Human Resources Consultant

Welcome!  Welcome to my very first blog post ever.  I am psyched to be here and to be adding to the already extensive blog traffic on the Internet. 

I have spent the last 11 years as an unemployed human resources professional.  Or at least one person I encountered years ago would think that.  Ever have a conversation that stays in your mind forever?   The conversation that incited me to write this blog post was one of those.

It was early in 2003.  I had been in business for over a year and a half at that time.  Although I had a couple of decades of human resources experience behind me, including management, I was still getting my feet wet as a consultant.  I met with the HR Manager of a local plastics manufacturing company.  We were sitting in his office, having a conversation about my background. I was extolling my own virtues by describing my extensive background in HR, including several years in manufacturing. I told him I had my PHR certification, and my Masters Certificate from Cornell, as well as a Bachelor’s degree which I had just recently obtained.  You see, I was pretty proud of my accomplishments, and very proud that I had started my own business and was paying the bills with that income!

Back to Mr. HR Manager, aka Mr. Rude.  He looked straight at me and said “A HR Consultant is nothing more than an unemployed human resources person.”  I am thinking…”did I just hear what I thought I heard”?  Yup, I did.  However, I continued to be proud of myself and didn’t skip a beat.  I continued on with our conversation, left, and never looked back.

So what is the lesson to be learned from this?  Go ahead and let yourself be put down, but be the professional you know you can be and rise above the rude and insensitive people you will encounter on life’s path.

My human resources consulting business has, for the last 11 years, and I hope for the next 11 years, let me take some pretty exciting paths.  It is a heady feeling to know I am making a difference in the world and helping people run their business.

More to come in future blogs about the myriad of things I encounter.  So many HR people could write a book, and I am one of them.  My future blogs will also include useful human resources information, including compliance related data.

 

Until next time.... Kathy Barany, Strategic Management Solutions.   www.sms-hr.com