The HR management function has undergone tremendous change over the past 20-30 years. Many years ago, large organisations looked to the personnel department mostly to manage the paperwork around hiring and paying people. More recently, organisations consider that the HR department plays a major role in staffing, training and helping to manage people so that both staff and the organisation are performing at maximum capability in a highly fulfilling manner. HR management used to be restricted to large corporate businesses or the civil service but that is no longer the case. In dealing with key issues that every company must face, regardless of their size, HR management has become a necessity for any successful business.

This need is creating a growing demand for more qualified HR professionals at every level of business.

As a career choice HR is open to a variety of people, from students coming straight out of second level education to people already in the workplace working within a HR role by default and who want to get a formal qualification or learn about best practice for their jobs. It's also well suited to those returning to work after an absence or simply taking their professional development in a different direction. These days courses in HR are plentiful and varied in their specifications. "The best thing about HR is that you can enter it at many levels and at different phases of your career, " says Deirdre Giblin, MBS, FCPID, a HR consultant and associate faculty of HR at the National College of Ireland. In addition to this broad appeal, a HR qualification carries with it a lot of potential for further career enhancement. "To progress in your career, people management is an important skill to have and if you have done a course in human resource management, it's proven, " says Giblin.

It should be noted that there are some important distinctions between personnel and HR functions; the former is a more reactive role and is essentially an elevated admin position. "Human resources, " says Giblin, "is a management role. You are as good as the accountant or the sales and marketing director. HR is now a profession, not another admin job with a nice title."

Contrary to the cliche, HR is no longer a female dominated profession. Admissions to recent courses have been split almost 50:50 along gender lines. Giblin points out, "Men take it more seriously as a career option now. It's antiquated to assume HR is a female only profession, although in the past it was seen as a 'soft' skill, " she explains that this is no longer the case, it is now "a credible management function because decisions need to be made, such as whether to open or close a company location, for example."

Work in the field is varied, as the nature of the job changes depending on the size of the company. "In a small to medium company the HR person needs to be a generalist, " Giblin explains. Larger organisations will more likely diversify the HR function into different roles, where a person may exclusively focus on one particular area, be it recruitment, training or employment law.

Salaries in the area are highly competitive and rates are now on a par with other business functions.

It should also be noted that once the decision has been made to move in the direction of HR, this does not necessarily mean a long term career decision has been made, as HR is by no means an end in itself. According to Giblin, there are examples of qualified HR professionals who have moved sideways into a range of roles. "They can become operations managers or sales and marketing managers, because they have a strong overview of the whole business, " she concludes.

The National College of Ireland offers a variety of both part-time and full-time courses in HR. It can be pursued through a part-time BA in HR Management, a full-time BA (Honours) in Accounting and HR Management or as a Post Grad Diploma in Arts and HRM, to name but a few. Information on these courses and many others can be found at www. ncirl. ie