What Can You Do with an HR Management Degree?

A degree may open the door to a variety of opportunities and diverse career paths. The degree programs offered at AIU will not necessarily lead to the featured careers. This collection of articles is intended to help inform and guide you through the process of determining which level of degree and types of certifications align with your desired career path.

Why Should You Pursue A Human Resources Management Degree?

If you're an outgoing person who enjoys working with others, and you have an interest in the various aspects business operations, then human resources could be a field to consider. Within the modern business world, you may hear that a company's most significant asset is its people. This means that, in addition to working with many different employees across an organization, HR professionals may also work with different departments and managers to help the company achieve its goals.

Before determining which degree to pursue, you may ask yourself one question: “Why should I study this?” Your answer may be personal and may even vary from “I want to fulfill a lifelong passion” to “I think there’s a bright future in this field.” For any person considering a human resources management degree online or an online business degree, the answers to this question can be as varied and numerous as for any other specialization.

Possible HR Career Paths

With some careers, envisioning one’s future workplace can be relatively easy. For example, surgeons tend to be employed at hospitals while teachers often work in schools. HR professionals, however, find opportunities in a variety of places as HR skills are needed across fields and in organizations interested in hiring, maintaining and serving employees.

Whether large or small in size, some organizations may find that having HR professionals on staff is beneficial for recruiting and hiring new talent, as well as being a critical liaison between established employees and the company itself.

The employment services industry is projected to grow considerably in the coming decades in order to meet the needs of both growing businesses and smaller companies that want to outsource various HR department functions. According to the BLS, popular HR jobs are anticipated to grow as fast or faster than the national average through 2026.^1,2,3 Moreover, there are a variety of positions you may have the opportunity to pursue as a graduate with an HR degree.

Human Resources Managers

HR managers are responsible for a broad range of personnel, budgeting, benefits, and payroll administration duties across an organization. In addition to overseeing the hiring and training of new employees, HR managers work with multiple department managers to ensure a company has the workers and resources needed to accomplish goals. Human resources managers may oversee a team of HR specialists or other benefits and/or payroll staff.¹

• Projected Growth: 9% through 2026

Human Resources Specialists

HR specialists are focused more particularly on the process of recruiting, screening, interviewing, and hiring new employees. While they may often set up and administer benefits and payroll for the employees they hire, they are not typically responsible for the broad administrative oversight of HR managers. Specialists may move into human resources management positions by deepening their knowledge of their organization.²

• Projected Growth: 7% through 2026

Training and Development Managers

Training and development managers oversee training programs, staff, and budgets. They are responsible for creating or selecting course content and materials for training programs. Managers who can grasp the attention of workers through innovative programs involving social media and other technological advances may fare particularly well as social media and collaborative learning become more common.³

• Projected Growth: 10% through 2026

Training and Development Specialists

Training and development specialists help create, administer, and deliver training programs for businesses and organizations. To do this, they must first assess the needs of an organization, and then develop custom training programs that take place in classrooms or training facilities. They may work to implement and monitor the completion of programs designed by training and development managers.⁴

• Projected Growth: 11% through 2026

1. "Human Resources Managers." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/human-resources-managers.htm (Visited October 3, 2018). This data represents national figures and is not based on school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary.
2. "Human Resources Specialists.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/human-resources-specialists.htm (Visited October 3, 2018). This data represents national figures and is not based on school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary.
3. "Training and Development Managers.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/training-and-development-managers.htm (Visited October, 2018). This data represents national figures and is not based on school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary.
4. "Training and Development Specialists.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/training-and-development-specialists.htm (Visited October 3, 2018). This data represents national figures and is not based on school-specific information. This data represents national figures and is not based on school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary.

American InterContinental University cannot guarantee employment or salary. For important information about the educational debt, earnings, and completion rates of students who attended these programs, go to www.aiuniv.edu/disclosures. Financial aid is available for those who qualify.
1361720 10/18