Proposed Paper Topic: To complete this assignment, you will have to interview an HR professional. The goal of this assignment is to gain insight into the job of someone who works in the HR field. You will need to contact an organization and set up an interview with someone in the HR department. The person you interview can be an HR manager, HR generalist, or an HR specialist (e.g., training and development, recruiting, compensations/benefits). The person you interview should not be a close friend or relative and should not be part of your current work organization. Once the interview is complete, your team will be required to write a 2 – 3 page paper (not including appendix).

*INTERVIEW HAS TO BE DONE IN PERSON NO PHONE OR EMAIL INTERVIEWS WILL BE ACCEPTED*

For the HR interview assignment, you will be responsible for setting up, conducting, and reporting on an interview with an HR professional. The purpose of this assignment is to become more familiar with the HR function.

Here is a suggested outline of steps:

Identify an HR professional. This person should be someone who works in Human Resources. They can be an HR manager or an HR specialist (e.g., training and development, recruiting, compensations/benefits). This person should not be a close friend or relative and must not be part of your current work organization and should not work at BCC. The organization your interviewee works for may be a for-profit business, a non-profit organization, or a government agency. It would be in your best interest to interview someone in an organization and position that is of interest to you. Use this as an opportunity to make a contact and possibly explore a personal career direction. Interviewing a general supervisor or manager will not be acceptable for this assignment. The person you interview must be an HR professional and work in an HR department.

Contact the HR Professional. If you have identified an organization, but not a specific person, call and ask for the Human Resources department. Introduce yourself and indicate the reason for the call. Ask if there is anyone in the HR department (or a specific area of HR if you want to interview a specialist) who would be willing to speak with you. If you have already identified a specific person, call them directly. When speaking to your potential interviewee, introduce yourself, indicate the reason for your call, and let the person know you will need to meet with them for 30-60 minutes.

Develop a list of questions. Depending on your goals for this assignment, your interview may be broad in nature, or you may choose to focus more specifically on a topic or topics (e.g., recruiting, training, compensation). Here are some general ideas for questions. They are examples of which you can use all, some or none. Based on the goal of your interview, you will probably want to develop some of your own questions.

• What education and training have you received?
• How long have you worked in HR?

• What has your career path been like? In other words, how did you get where you are today?

• How did you get into the Human Resources field?

• Please describe a typical day at work.

• What is the most rewarding part of your job?

• What is the most difficult part of your job?

• How do you think your job will be different in five years?

• What are the most critical skills needed to be a successful HR professional?

• If you had to train someone to replace you in your current job, what key abilities would you focus on?

• What advice would you give someone who wanted to get into the HR field?

• What are the biggest challenges facing HR departments today?

Interview the HR professional. Once the person has agreed to meet with you, remember he/she has limited time. Be prepared with your questions and with some way to record the responses. Be professional, dress appropriately and be on time. After the interview is completed, immediately make notes on your impressions and experiences. This will help you later when you write your paper. Also, be sure to get a business card (or some other form of verification such as letter from the HR professional on company letterhead, copy of email from the HR professional to your email) to include with the paper. Be sure to follow up the interview with a thank you note. A handwritten note would be a nice touch, but an email is acceptable. All documents can be scanned to include with your paper.

Prepare an analysis of the interview. It must:

Be 2 – 3 double-spaced pages using 1” margins on all sides and Times New Roman 12-point font (not including the appendix items).

May not be a question and answer format. Rather, you should discuss your thoughts, comments, and/or observations resulting from the interview. I am primarily interested in what you learned about the HR field from the interview, not a lengthy dialogue of what the interviewee said. I am looking for a paper that provides a thoughtful reflection on the interview and your performance as an interviewer.

Clearly demonstrate appropriate links to course materials & concepts.

Include an appendix with the following information: a copy of your HR interview memo, a copy of the questions you went in intending to ask, a reference page (including your textbook and any other sources you use), a copy of the thank-you note you sent to the interviewee, and his or her business card. If your interviewee does not have a business card, have him or her write his or her information on company stationery.

Category: Essays