Career Choices in Human Resources

While students may be tired of hearing about career options after months of discussion, my own career search has uncovered some interesting information about the two most common career paths for BYU OBHR students: Consulting and Corporate HR.

Consulting:
BYU is continually gaining a reputation in Human Capital consulting. Many students have deep interests in Organizational Behavior theory, and find consulting to be a strong match for this interest.

• Benefits: Consulting boasts a fast-paced, intense learning experience that is challenging and exciting. As a consultant, you have the opportunity to work in multiple industries and on multiple projects each year. You can increase your exposure to HR challenges, exponentially increasing your learning and potential.

• Drawbacks: Consulting usually requires regular travel, and most students value a strong work/life balance in a career. While it is possible to have time for both, it can be difficult. The culture of consulting is high energy and high performance, and one is rewarded for what is accomplished. With increased intensity, ambiguity, and change, a self-awareness of your own work style is necessary.

Corporate HR:
BYU has a strong reputation in Corporate HR, with over a dozen companies recruiting students and interns annually. Our program seems to uniquely prepare us for Corporate HR roles, and many students find success here.

• Benefits: The businesses that recruit at BYU are looking for truly strategic HR partners. You can work in a variety of areas, including leadership development, compensation, and employee relations, or you can bring them all together as a generalist. You regularly work with the same teams and you see projects through from start to finish. There is usually less travel and more stability in your daily schedule, creating a feeling of more control over work/life balance.

• Drawbacks: Corporate HR may not provide as fast a pace or an environment as innovative as consulting does. While you certainly have opportunities to be creative, you may find it difficult to move forward with so many stakeholders. In supporting the company’s goals and objectives, you have to move through the proper channels to get things done. Because of the variety of tasks you perform in Corporate HR, you may have times in your career where you have to perform tasks you don’t enjoy. Whatever you choose to do, the future is bright for the OBHR students of the MBA program.

—Kelsey Harris, Class of 2011, OB/HR

Interned at: GE at NBC Universal