Key Takeaways
- Human resources college degree job outlook is projected to grow significantly, with job opportunities expanding by 6% by 2032, highlighting strong career prospects.
- Many factors are reshaping HR. Particularly, advancements in technology are reshaping HR roles, emphasizing new specialties like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
- Assess your interpersonal skills and interest in disciplines like sociology and psychology.
- Research reputable colleges offering bachelor’s degrees in human resources, to ensure quality education and future career opportunities.
- If you are good at handling confidential information discreetly, then HR career might be right for you.
- Strong organizational skills are vital for managing HR functions effectively, including data management and strategic planning.
- Having a passion for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion signals alignment with modern HR practices.
For a human resources college degree, you do need some skills or qualities that align with the coursework and human resources career path. Certainly, assessing yourself and evaluating whether you have some important qualities can help you decide whether HR is the right degree for you.
If you have recently gained interest in human resources, you should be relieved. This is because HR has the highest employment growth rate according to BLS. Precisely, by 2032 human resources degree jobs are to grow by 6%, higher than any other field.
Above all, advancements in technology and changing business attitudes are causing an increase in demand for new and improvised HR roles, such as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) specialists. The career outlook for HR jobs is great, which is one of the many reasons why you must hold on to your choice of pursuing a human resources college degree.
However, the decision is not as simple, and there are important considerations to make. Firstly, you must ensure that your personality type is fit for a human resources degree. Secondly, you must explore all the esteemed and reputed colleges offering a bachelor’s degree in human resources.
Therefore, to help you make the right academic decision, here are the 5 important signs that you should go for a bachelor’s degree in human resources.
Top 5 signs that you should go for a human resources college degree
To begin with, there are many skills and competencies that you develop during your human resources college degree. However, some prerequisites are necessary to see if one is fit for the degree and a career with a human resources college degree.
There are some soft skills that you must possess to be successful during your human resources college degree duration. If you have any of the following qualities, then a human resources college degree may be a fit for you.
Sign 1 — Strong interpersonal skills
HR is thoroughly focused on managing human capital. Whichever HR specialization you do, you will be working closely with and managing an organization’s people. As an HR professional, you will be working on conflicts, identifying problems, and addressing them, all the while keeping up with the people involved.
Additionally, you must solve people’s conflicts and problems with an unbiased stance, and ensure good communication. Engaging with employees from all backgrounds and designations is an important skill here. More importantly, you could be mediating between the chief executive and an associate-level employee. During this, you must have interpersonal skills to carry the conversation forward.
Therefore, if you have interpersonal skills already, you will find it comes in handy while trying to balance thighs between various stakeholders. Your skills to engage people meaningfully will help you reach decisions and resolutions that make everyone pleased.
In addition to this, It is also an important component for understanding and learning HR rules and regulations. There are ethical considerations while building interpersonal relationships with the human capital of an organization. Your solid judgment and communication skills will help you learn better and faster.
Sign 2 — Interest in psychology and human behavior
HR is all about making people’s lives at organizations easier. HR professionals help people navigate and power through their professional careers. For that, there is a crucial need for a person who has a keen interest in dealing with people, understanding their behaviors, and understanding how to cater to them.
So, if you picked subjects like social sciences, sociology, or psychology in your high school, chances are that you are going to enjoy your human resources college degree.
The degree is people-centric. It is a rewarding career that allows you to bring positive changes within an organization. With your keen interest in human behavior and psychology, you could really make the change process faster and better with all the insights and details you can gather.
Psychology has to do a lot with observing people’s behavior and conversing with them to understand the tiny details. Consequently, these details truly help you achieve a deeper understanding of people’s needs and then solve their problems with more accuracy.
Lastly, any organization would be eager to have someone who can manage the company’s human capital with compassion, empathy, and principles.
Sign 3 — Ability to handle confidential information with discretion
If you find yourself a trustworthy person who does not gossip, overshare information, and is discreet, then a human resources bachelor is right for you.
Certainly, the degree teaches you to not only manage the people of the organization but also become somewhat of a spokesperson for the company. You can be in control of many important and confidential data that cannot be shared outside a few people. Additionally, the data can be related to the employees’ compensation and salary packages, their personal data, or a dispute.
Furthermore, during acquisitions, downsizing, or lay offs, HR is usually one of the first few departments who get to know about it. They are in charge of processing the documents and also ensuring compliance with employee rights and laws. Therefore, in such times, keeping your lips sealed is extremely essential.
However, this is a skill that a human resources college degree cannot teach you. It’s required of the profession, but you must have this skill and quality in yourself. This is because no teacher, professor, or team lead can teach you to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of data.
Sign 4 — Strong organizational skills
Speaking of confidential data and employee information, let’s not forget that HR professionals are always looking after a large volume of data. Additionally, this data is important, it cannot be lost, altered, or compromised because of poor organizational skills.
If you are good at handling data, and ensuring it stays organized and streamlined, then you must opt for a human resources college degree. Certainly, organizational skills are a solid requirement for pursuing a career in HR.
More importantly, organizational skills are not limited to organizing and managing data and employee information. In fact, it also applies to time management. Therefore, as a professional with a human resources college degree, you may be asked to stay on your tiptoes and assess situations where you need to meddle.
Companies need employees to achieve business goals. You will have less time to wait for the perfect candidate. It will be your responsibility to implement a retention strategy before it’s too late, and also to ensure there is an eligible candidate in the pipeline to fill a position.
So, if you wait too long, you could be leaving an important position vacant, costing a lot of the business.
Furthermore, strong organizational skills apply to HR professionals who are training and developing employees. Since they will be the ones in charge of hosting training programs and conducting development sessions, they must be good at organizing and pulling off such events.
While a bachelor’s degree in human resources may teach you how to create strategies and implement them for training and development, a degree cannot teach you to be good at organizing. That skill is your personal possession that calls for a career in HR.
Sign 5: passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), is now a critical part of the HR landscape. New leaders and managers now understand the benefits of a diverse workforce. From innovative business solutions to better team building, DEI is now an important factor in business management and HR.
If you have a personal drive towards diversity and inclusion, then HR is for you. Moreover, if you are naturally more inclined towards creating safe and diverse environments, this is a sign.
Only recently, DEI has become an important part of the human resources bachelor programs. Young and aspiring professionals are now frequently taught the meaning, importance, strategic implementation, and value of DEI. Therefore, with your pre-existing notions and passion for DEI, you will have a much deeper understanding of the subject and will enjoy an academic edge.
Since it is still a relatively new field, DEI is not competitive or saturated either. Therefore, it could prove to be really great as a career choice, especially if you feel passionate about the issue.
What colleges offer a human resources college degree?
There are several colleges offering a human resources college degree. You should consider important factors when choosing the right college for your bachelor’s degree in human resources. Make sure that the college has the following factors before selecting it:
- High acceptance rate
- Financial aid
- Good campus/student life
- High graduation rate
- Ideal location
- Post-graduate programs for future prospects
- Strong alumni network
- On-campus work opportunities
- Diverse student body
Colleges offering bachelor’s degrees in human resources
There is no shortage of good colleges. However, some states with best HR colleges include:
- Colleges in New York
- Colleges in North Dakota
- Colleges in Kentucky
- Colleges in Maryland
- Colleges in Arizona
Here is an overview of some great colleges providing a human resources college degree:
| College | Location |
| Alfred State College, SUNY | Alfred, NY |
| Anderson University | Anderson, SC |
| Auburn University, Montgomery | Auburn, AL |
| Central Michigan University | Mt Pleasant, MI |
| Ball State University | Muncie, IN |
| Eastern Connecticut State University | Willimantic, CT |
| California State University, Fresno | Fresno, CA |
| Fisher College | Boston, MA |
| Harding University | Searcy, AK |
| Anderson University | Anderson, SC |
| Baker College | Owasso, MI |
| Capella University | Minneapolis, MN |
Ready to enroll in a human resources college degree?
While a bachelor’s degree in human resources can help you develop certain skills and competencies, there are definitely some prerequisites. More importantly, if you have some skills already, you get an edge in your academic career.
Therefore, you must assess yourself and see if you have any of the aforementioned skills and qualities. If you are good at developing interpersonal relationships and mediating between different people, then a human resources college degree might be good for you.
Other soft skills like interest and understanding of human psychology, knowledge of DEI, and strong organizational skills are also signs that a bachelor’s degree in human resources is right for you. Ask important questions about HR to fully understand the demands of an HR career.