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Bachelor's Degree in Human Resources

Human resource management covers a wide variety of tasks and functions within an organization, including: recruiting and hiring, employee compensation and benefits, corporate policy, employee assistance, and training. Within the field of human resource management there is an endless list of possible jobs. Some of these include: recruiters, EEO officers, employer relations specialist, benefits managers, training and development managers, and labor relations, just to name a few.

A bachelor’s degree in human resources equips graduates with the necessary background and tools to enter a human resources career in a variety of business settings.

Programs typically include a comprehensive overview of human resources principles and practices, business and technology training and communication courses.

In general, course work for a bachelor’s degree in human resources covers contemporary HR issues, organizational theory and design, behavioral science, legal issues in HR management, performance management and assessment, employee training and development, and compensation and benefits.

Students can also expect a human resources bachelor’s program to include core business training in areas such as accounting, finance, information technology and marketing. Additionally, most programs require an array of general education courses to meet various general studies distributions and also allow room for electives.

With a bachelor’s degree in human resources, graduates qualify for human resources leadership roles in private, public and nonprofit organizations. Specific HR competencies covered in these bachelor degree programs include training and development, strategic staffing, labor and employment law, managing organizational change, compensation and benefits, leadership and team building. Undergraduates with a bachelor’s degree in human resources often work as human resources generalists, corporate recruiters and employee benefits managers, while others take positions as training specialists, employee relations managers and HR information systems managers.

Jobs in the human resource industry are plentiful. Because human resource management is needed in every industry, and just about any company with 50 or more employees has human resource workers, human resource professionals have a great deal of options available to them. Specific job availability and salary depend on the specific area one pursues. However, the Bureau of Labor statistics reported that human resource jobs are expected to grow 36 percent or more through 2012, and in 2002 the average annual salary for human resource managers was just under $65,000.

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