New Career Path

So as most of you know I just recently embarked on a new adventure in my career path.  On 9/12 I entered into the arena of Human Resources when I became an HR Analytics Analyst for McGladrey.  This decision has been a long time coming and I am very thankful for how well the transition process has gone compared to my expectations.  I have found the process of switching careers to be very overwhelming at times and at my very lowest moments seemingly too big of hurdle to tackle concluding my best option was to give up.  But the good Lord always provides when he deems fit and keeping that in mind kept me going.  I thought I would provide a little insight into my path and the thoughts around my decision because I have gotten lots of questions on how come I wanted to make the move and also to maybe help someone else along in their decision process if they are thinking of making the a career move too and more importantly for me to come back and reference when helping my kids when career decisions arise down the road.

CAREER PATH/JOURNEY
Ever since I graduated high school I have had many interests in life.  I thought about going to college to be a teacher, architect, interior designer, accountant, and psychiatrist/counselor.  Seeing that I had to pick one I initially went to college to become a teacher (high school or college level mathematics preferably).  After taking around a year of classes and going through the death of my father, I began to think that maybe my associates degree in accounting was the path I should ultimately pursue.  At this point I figured why not since I'm good at it.  The first word of caution that I will give to my kids when they get to this point in their life: don't pick a career just because you are good at it.  Being good at something will only get you so far; loving what you do will allow you the desire to strive to be the best.  Of course I wasn't going to shoot to be a pop star with my singing voice but this statement holds true within reason.  After finishing my bachelors degree in Finance, I decided to take a job as a staff accountant.  My first job was a good job.  I liked it enough and it paid the bills.  I did the job well and was promoted within a year.  But all the great work I was doing didn't bring fulfillment. I found the job to be very reactional and routine.  Seems like a great fit for me right, I'm a routine kind of gal.  I like things spelled out and I'm all about making standardized processes.  But as much I seemed to fit into the role on paper there was something lacking.  It was then that I decided to go and get my MBA (masters of business administration).  I figured this new degree would open up more doors and allow me to find that perfect job.  After taking one class I was introduced to my previous employer by a classmate.  There was an opening for a financial analyst and I thought this was the perfect blend of my accountant position and my desire to get away from some of the monotony.  This new position was perfect initially.  I loved the ability to work closely with 3 corporate functions and build strong working relationships with each of the leaders.  There were standard monthly duties but also varying projects that kept me on my toes.  I even got introduced to some programming for our financial system.  (Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would like programming but the simple platform that I worked on was quite fun and ended up becoming one of the things that I loved about my job.)  Meanwhile I was still going for my MBA and still had this sense of missing longevity.  I could see myself in Finance but within 5-10 years I saw it being just a job and not something I would enjoy going to everyday.  Thus my decision to get a concentration in my MBA focusing on HR arose.  After a few classes I was hooked.  The ability to have an impact on what people spend 40% of their time doing in a year (for those of us who work 40 hours a week and sleep 8 hours a night, ha!!) was profound for me.  Shortly after finishing my MBA I decided that I needed to start making additional steps to ground my move.  I decided to take the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification.  My HR contacts ensured me that this would be a standout point on my resume.  Only around 10% of Human Resource professionals are certified and the pass rate of those who take the exam is around 60%.  These statistics made me feel confident that taking the $300 test and studying for months would be worth it (did I mention I was newly pregnant during this time and wanted to sleep all the time so it was a big decision to make to study).  I took the test in December 2010 and passed.  What a huge relief!!  I now had professional experience, my MBA with a concentration in HR, and my PHR certification.  In my eyes I was set.  Who wouldn't want to hire me.  I decided to squash my excitement for a bit and wait to make a move until after having the baby.  Grayson joined us in late March and by the end of April I was casually looking for HR openings.  Nothing caught my eye but I wasn't worried, I had time.  Or so I thought...  Going back to work after having Grayson was really hard for me.  I couldn't bare to leave my child (even with Amy) to go do something I didn't love.  I was unhappy whenever I wasn't with him and felt like I was the worst mother .  So the search for my new career had became that much more important; the search was back on and on with a vengeance.  I was finding quite a few jobs but everything that I wanted required experience and not just a few years but 5-7.  Bummer!!  The move now seemed like a daunting task.  Trying to not get discouraged I reached out to as many HR professionals as I could; asking for advice and networking connections.  All of them came back with the same info: you are going to have to take a big pay cut and probably wait for something for quite awhile (possibly until the economy picked up even more).  Even BIGGER bummer!!  I got down, really down for a few days and then reminded myself that I did still have it pretty good.  I had a loving husband, beautiful baby, and wonderful family/friends.  I had a job that paid me well and that I actually didn't hate.  Things weren't that bad; it could be A LOT worse.  But God works in mysterious ways because despite being a "Debbie Downer" I was blessed a month later with a call for an interview for my current position.  So the moral of this story is dream big and don't ever look back unless it is to learn from your mistakes.  I hope to instill in my kids the confidence to strive for what they want and to never give up.  I never imagined my journey leading me in an entirely new direction but I couldn't be happier since I let my interests drive my path.  For those of us who can't seem to pinpoint one exact thing they want to do with their life I say it's okay to mix it up until you find what FITS you.  Plus if you ask my husband he will tell you I'm all of those things that I set out to be out of high school, I just don't get paid to do it.  (Math teacher: I love helping my niece with math homework or anything really involving math; Architect: when choosing our current home I was very particular regarding layout and functionality; Interior designer: pretty much the all decor in our home was my decision; Accountant: love crunching numbers with the hubby (even if he is the one that does the bills); and Counselor: I very much love to analyze life and find comfort in being someone people can go to with their problems).

CURRENT ROLE
I couldn't be happier with my current position.  I feel like the field is exactly where I'm supposed to be and this area lends itself a lot of my current strength of analytics.  Plus I still get to play in excel (yay!!).  So what do I do exactly???  I get that question a lot so I will try to quickly sum up my position.  I am a blend of a HR analyst and a Compensation analyst.  The HR analyst side of me will do workforce reporting.  In that role I will do reporting on demographic data (# of employees, gender, location, age, etc.).  In the comp analyst role I will complete salary surveys which are then used to price the positions within our company against the market.  I will compute analysis on how our employees pay compares to the market, compares internally within our lines of business and by location.  I will also be involved in our annual review process in which pay increases, bonus payments, and anything $$ related to job performance will be handled.

A picture hmmm... Since Andrew says that you have to always include one I have included a picture of me and my old co-worker at Donaldson.  She was instrumental in making my previous job something worth coming to everyday.  Many of you have probably heard about her numerous times so now you will know what she looks like. She was my confidant, my baby informant, and a very good friend.  This was taken on her last day at Donaldson at the end of July (she took an opportunity to move back to her home town).  My career thus far has been a great learning experience and man did it ever give me the opportunity to meet some amazing people along the way.  Miss you bunches Beth!!!