Employee Compensation Benefits:

This covers salaries, bonuses, vacation pay, sick leave pay, Workers’ Compensation, and insurance policies such as medical, dental, life, and 401k. The Human Resources Department is responsible for developing and administering a benefits compensation system that serves as an incentive to ensure recruitment and retainment of top talent that will stay on with company. When an employee is hired, company’s Benefits Coordinator is required to meet with employees one-on-one or in small group settings to explain their benefits package. This often requires an employee to make an informed decision and to provide their signature for processing purposes

Employee Relations:

With increased rise in unethical practices and misbehaviors taking place in today’s workplace such as age, gender, race, and religion discrimination and sexual harassment, there needs to be mandatory compliance with governing rules and regulations to ensure fair treatment of employees. In short, employees need to know they have a place to turn when a supervisor abuses his or her authority in anyway. Whether corporate or union, HR Department will get involved to act as arbitrator and liaison between legal entities, regulatory agencies such as Human Rights, supervisors (who might be falsely accused), and employees to properly address and resolve issue at hand.

Policy Formulation:

Regardless of organization’s size, company policies and procedures must be established to ensure order in workplace. These policies and procedures are put in place to provide each employee with an understanding of what is expected of them. Similarly, these policies and procedural guidelines will assist hiring managers in evaluating their employee’s performance. These policies can be established company-wide or used to define each department’s function. It is Human Resource’s responsibility to collaborate with department managers on formulation of these policies and regulations to ensure a cohesive organization. A common practice is development and implementation of an Employee Procedure Manual or Employee Handbook that is either distributed to each employee at time of hire or a master copy allocated one to a department.

HRIS – Human Resources Information Systems:

To keep track of vast amount of data, a human resources department must have a good HRIS in place to automate many functions such as planning and tracking costs, monitoring and evaluating productivity levels, and storing and processing of employee records such as payroll, benefits, and personnel files.

It is very important that you, job seeker, understand how HR function works – specifically in area of candidate recruitment. If you are considering a career in human resources, you can choose to become a Generalist or a Specialist. Some titles include HR Manager, HR Recruiter, HR Administrator, Payroll Coordinator or Assistant, PeopleSoft HR Project Manager, Benefits Administrator or Coordinator, Labor Relations, Training Coordinator, HRIS Specialist and HR Consultant.

Whether a job seeker or a HR professional, research a company well before applying for a position.

So, if everything is going so well, why are you so nervous? Is it because you’re afraid you are going to fail at making a great first impression? Take a deep breath. There is a way to overcome this fear -- and you hold key. Remember that blind date? What was hardest part? That’s right – it was anticipation! Once you got there, everything went smoothly – especially when they asked you about your {future} job. Why did it go so well? Because it was about YOU! Know one knows you better than yourself, and that’s who they want to get to know better -- YOU. THEY WANT TO MEET YOU. THEY ALREADY LIKE YOU!

And therein lies secret. The very fact that they have invited you for an interview means they have PRE-QUALIFIED YOU FOR THE JOB! Can you believe that? It’s true! They are hoping that you are as good in person and you are on paper. If you are, like your blind date, they’re going to pray that you’ll stop interviewing with other companies and accept their offer to join their company.

So how do you gain confidence you need to overcome your interview jitters? First, believe in yourself. Know how talented and knowledgeable you are. Remember, your resume says you are – and that’s why they want to meet YOU. Next, do your homework. Learn about company. Ask genuine questions to show how interested you are in what their company does, why position is available, what position is about, and what potential is to grow with company. Volunteer to tell them what you know about their company, using it as a lead-in for a question you might have or save it as a response to a question they may have. Do not fail to ask questions! Do not wait until end and say, “No, I think you answered all my questions (that were silently in my head!). BE PROACTIVE in interview. As long as you know who you are and know something about them, you should have no problem hitting it off. If for some crazy reason they decide to offer position to someone else, don’t be discouraged. There are other fish in sea. Think of it as a great experience and opportunity to practice your interviewing skills.

In summary, interview is a meeting between two interested people. They already know about themselves. So, it’s about YOU. They want to meet YOU. They want to get to know YOU. Just be yourself, be interesting, polite, and show your interest in them. If it is meant to be (hey, remember, you might not like them. Did you ever think about that?), you will be invited to a second interview or will be offered position after first meeting. Good luck!