Tips for Choosing Good Human Resources Certificate Programs
Human resource professionals, whether they are HR coordinators, HR managers or human resources business partners have a passion for people. As an HR professional, you could be involved in anything from recruitment and selection, to benefits administration and compensation management or even retention planning.
In a typical business, the HR team interact with every level of the business, and engage with employees across the company. This is why it is important that every member of the HR department be properly trained and hold human resource certification.
Why and Where are Human Resources Certificates Needed
The type of HR certification needed with depend largely on the governing authority in your specific region. For example, American human resource professionals often need the SHRM designation if they wish to obtain senior level roles, whereas Canadians would require the equivalent CHRL.
There are countless human resource certification courses and it is entirely possible to obtain a human resource management certificate online. But, the one thing you need to be mindful of is the fact that simply taking the course and obtaining the degree isn’t enough.
Most jurisdictions require you to obtain a pre-determined amount of hands-on professional experience before you are eligible to write the final exam in order to obtain your credentials or designation. And, even after you’ve earned your title, you are still required to stay current on changing laws and continuing education.
What is HR and Which Role it Plays in Business
HR, or Human Resources, can be defined as being the management and development of employees in a business. However, the role has gown to be much more than that with HR professionals now taking on a business partnership task in the sense that they play a key role in the shaping of an entire organization.
Programs in human resources prepare future HR professionals for key functions like:
- Staffing and recruitment
- Policy and guidebook development
- Job description writing
- Offer preparation
- Benefits management
- Labor relations
- Employment law and legislations
Typical careers under the human resources umbrella include:
- HR coordinator
- Job development specialist
- Recruiter
- Talent specialist
- Training development specialist
- Human resources manager
- Compensation analyst
- Labour officer
How You Can Take HR Courses Online
Many governing bodies require that anyone seeking designation in human resources have a university degree – however, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you need a degree in human resources. HR certificate program may help as well. You could have obtained a business administration degree, or even a psychology degree and then decided to take a few online HR classes.
Even if you don’t have a 2 or 4 year degree, many colleges are willing to admit adult learners to Human Resources certification courses if they can prove that they have transferrable skills or have already worked in the industry in some facet. The beauty here is that you might even be able to have some of your life or professional experience count towards specific credits so that you can graduate even earlier.
After graduation, and once human resource designation is awarded, almost all of the mandatory continued education courses are conducted in an online format to make it easier for working professionals to stay current without disrupting their lives or interfering with their regular workload.
