's good for the

employee and so sometimes you've got to

have that hard conversation with a

manager to let them know that maybe

they're not right or there's multiple

ways to look at something and you've got

to influence them I think it's also hard

to have that conversation with employees

if they're you know they're asking you

for something that just can't happen

then you've got to find a way to help

them understand why that can't happen

you want him to walk away feeling like

they've been heard so there's a that can

be a challenge sometimes particularly

just in the moment

I think as do some of my peers that a

lot of being good at HR is common sense

which is not necessarily something you

get in school it tends to be something

that you you learn as you you know as

you're as you're going along when people

think about HR they have a couple

different reactions they think Oh hrs

mean you know or HR tells everyone what

to do and really our our jobs to help

facilitate the conversation and get to

an outcome at least that's how we've

been practicing HR where I'm at and

really you know helping drive an outcome

but not direct the outcome people will

say well hir fires people HR doesn't if

they don't make the decision we make

sure that it's the right decision for

the organization and the supporting

information might be there but and while

we might participate we're not usually

in general you know usually the one

doing it

so I think that that was probably in my

first long-term job that I had after

undergrad I was working in a call center

and customer service and so again I was

a supervisor we we hired a lot of people

so I did a lot of interviews way to

train the individuals to be able to do

that there there tends to be in a job

like that a lot of employee issues so

you do a lot of counseling you might be

doing some terminations and so I can

remember at some point in there someone

said generally good at that I had a

couple employee situations I had one

where I mean it was very interesting I

was doing his performance review when we

got done he goes Wow I was afraid to

come in here

he said but that was really good and you

really understand what I'm doing and

then I had somebody else that we fired

and had she been as professional and

everything else she does she didn't she

got fired she'd been a great employee

because she had some good qualities but

she had done something that was a

terminal offense but she said that was

the nicest I've ever been fired so I

kind of put those things together

because I wasn't crazy with what I'm

like I came me back into HR

[Music]

they had some stuff highlighted on my

resume right that a couple things they

liked one of it was around the

recruiting and the fact that I we have

had eyes some we had a night NIT support

organization at the call center so there

was some technology component in there

they liked that piece of it so really

you know tell me about what you do from

an interviewing perspective and then the

other piece was around the performance

management just actually that my role is

a supervisor and what I had done with

performance management and coaching

[Music]

having some business classes this is a

good idea if you really want to help

leadership figure out how they need to

run the cup you know their company and

what's the best thing to do there I

think having a basic understanding of

how a business makes money so you know

your finance classes economics classes

are a good idea statistics because

analytics in terms of really being able

to provide data around predicting what

your workforce is going to look like in

five years do you have a lot of people

that are going to retire and then how do

you prepare for that so I think that is

important

HR foundation is a good is a good stuff

in there as well most everyone that that

that we've hired in our HR team has had

at least an undergraduate or a graduate

degree in HR

[Music]

well I definitely think if you have the

opportunity to be a part of a project

team that I think being part of a

project team and being the one that

might ask questions or challenge the

team in terms of thinking differently a

lot of times when people go into a

meeting or they go into a conversation

they might have some preconceived ideas

in their head and really when you go in

as and as an HR profession or

professional you wanna be neutral you

try not to have any preconceived notions

one way or the other if a complaints

come in you don't want to say okay the

person is guilty you want to think of

them as I'm just gathering information

before I'm formulating an opinion so I

think that that's something that you can

absolutely practice if you're a part of

our project team I think that sometimes

you go in and it's like okay I've got

this idea and then you want to prove it

but really going in more open-minded and

just gathering facts and then

formulating an opinion I think is is

it's important when you're dealing with

with you know with people

[Music]

I like to know what is that motivates

them right you know and just go about

some questions around what excites them

you know what motivates them and then

just some basic questions around have

you ever experienced this or have you

ever experienced that so you know have

them walk us through a project that

they've been a part of what they learned

from the project what their role was in

the project if they've done an

internship really asking them questions

about the internship what they learned

from that analytical thinking is

certainly something that I think is

exceptionally beneficial to progress in

your HR career so being able to just

think about a situation analyze it and

you know come up with a theory you know

we're just looking to see that they've

actually had some exposure you know some

some job right even being working at

Target or working at a restaurant you

know in a capacity like that

puts you in more of a mean a lot of hrs

customer service really when you think

about it it's it's your customer service

to a manager or its customer service to

the employee in terms of making them you

know feel like they've been heard and

you know that they've been able to get a

resolution so I think what we look for

if you don't really have a lot of work

history is that you have some work

history whether that would be and even

someone potentially who's you know maybe

how to role and they've just been a

babysitter you know we're looking for

somebody who demonstrates dependability

one of the things in HR is how you get

along with people right and how you how

you respond in a situation that may be

tense so you know did you ever have a

project where you didn't get along with

the others on the on the team and what

did you do so I think it's important you

know to be specific right and to give

examples a lot of times people will just

kind of give you some vague answer we're

really looking for something specific in

there that demonstrates what you really

did learn right that you're able to

articulate that that's sometimes where

you can really get the critical thinking

[Music]

I think you have to have a really good

understanding of what the position is

right so what's in the Job Description

if you've had any conversations prior to

that usually you've talked to the

recruiter I think you need to really

understand from the recruiter what do

they really want in the position what

are they really looking for and you need

to understand about the company and the

company's culture we're pretty

collaborative culture so if you're not

collaborative in nature you're not used

to more of a matrix sometimes because we

do projects so you might not be working

for your manager you might be working

for a project manager so those are

really important things and if that was

the case that would shape how I would

reply of how I'd be the best candidate

for the job if you know that the

organization is very collaborative and

they think you'd say I'd be a good

candidate for this job because I like

working in team environments I accept

you know or excel where he in team

environments I like that challenge of

you know being with a group and you did

you'd phrase it around that so I think

the best way to answer that question and

I think just in general for anyone going

in if you really want the job you really

need to have done your homework upfront

as much as you can and you can do a lot

of that today with the internet maybe

you've reached out to a few people on

LinkedIn that work there and you've

asked them some questions it has to be

sincere because one of the things that a

recruiter is looking for the hiring

manager looking for is that you're

sincere you're not just too polished

right I don't think you have to be

perfectly polished for a job interview I

think you have to be sincere and you

definitely have to demonstrate that

you've done some homework on the company

that you're interested in the company

you know and why it's a good fit for you

you can get all that information from

that first phone call with recruiter

recruiters that's how you know if

somebody's really passionate about the

company they work for you know is when

you talk to them and if they could sit

there in gush about their company and

you can hear it in their voice then you

kind of have an idea

you know when you go through and you're

you know you're going through and you're

just taking the classes actually

practicing what you're learning in terms

of theory is a little bit different you

have to get comfortable making judgment

calls well you don't have all the facts

and you know you're not going to have

all the facts so I think part of it is

to be successful you need to be curious

you need to be thoughtful and consider

all the facts you spent a lot of time

talking to people if you're a recruiter

you get really good at asking questions

and trying to drive to figure out is

this the right candidate for the for the

job so it's some of those life skills

that you need to apply I think are

important to be successful I think you

have to be comfortable that everyone's

not always going to like you because

sometimes you have to you know make some

hard decisions and some judgment calls

and some people aren't comfortable with

that so I think that that's another

important piece and then I think you

have to be comfortable and and curious

to understand the business really

understand what your client your

managers need so you can recommend the

best solutions

[Music]

you're gonna come in in some kind of HR

you know entry-level HR position and and

sometimes you're going to come directly

into one of the you know specific

disciplines so maybe you're gonna start

out in compensation or you're going to

start out and benefit so you're going to

start out in recruiting and then from

there you can progress up in that you

know particular discipline or you think

that that's about the point after you've

done two to three years where you can

decide okay I want to try it another

discipline in HR and I want to maybe I

start out in compensation and now I want

to go to HR is or I started out in

benefits now I want to go to recruiting

and you know from there you can continue

to do that and get more of a generalist

background and most business partners

tend to have had more experience they've

they've been in different disciplines at

HR so they can touch on a little bit of

everything and then some people are very

deep in a specialty so maybe they

started out in benefits and they became

a you know senior benefits consultant

and then the director of benefits and

potentially broader umbrella then would

be over total rewards which would it

potentially include benefits and

compensation of the larger umbrella and

you know from there they may become the

head of HR the C HR Oh

I did that myself about 20 years ago now

so it does happen and I think we see

that with with individuals that have

gone back to graduate school they've

tried something out for four or five

years I've I've had at least three

people that tried something out first

that went decided they went to back to

graduate school and that they were gonna

get into HR so don't think it's uncommon

I think it's less common later in your

career to get into HR

[Music]

you'll find a lot of people who might

independently just be recruiters and

they might have a specialty that they

recruit for and so that's something that

they can do individually because they're

really good at networking maybe they

were a cyber engineer and they've

decided they don't want to do that

anymore and they want to do recruiting

and so that I think about something

actually I had seen something recently

on LinkedIn around someone who was a

lawyer and now he did recruiting he

recruited lawyers he hired them more

like a headhunter so I think that's

definitely something you'd see and

obviously anything I think around the

whole training leadership development

coaching there's a lot of executive

coaches out out there and those can be

people who are you know just

independently doing that

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

we've hired a lot of people into HR

actually that are more recent graduates

some of them actually from graduate

school but we had one particular

individual and when we interviewed him

his background was very interesting he

had been going to school and was an

accountant but actually worked in a

couple accounting firms for the first

five years and then decide if he wanted

to do something different so the

position we had opened this time was an

HR representative so being more of a

generalist but he had some really good a

couple really good internships and we

could just see that he a lot of

potential so he came into the HR

representative role he did well in the

role by it obviously wasn't his passion

he was very interested in more of the

analytic piece was great at putting

reports together and not so much the

day-to-day interaction maybe you know

coaching a manager or you know working

with an employee so we had an

opportunity we had an opening in our

HRAs group he came to me and he said I

really think that that would be a better

option you know we just had a

conversation of why he thought that that

would be a better career path and I was

totally supportive of that employees can

be afraid to have that conversation with

their manager but for me with him I look

at it as if they're if they're good at

what they do and they have potential

then I'd like him to stay with the

organization and find that right fit so

we just had dialogue back and forth and

he's taken that job and he's doing

exceptionally well he just really excels

at it and much more creative now that

he's kind of got that job that seems to

be a fit for him

well I definitely think you know I mean

artificial intelligence somewhat impacts

the whole recruiting spectrum right from

the time I started cuz I started in

recruiting there was nothing out there

for me to go look I mean I wasn't gonna

be even as still using the internet

right we were still when I first started

way back it was still been a newspaper

posting so it's evolved a lot in terms

of being able to find candidates and

reach out to candidates so I think you

know that's that's a piece of it

the other piece is around the

development the the kind of the learning

and development of an individual

employees you know in the past it's been

Wilson nutri training class or well

we'll have you that there's a lot of

mobile technology out there today that

allows for employees to do ten minutes

snippets of learning that might help

them develop in their career so I think

that those are things and then a really

big one is around data analytics and

being able to use that to help leaders

really understand what their talent

needs are and what the return on

investment is from doing something

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just having opportunities at my current

employer I've had a lot of opportunity

to even just experiment outside of HR

learning the business and being able to

try something new just by saying you

know by expressing I have an interest in

doing more than my day-to-day job then

they've stretched giving me stretch

assignments to be able to do that I'm

grateful for the the opportunity to be

able to try new things and to continue

to learn well I think I would have liked

to have started HR first right I would

have liked to started that sooner than I

did so I could have done some

internships potentially and had a look

like had a few more years but beyond

that it really would have just been

maybe getting in there before I was in a

relationship and you know kind of had

that peace going on where I had a little

bit more time to kind of explore it on

my own ahead of time maybe I would have

moved yeah there's some wonderful

leadership development opportunities out

there but a ton of it back to grad

school I had a child so it's kind of

like no I'm not gonna you know do that

rotation so you know we get my daughter

was 2 years old when I went back to grad

school so

I think you know one was making that

change right because I technically had

to take a step back some from a salary

perspective when I went to wanted to get

into HR because they wanted me to start

entry-level and so I think for me just

kind of taking that step I think a lot

of people we didn't want to make a

lateral move and in some cases you just

can't and so just kind of coming to the

realization that if I did that I would

quickly rebound that I did and then I

think you know but it like current job

for 16 years so there's been some points

in there like where I've thought okay

learned all I can learn what's next

but that's where I've been what else can

I do you know to just continue to keep

learning to stay active so you know I'm

at a point right now where my current

organizations not necessarily growing

and so my opportunities are either gonna

be to leave or to relocate so trying to

figure out which one of those works best

it's a lot my daughter's can be a

freshman in the fall and caught in high

school so I'm not sure moving her right

now is the right option although I'm

really enjoying this project I'm on so

you know just potentially starting to

look at what are other opportunities out

there and thinking through do I want to

do something slightly different still in

HR but slightly different than what I've

done for like the last five or six

I was working on a project or I had a

manager I can't remember it probably was

a project for a manager who was pretty

demanding

he was upset around something and so I

was talking with her giving an update to

our VP of HR and I apologize for

something don't ever apologize

he's like when something like that's out

of your control just don't ever

apologize

and he's like sometimes women do that

too much and it was interesting because

after he said that to me I thought about

it and then I read a few things you know

when women do tend to at least that was

what the articles imply they do tend to

ask more I don't say politely but they

tend to put a little bit of that in

there and so I took that to heart

there's a time when you need to say I

messed up versus a time when you just

say it because it seems like the right

thing right thing to say so I think that

was that was pretty good and then I used

that with some of my earlier career

folks as well you tend to have a lot of

at least we do a lot of women who did

the business partner role and I had one

in particular and she was always copying

me on emails to managers and she'd say

why how I'm like you don't need to

apologize you haven't done anything

they're unhappy that's not why you

apologize and just kind of that thought

process in there because you're trying

to build respect and you want to

influence

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so I think just that you know everyone

would have the opportunity to get an

education and be able to do something

that they you know they're able to

support themselves then they're happy

and they feel oh they're contributing

what's your oh my hair food it's

probably cheese what's your favorite

thing to do in your free time in my free

time exercise

what's your well I've only really been

to one other one besides the United

States that's Italy it was beautiful I

would definitely go back and visit some

other parts of Italy probably my family

you know that I have just one I think

it's usually more like suspense or you

know something like that

something that's gonna keep me

interested I don't know that I have a

favorite one I don't watch a lot of TV

don't necessarily watch a lot of movies

so I know I'm boring right well if I had

to say that then I probably go back with

sixteen Candles right very old movie but

I still think it's a great movie what

makes you said you know seeing someone

who is unhappy and and and has some

control and just doesn't you know

doesn't do anything with it or can't do

anything with it but makes you happy my

daughter you should get into HR if you

are interested in variety in your day to

day work if you like to do the same

thing over and over again if you want a

repetition so I think the important

thing is if you love what you do then

every day going to work doesn't feel

like work so I think it's important that

when you're exploring opportunities that

you ask a lot of people and not be

afraid to make a change if you get

started in one area and then you realize

that you know I think I'm interested

over here you can get up every day and

go to work and not think about it as a

chore but something that gets you

excited then you found the right thing

to do

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