HR Career Profile

How did you start your human resources education?

I chose to pursue a human resources degree from the College of Business at Ohio State University. Afterwards, I also obtained a Master’s in Labor and Human Resources. I started my human resources career at Compuserv, an online connectivity company, where I primarily worked in staffing and campus recruiting. I grew the company from about 1,000 to 3,000 employees. After Compuserv acquired a small Internet company, I moved on to Spry as an HR manager. In 1996 I joined Microsoft, where I am today.

What do you enjoy most about your job as a human resource professional? What are some challenges you face?

I enjoy watching the impact I can make in moving the business to a new place, and creating better offerings for the company. It can be a challenge because no two days are alike—it’s not like a dentist’s office where everybody’s teeth look more or less the same.

Does your job allow for a healthy work-life balance?

I typically work 45-to-50 hours a week, not all of which is in the office. It really depends on the specific job. There are HR roles in Occupational Safety and Union Negotiations—in the airline industry, for instance—where the hours might be more erratic. In the tech industry, HR professionals tend to have pretty standard hours.

Is it fairly easy to move around from one industry to another, for example, from high tech to financial or healthcare?

Yes, it is fairly easy to move around from sector to sector. But personally, software development has always interested me more than other areas.

What skills are critical to having a successful HR career?

• Business acumen—understanding the business and how it works.
• Systems thinking—thinking about the system and organization as a whole.
• People acumen—understanding why different people act the way they do.

Any parting thoughts to someone planning on becoming a human resources professional?

Do informational interviews with people working in HR to understand all the different choices you have in this field. Study companies that do HR well, like General Electric and PepsiCo. This can be very helpful in understanding the type of impact a human resources professional can have. It’s also important to gain business expertise—you will have to understand accounting and comprehend balance sheets, for example.