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 Hi ya party people, It’s Friday, and it’s like 1000 degrees outside, but no amount of heat will stop my excitement for the weekend! But before we get there, you know what time it is! 📢 This week’s Q&A is a fun one. We’re talking about breaking into HR at 46 years old, and whether a SHRM certification is worth the money or emotional commitment. Listen, I will never skip an opportunity to roast SHRM into oblivion…but this one time, I’ll save my hater remarks and let the wonderful folks at Safe Space do the talking! 🤐 Grab some water and maybe a notepad to write down your best SHRM jokes, and let’s discuss. And if you wanna put a smile on my face? Submit questions if you have any, for a chance to be featured! 😊 Sponsored by Teamtailor Raise your hand if you've been asked to do more with less at work! ✋ ASK AWAY 🎓 certificates & beginnings ✍🏾 Is the SHRM Certificate actually worth it and helpful? If so in what way? Context: I've been working in the HR department for about 8 months now, and it's something that just happened! And so far I've enjoyed every part of it. I'd like to expand my knowledge, and I've been doing research on how to get better at what I'm doing. Of course, I've read books and listened to the HR podcast but I have yet to take a class or get a certification of some sort for HR specifically. 📣 Susanna Williams, Chief People Officer @ East Bay Community Action Program: Hi! I'm a SHRM conscientious objector. The organization is objectively terrible, reinforcing the very worst things about "HR". (That said, the local chapters are often independent from the main group and much less problematic, in addition to being good hubs for training and networking.) I would recommend the HRCI certification pathway instead. Studying for the test is helpful exposure to a wide variety of concepts and laws that impact our work. Did I retain much of it? No. But it gives me professional validity and a reminder to continue doing my professional development due diligence. (Fun historical back story: HRCI was founded to be the certification arm of SHRM until SHRM decided to bring certifications in-house.) 📣 Tammi Burnett, Director of People and Culture @ Rainforest Action Network: I'm strongly anti-certification (and I say this as someone who held both SHRM and HRCI in the past). Tests prove whether you're good at testing and can afford the study course/exam fee, that's it. These certs were developed to make money, pure and simple. They unintentionally discriminate against class, neurodiversity, disability, race and cultural identity, and a variety of other factors. I know tons of HR folks who got their cert, but can't perform actual HR tasks effectively. If you want a job that requires a cert, I do get it, but in my experience there is no shortcut to lived work experience, you just have to put in your time to learn how to be a good HR professional. Certs are for show, but say nothing about your actual ability. 📣 Jessica Eaton, Benefits Director @ Kyoceraa: I went with SPHR. I have found the compliance and ethics content very helpful. Also having the designation is highly regarded in the business world. Ive never regretted getting it that's for sure! Safe Space members can join this discussion here. Not a member yet? Apply to join here.  ✍🏾 Hello,I am 46 and getting ready to start my career in hr, considering my age, where do you think a good place to start would be? Context: I am not working in HR just yet 📣 Susanna Williams, Chief People Officer @ East Bay Community Action Program: I got my first-ever job in HR at the age of 49. You're never too old to start, but the question of where to lean in is important. You don't say what your background is, but I would start by going through and identifying the most HR-y things you've done in the past to see what pattern emerges. What are the transferable skills you can bring over? That might lead you to learning and development or employee relations or maybe even compensation analysis. You are almost certainly too senior to land a HR generalist / HRBP role. I was able to pivot from "Assistant Director of Academic Administration" (i.e. faculty HR) and a background as an organizational development consultant to become a VP of HR / Chief People Officer. I had a lot of backfilling to do around the technical aspects of HR, but I had a boss who was willing to bet on my leadership and strategic thinking skills. That piece is critical, too- find a role with a leader who also has a nontraditional background. They'll be more willing to see your transferable skills. Good luck! 📣 Kimberly Kay, HR Manager @ ClearSky Health: Age is just a number! What aspects of HR do you truly love, and how can you apply what you enjoy doing to what a business needs? I'd advise a role within a supportive department, as you continue to learn and would benefit from a team HR atmosphere. All the best to you! 📣 Mary Pat Jacobs, Owner @ Mary Pat Jacobs Coaching + Consulting: It's never too late to start, and you are embodying this! I imagine this shift to HR wasn't overnight. (I know it wasn't for me when I shifted from a qualitative market researcher to an OD role!) What intrigued you about it initially? What is keeping you interested in HR? What does that tell you about your passions/interests, what motivates you, what challenges you? LOVE getting curious about your transferrable skills. I have a hunch you will find MANY of them apply in HR. (I was pleased to see that was true for me!) And such a great idea to do some market research of your own. When I shifted to HR, I talked to people across HR disciplines and in different industries. And I was grateful to work at a smaller company where I didn't necessarily have to "pick a lane." I was involved in employee engagement, onboarding, learning and development, performance management, and internal comms/change management. The variety was amazing! Wishing you the best as you consider this transition! Safe Space members can join this discussion here. Not a member yet? Apply to join here. Sponsored by WorkBright AI is the main character right now, but does that mean it would make a good compliance officer??? 🤔 🚨 ON YOUR RADAR 🎧 Welcome to what I will call the HR Glow Up Awards! I’m joined by RyanMae McAvoy Pepin and Josiah Hernández to celebrate HR’s biggest wins and drag the practices that refuse to die. Oh, there’s a lil Mariah Carey tribute in there too. Check it out on Spotify or Apple Podcasts! 🧠 Motivation is broken, and it's not exactly your fault, either! I'm sitting down with Dr. Anthony from Predictive Index on 8/19 for HR Therapy to highlight the behavioral science behind why nobody's feeling it right now. We're getting into the AI mindset shift, why decentering work might be the fix hiding in plain sight. Join us!! ❤️ From ‘I Hate it Here’ to ‘I Love it Here’: Your Culture Transformation Roadmap. HR can influence culture change in any organization, and this course teaches you how. Join the Safe Space community to access it! 🚨 Is your leadership creating trust, or training people to gossip instead? I sat down with Allison Howell, CEO at Hogan Assessments, to break down everything that happens when leadership goes sideways, as well as myths that Hogan's own data debunks. Give it a listen and let's get your leadership back on track!* *This one is brought to you by one of my amazing brand partners 📝 RESOURCE OF THE WEEK Each week I feature a resource I love from the Safe Space library that I believe would be relatable to this week's newsletter topic. This week, we’re revisiting performance management frameworks for small teams. Check it out HERE ⬇️  🫂 COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS 🎒Safe Space Book Club - Rachel is currently sourcing book recs for next months read in the main Lobby chat of our book club on fable, give her some recs so we can vote on next sessions read! Join da club 👉 here! FRIDAY FUN 🫠 yeah so, I can't.png?sig=e35942a64414c127bcbaa6028f3ad99cd6eeff5ace47b3eb7c5df5621f82bc6f&size=email-body&dpr=2) What's the professional way to say: stop beating a dead horse? Because I will need to start using it IMMEDIATELY. That's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed! If you have any thoughts, please let me know. I'm allll ears. Reminder: Today is FRIDAY. 🙏 | ||||||||
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