An Online Human Resources Degree Can Be Your Gateway to Lucrative Jobs

Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why, wrote, “Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.”

The importance of people within a business can truly make or break its success. At the heart of a company’s culture and recruitment processes sits its Human Resources (HR) department. If you have any interest in working in this field, your path to success can begin with earning an online human resources degree.

By doing so, you can play a role in recruiting, training, and retaining the ideal employees to boost a business in the right direction.

Let’s take a look at what there is to know about an online HR degree.

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What is Human Resources?

In an organizational sense, human resources refers to the team of individuals who are responsible for labor relations and dealing with the employee/employer relations of running a business. Human resources can also be used to describe the individuals who work for a company.

For this article’s purpose, when we talk about human resources, we are referring to the field and using human resources (or HR) as an abbreviation for human resource management.

Human resources is a realm filled with problem-solving, interaction, and communication.

HR personnel are tasked with a focus on:

• Staffing and recruitment
• Training and learning
• Labor and employee relations
• Compensation
• Organizational development

Jobs You Can Get with an Online HR Degree

With a human resources degree, you’ll be prepared to enter the job market and help organizations manage their employees and freelancers. These undergraduate programs teach core and interdisciplinary coursework.

With a bachelor’s degree, you can obtain a career as an HR specialist, labor relations specialist, training and development specialist, job analysis specialist, and more. With more experience on the job, you can continue to develop skills and become a compensation and benefit manager or HR manager.

Let’s take a brief look at what some of these positions entail and their expected salaries. Monetary figures have been sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Human resources specialists

Human resources specialists are at the forefront of recruitment. They are in charge of managing the process of hiring new staff, which may begin with writing job descriptions and performing interviews all the way through background checks and onboarding. HR specialists also answer employees’ questions about compensation, benefits, and training. The average salary for this role is $63,490 per year. 

Human resources managers

Once you’ve gained experience in the field or a related field after a few years, you may be eligible to move up into a management position. Depending on your employer, you may need to get a master’s degree to do so (of which a bachelor’s degree will be a primary requirement). As an HR manager, you’ll work with upper-level management, create policies for recruitment, execute disciplinary measures, and settle disputes. HR managers earn an average salary of $121,220 per year. 

Labor relations specialists

Labor relations specialists are most often found in workplaces that don’t have unions. In these cases, they help to review contracts and ensure that companies are delivering on their promises to their employees. The average annual wage for this position is $73,240.  

What You’ll Study: Courses You Can Expect to Take?

An online HR degree is filled with courses that provide knowledge and skills for the situations you’ll face in a practical setting. Some course titles that you can expect to take include:

• Applying Leadership Principles
• Organizational Development
• Human Resource Management in a Global World
• Compensation and Performance Management
• Business Policy and Strategy

Some online degrees will also provide the option to specialize in a subject that is of interest to you. For example, some popular specializations in human resource management are:

• Healthcare management
• Foundations of accounting
• Project management
• Marketing
• Emergency management

Enrollment Requirements: Human Resources Degree Online

Depending on what online human resources program you apply to, the enrollment requirements may vary.

Generally, freshman applicants are expected to meet a minimum GPA and submit a standardized test requirement.

In some instances, online human resources programs ask for letters of recommendation.

Why Get a Degree in HR?

An online degree in HR is suitable for various purposes. The most obvious reason to get a degree is to be qualified to meet job requirements. But, even if you are already gaining experience in the field of HR, you can obtain a degree in human resources to:

• Increase your salary potential
• Gain valuable and practical skills
• Be eligible to continue your education and earn a graduate degree in the subject

A lot of degree programs also connect you with internships that can help you gain on-the-job training while finishing up your studies.

On average, the average cost of an online bachelor’s degree from accredited schools is $52,430, according to Geteducated.com.

Online Degrees Prove Beneficial

An online human resources degree is one option to earn your degree. There are also traditional on-campus opportunities. However, for many students, online degrees prove to be more beneficial.

In the case of students with many responsibilities, geographic barriers, financial constraints, or simply those who have the desire to learn at their own pace, then an online degree is a fantastic option. It’s best to choose a school that is accredited, which means that a third party has evaluated and confirmed that they provide all the offerings they advertise.

Although the University of the People doesn’t offer a degree in human resource management, we do have four degree programs that are all online and accredited. Our programs are tuition-free, and therefore, made to be affordable. For those looking to work in a business setting, then be sure to check out our Business Administration program. If you’d rather earn a certificate in the subject, rather than a degree, we also offer certificate programs. 

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Closing Thoughts

Human resources is a constantly evolving field. This is because the conditions, desires, expectations, and goals of businesses and people are dynamic. As human resource management changes shape and takes on new responsibilities, it is up to the professionals within the field to stay up-to-date with trends and enact processes.

By enrolling in an online human resources degree, you will become prepared to enter this exciting field and can learn what you need to know at your own pace. Based on data from the BLS, the job outlook for human resources specialists is expected to be much faster than average at 7% between 2019-2029, and at 6% during the same period for human resources managers. These figures depict that it’s a promising career choice to pursue.