101 HR Hot Tips… Here we go!

Welcome! To my HR Hot Tips blog and thank you for your participation! I am excited to be creating this blog and thrilled that you’re reading it… So, here we go!

Why did I write this book?

I was recently asked, what was my inspiration for writing 101 HR Hot Tips: Handy Secrets for Success in the Workplace. Well, the answer to that is simple:

I want to help, and I can. So I’m going to.

As I mention in the preface of my book, hundreds of people (friends, colleagues, strangers who have just learned of my profession) have called on me for advice on how to handle a variety of employment related issues, from how do I get my dream job, to how do I handle a particular situation, to what’s the law regarding “xyz”, to how do I fire somebody. And so on.

After sifting through thousands of ordinary and unprofessional job applications (and yes, I look at them all), having panelled hundreds of painful interviews of [probably] capable people, and having had to witness innumerable mishandled workplace disputes, I felt I could add value by sharing my advice and opinions with individuals who need it most. The question was: how?

So, I decided that writing a book would be a great way I could positively impact and influence people in some areas where they are greatly lacking or feel they could use some support. And so 101 HR Hot Tips: Handy Secrets for Success in the Workplace was born.

A bit about me…

Who the hell am I, and what qualifies me to write this book?

At the time of writing, I had gained fifteen years’ practical general* HR experience, most of which have been in a management capacity and all of them in a leadership capacity (naturally, being in HR, you need to be a leader at all times). I have worked for seven different companies in general HR in Australia, the UK and Canada. I was the HR Manager for four of these companies, and HR Advisor/Business Partner/Generalist for three. Importantly, I am tertiary qualified in my field and have a Bachelor of Business majoring in HR Management.

Now, on the surface, it might sound like a lot of jobs, and I might appear to be unstable. But please understand that everything I do is intentional. I’m a traveller, and it’s important to me to continue to gain experience in my field when I live and work in other countries (NB: my career is half my motivation to live in other countries; life experience is the other), so I am very selective about what roles I apply for: I don’t just go for anything and everything. When I select the one or two jobs I want to apply for I usually get an interview, which most of the time leads to the offer. (Why did I get these jobs? More about that in next week’s blog.)

It is the combination of my education, and my exposure to and experience in these different countries, companies and cultures that qualifies me to write this book. Check out my company at www.harlandhansen.com for the full gamut.

So what can you expect?

My book is a practical, non-academic, honest (and hopefully humorous) self-help guide, aimed at individuals who require support and self-confidence around their careers, both before and after landing the dream job. If you’re a school leaver, university graduate, or adult who feels like something is missing and you are looking for some kind of guidance, then my book will benefit you. If you are already successful in the workplace, the only benefit you might get from this book is a giggle (which is still a benefit in my mind!)

I honestly believe that my HR Hot Tips are the reason I have been so successful in the workplace and I want to share them with you, so you can have the self-confidence to effectively manage the many complex, frustrating, challenging, sensitive and hilarious issues you will face during your career. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Stay tuned for next week’s edition: Five ways to improve your chances of getting an interview for that dream job.

*general HR is all facets of HR and not limited to one speciality, such as recruitment OHS, or training. My fifteen years’ experience has been general and therefore I have been exposed to all areas of HR.