Case studies : Human resources graduate: Anita

Anita has a BA French, Russian and Serbo-Croat from Durham University and works for Whitbread as a human resources graduate. She is on a rotational scheme and currently works as a reward analyst.

Following my degree, I started temping as a PA/HR assistant to earn money. After a few months I realised I wanted to focus on HR specifically so got another temping job as a recruitment assistant, whilst looking into HR graduate schemes. I was then offered the role of HR graduate at Whitbread.

My degree was relevant to my current position in that learning languages involves you taking an interest in people and cultures and really listening to others and forging relationships. My year abroad as part of my degree also increased my independence and confidence, which I believe were key attributes that enabled me to secure my current job.

My duties as a reward analyst vary from day to day. I'm currently working on getting feedback about benefits and bonuses from managers, so I may start the day by making phone calls and talking through any improvements they feel we could make to what we offer them. I capture all this information as I'm going along and brainstorm some solutions to the issues they raise. I’m also involved in approaching our employee benefits microsite as a customer and identifying areas of improvement. Additionally, I usually have some external ad hoc surveys on our pay, bonus or benefits to complete, which involves going through and interpreting our employee data.

My role has developed as I have rotated through the scheme. My first position was in a more administrative capacity so that I could get to know the business and find out more about HR. I then moved into a recruitment adviser role, covering maternity leave, which was pressurised and involved a lot of deadlines, which I loved. I then moved into the reward analyst position to experience a project-based role, in which there are peaks and troughs in terms of workload.

My ambition is to focus on recruitment and help develop our graduate recruitment schemes into award-winning, respected programmes which offer comprehensive support and guidance and a great foundation for future careers.

What I enjoy about my role is the constant focus on people and the emphasis on getting the best out of them. I also enjoy the fact that I am exposed to all areas of HR and have developed a wide variety of skills accordingly.

As an ambitious graduate, it can sometimes be difficult to accept that you don't know it all and that you are still learning as you go through the scheme.

Working in this sector gives you exposure to all aspects of the business - HR impacts upon every department of the company and helps shape company strategy. It is often the voice of reason and fairness, which means it is a department that I can be proud to work in.

Don’t be afraid of applying to HR graduate schemes if you don’t have an HR-related degree. The key is to show you are committed to a career in HR, so part-time/temp jobs as an HR administrator or assistant during your university holidays or after you have graduated will help demonstrate this. Also, do lots of research into the different areas of HR and work out what you might be interested in and why.