Human resource management

Incorporating people and development skills, human resource management (HRM) is a popular degree. Find out how you can use your skills

Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree include:

• Human resources officer
• Office manager
• Occupational psychologist
• Training and development officer

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

• Business adviser
• Careers adviser
• Data scientist
• Higher education lecturer
• Life coach
• Management consultant
• Mediator
• Operational researcher
• Recruitment consultant
• Risk manager
• Sales executive
• Trade union research officer

Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Work experience

You will improve your chances of progressing in human resources (HR) by gaining work experience involving dealing with people in organisations.

Opportunities to develop your interpersonal skills are valuable so take on positions of responsibility. Also embrace chances to manage other people in a working or voluntary work environment. For example, dealing with organisational policies and procedures, training and coaching, observing disciplinary and grievance procedures or supervising other people will provide excellent insights into HR processes.

Any office or administration role will also be useful and will allow you to see how an organisation works with its employees.

Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.

Typical employers

HRM graduates can access opportunities in many industries. All major organisations have a HR department. You can find opportunities in the NHS, local authorities, leisure and tourism, consultancy firms, production and manufacturing, education (including universities), engineering, media, banking and finance.

Find information on employers in recruitment and HR, business, consulting and management, and other job sectors.

Skills for your CV

A HRM degree will give you many transferable skills including:

• written communication skills developed through writing essays
• oral communication skills gained through seminars and presentations
• interpersonal skills, including the ability to form good working relationships with people at all levels
• research and analytical skills with the ability to analyse and evaluate information quickly and accurately
• organisational and time management skills by prioritising tasks to ensure academic, social and work commitments are completed on time
• influencing and negotiation skills, developed through interactions with peers and staff
• commercial awareness skills in relation to organisations interacting with, and managing, people
• problem solving skills
• IT skills.

Further study

To progress in a HRM career, most graduates undertake the Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management. It is best to choose a course that is approved or accredited by the Chartered Institute of Professional Development (CIPD). On completion of this programme, you will have acquired the knowledge and understanding to apply for full professional membership of the CIPD.

Following on from this, you may wish to undertake further research through a Masters degree and then follow the academic route to a Doctorate. Research areas may include human resource management and employment law, organisational behaviour, sociology of work, law or an MBA.

For more information on further study and to find a course that interests you, see Masters degrees and search postgraduate courses.

What do human resource management graduates do?

Almost half of human resource management graduates are employed in the business, HR and financial sector six months after they graduate, with more than a third working as human resources and industrial relations officers.

16.4% are in secretarial positions and 8.5% become managers.

Just over a tenth of HRM graduates undertake further study.

Find out what other graduates are doing six months after finishing their degrees in What Do Graduates Do?

Graduate destinations data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.