This second installment in a series of upcoming Alumni Q&A’s gives students insight into the potential outcomes of the majors offered through the university’s Bachelor of Business Administration degree. I interviewed a recent UFV grad who is now in their respective field, discussing studies and their leap into the job market, and what sort of things they experienced. This week I spoke with Haley Chase, a Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in human resources management
What pushed you toward the field of human resources?
I think I was attracted to business in general, and so when I went back to school, I went back as a mature student in my late 20s. I had an idea to change directions because when I first went to school after high school I was a musician by trade. I did that for a large number of years, my life changed, I had kids, and have become a bit more mature in my mind. I realized that a starving musician is called a starving musician for a reason.
When I went back to school I thought “Well, business is rather general,” so I could find something I found interesting through that. Human resources came into play for me in my second year, when I took Dr. Kirsten Robertson’s human resources class (BUS 201). I found that I really enjoyed the introductory course, and I enjoyed the idea of being a part of recruitment, selection, training, development, and those aspects of the business cycle. The employee’s life cycle was appealing to me; I decided that was the concentration that I wanted to focus on.
What was your experience with finding a job after graduation?
I applied for the auxiliary staff at UFV before I graduated and got accepted. I then had an interview with a panel including Tara Rosnac, who had been in one of my HR classes, and they said “Let’s get you in here!” A couple of days later I was accepted into the auxiliary staff, and found a posting for a position in the Office of the Registrar. I ended up working in OReg while I was taking my final exams. It was kind of a no-brainer for me, because I had done some work with UFV long before I graduated.
Going into my third year I became Dr. Kirsten Robertson’s research assistant, and that changed everything for me in terms of focusing on HR-related topics. She dealt with a lot of experiential learning, and a lot of examples in relation to how I would look at my employee base if I ever became an HR manager myself.
Then I figured I may as well stay at UFV, since I felt connected and found a sense of community there. So, I applied for the auxiliary staff position and got a posting right away. That posting turned into a permanent position within eight months, which is rare. It’s not something that happens to the auxiliary pool. Normally when you join, you get bumped around. But I believe that I had something to offer that departement.
Getting a job there was easy, but getting a job in HR was a bit more tricky; I looked into becoming a recruiter for a recruitment company, but all the jobs were in Vancouver and I live in Chilliwack. I didn’t want to commute that far, so ended up at UFV as a starting point. Another job came to me after I was permanent position for five months. A friend of mine’s mother had retired from a treatment centre where she was the HR manager. She contacted me and said she had an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. It was exactly what I wanted, to be an HR manager for a small non-profit organization. It was like a marriage made in heaven, and here I am today in that same position.
What are some of the aspects of the job that you expected, and some you didn’t expect?
I expected the staff to be as amazing as they are, because in order to be in an organization designed to transform lives, the staff needs to be supportive. There is the clinical side to the job, and there is the support side. Sometimes they don’t work in harmony quite like you would want them to, but generally I find that everyone I’ve worked with has been there for years, because they believe in what we are trying to do. In human resources, you’re not just starting a new job, you’re joining something bigger than yourself, and supporting your community.
What I didn’t expect when I first started was that I am responsible for more than one building. One building that I work at, and another building I don’t work at which I still have to staff. I also didn’t expect that I would be called whenever someone was sick on the weekend. I didn’t really clue into that until it started happening to me every weekend. Because of this, I had to make some big changes pretty immediately in terms of my lifestyle, since I was still a dedicated singer on the side. I felt I was working 24 hours a day, and that I never had a break or a day off. I was always on edge on the weekends, worrying that someone was going to phone in saying they were sick. So, I changed the system so that people calling in sick had to contact the staff currently on-shift, and those people had to go down the seniority list and find a replacement. That way, I didn’t have to be called every single weekend. I do still get calls once in a while when there are emergencies that happen, but that kind of stuff I expect.
Why pursue human resources?
I think it should be something that you’re attracted to. You can’t always be the good guy in HR; in fact, a lot of the time you’re not the good guy. You have to follow policy and procedure, and you’re a little bit of a policeman in the organization. Also, you hear about all of the issues, so you have to be willing to be diplomatic and listen to various views while being unbiased.
Students should choose human resources as a career because it’s a role that is extremely important in organizations, and when done professionally, it can be a job that offers a supportive function for the overall mission of an organization. If you’re a person that doesn’t like conflict, then HR is not for you. Just because it seems like the classes are easier in university doesn’t mean the real world works the same. I didn’t want to stay behind a desk working with numbers all day, and HR offered me a more strategic management position. I was attracted to that
I think that HR is going to be transferable too. There are a lot of roles that are not called “HR” specifically that deal with a lot of HR-related issues such as managing employees. You may be the manager of a department and still have to hire and fire, since not all organizations have an HR department. Management in general is where I find HR really encourages a lot of learning, and I think you get more out of management than you will any other concentration at UFV.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
