I’ve had the rare privilege of working in one of the most despised professions on the face of the earth. Everywhere you turn, we are either at daggers drawn with other professionals, taking a beating from those who think we are nothing but a necessary evil, the scum of the earth, being kicked about to do other’s bidding or being used as human shields when the shit hits the fan. In the early days, I wondered why there was so much animosity, so much disdain, so much “if I had my way, I’d kill you” in people’s eyes and I wanted so desperately to change that image. Well, after 14 years as an HR professional, I get it. We hire, fire, promote, demote (we hardly use this term even though we know what we’ve done!), pay, withhold pay, haggle, discipline (more like punish), and smile, and scream blue murder when you don’t smile back. All these we do, not to machines or software, but to people, human beings in whose veins run smoking hot blood, racing with rabid emotion, coming from all works of life, with all manners of expectations. In a sense, we are like politicians, the only difference with us is that we need to get those human beings to produce…to man the machines and the software, drive the production line till money streams out the other end.  There’s simply no way everyone is going to like such people. And if I were on the other side, I probably wouldn’t like myself either, so I’ve grown the thick skin and can live with your feelings towards me.

That said, I have met many of my professional colleagues who do HR with a difference and like to think of myself as one of such people as well.  I learnt my craft in one of the top consulting firms in the world.  The guys there could draw out water from a rock.  They drove you until you thought you had nothing left to offer and then you stand back and look at the quality of what you have produced and smile in contentment, then on to the next one before you got too carried away.  There, I recruited, trained, designed competency models, led organizational development initiatives for clients. And boy, did I horn my skills well. I did get to the point where I felt I was giving professional advice on issues I had no personal experience in, so when the opportunity came to move to the industry, I took the leap of faith. 10 years later, I have not only flourished professionally, I have perfected my skills, made many friends, enemies, fought many battles, won some, lost some and I still love being an HR professional.

What’s interesting is that my career has given me a view from an angle that is rarely experienced by most other professionals and job seekers. Like me or hate me therefore, there are many things I can teach you and load of information that I could share that you would find useful. I reckoned it would be a tragedy if this information is not broadly shared, made available to as many as dare to take the step to search for it. So if somehow you have stumbled on this blog by providence, error, mischief, here’s hoping you will find something an HR person shares as thoughtful and useful for your own professional life and career. I may or may not know you, but I write without prejudice to who you are or how much love or hate you have for me.

Starting next week, I will share weekly insights for job seekers, ranging from resume drafting, test preparation tips, interview and on-boarding tips, all from a recruiter’s perspective. I’m hoping an insight through the lens of a recruiter might explain why you didn’t get that job, what you could have done differently, or help you better prepare for an opportunity that is on its way…and hopefully you would hate me and my kin less, at least for a while.

I welcome your comments and questions and will do my best to respond to them in time.  I invite you to follow. Who knows, maybe soon, I will be that HR guy you actually love!

Deji