HR Peep Show

Episode 8: HR Origin Stories

• HR Peep Show • Season 1 • Episode 8

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In this episode of HR Peep Show, hosts AnnE Diemer, Claire Baker, and Krista Lane dive into their unique origin stories in the field of human resources. Discover how unexpected backgrounds can lead to a career in HR and gain insights into the often undervalued yet crucial aspects of the job. We discuss our favorite parts of working in HR, the emotional challenges we face, and why HR certifications are probably not worth your time. Tune in for an in-depth look at the intricacies of HR and the emotional labor behind managing workplace dynamics.

00:00 HR Origin stories
01:07 Childhood ambitions
05:01 Our paths to HR
14:20 Most interesting parts of HR
19:39 What we (occasionally) hate about HR
25:39 What keeps us up at night
29:58 Lightning round questions
33:22 HR Certifications

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HR Origin Stories - Show Notes & Transcript


Acknowledgments

This episode was produced by AnnE Diemer, and it is hosted by AnnE Diemer, Claire Baker, and Krista Lane. It was edited by AnnE Diemer. Music was composed for the Royalty Free Music Library by Rik Pfenninger. 


We also thank our friends who gave feedback on early takes of episode 1, and those we spoke to about making a podcast— especially Kamrin Klauschie, Kevin Landucci, and Jenna Lane for their invaluable expertise and advice.


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Additional Reading and References

Materials we recommend and/or links referenced in the episode, if you want to keep nerding out on this topic:






Transcript

Krista: Welcome to HR Peep Show, where we pull back the curtain of life in human resources in the United States.

AnnE: I'm AnnE Diemer.

Claire: I'm Claire Baker. 

Krista Lane: I'm Krista Lane, and we are your hosts. We may be new to podcasting, but not when it comes to people work. We are each fractional consultants at the intersection of people and operations with a collective several decades of experience, both in-house and consulting under our belts. 

Claire: [00:00:00] Today I wanted to talk about our origin stories. So, HR is a profession that I think some people maybe study to be hr, but um, it tends to be a profession that people come at from a bunch of different backgrounds, and since we talk about HR on this podcast, I thought that we would talk about each of our origin stories and how we got into this line of work in the first place.

Childhood ambitions

Claire: And so I have not shared my questions with my co-hosts here, so they are going to be surprised by all of them. These are all off the cuff. Um, but. I guess let's get started with Krista. What did you wanna be when you grew up?

Krista: Oh gosh. Um, I, I remember that I didn't actually. I, I think I thought lawyer at first and then later on as my sisters are both older than I am, um, by a bit. So, um, they were working professionals while I was still pretty young. and later as I like, saw their workplaces and modeled for me, I was like, oh, I don't know that I need to be like a lawyer. I could just be… A professional with an office or with a desk, and I had a childhood obsession with office supplies that I still have a nerdy, yeah, I still really enjoy the feel of a good pen and a good piece of paper. so, yeah, I just, I wanted, I was like, whatever I do, I know that I like, I want it to have a desk or at least partly have a desk involved.

Claire: Dream Big Little Krista. Dream big.

AnnE: And you know what? You succeeded and then you left that office, and now you're working in your laundry room.

Krista: It's true, it's true. I mean, someday I'm gonna convert it. Once it stops leaking, um, I'm gonna convert it to a, to an actual desk,

Claire: So, how about you, AnnE? What did you wanna be when you grew up?

AnnE: I wanted to be. No, let me tell you what, I didn't wanna be, I didn't wanna be a doctor. Both of my parents are doctors. My aunts, aunts and uncles are doctors. My grandpa was a doctor. I did not wanna be a doctor. I wanted to be an astronaut for a hot sec. I think just 'cause I thought Sally Ride was really cool, but I think probably my like longest term thing that I wanted to be was a zookeeper. And I did it for a minute. So check.

Claire: And just straight into hr, which I'm sure we'll talk about that

Krista: No wait. We have to hear about yours.

AnnE: yes, I wanna know what you want it to be when you grew up.

Claire: what I wanted to be when I grew up was, um, I wanted to be an Olympic figure skater, uh, which I, I wasn't very good at figure skating, but I was gonna figure that out. I had gumption and, um, that would like replace practice. Um, but I also wanted to play in the orchestra pit on Broadway because I really liked the idea of performances and how everything sort of comes together for this one cohesive whole. and I wanted that behind the scenes action to know what was happening and like the secrecy in crowd group But I really don't like being in front of people. So the orchestra pit seemed like a really good fit for me, um, except that I wasn't good at music either. And so, um. Yeah, uh, that kind of ended around like maybe like fifth or sixth grade, but until then I really had it all figured out.

AnnE: Yeah. What instrument did you wanna do in the orchestra?

Claire: Um, the violin again, not that I was good at it, uh, but you know, I played violin very badly for a few years. Um, did not practice between my lessons, but did make noises come out of a violin. So, 

AnnE: That's the starting place.

[00:05:00] Claire: that is the starting place. There are some steps in between that I didn't quite make it to. and then I wound up in whatever the hell it is I do now.

Our paths to HR

Claire: But Annie, How did you get into hr? What was your gateway job between zookeeper and hr? 

AnnE: My gateway job was sort of college, which is not really a job, but in college I met a bunch of people who were working in the tech industry and one on her first day as a software engineer. Everyone kept asking her if she was the new secretary, and she told me, she said, it'd be great if I had just like a little feminist, I could put in my pocket and bring her out when someone needs to fight these battles for me that I don't wanna fight because I just wanna sit down and code. And I said, “Hey, that sounds like a job.” Because I had realized at that point, this was about halfway through college, I'd realized being a zookeeper was gonna require a master's degree. And I didn't wanna do that.

So I wanted to be a little feminist in someone's pocket that helped out with their jobs. And then I wrote my senior thesis on the biases that exist against women in the tech industry. And that kind of led me into hr. And my first job was like officially an office manager. But I like to think I was someone's little feminist and in their pocket. That sounds weird,

Claire: I can definitely see a direct line though, like maybe not from zookeeper, but from pocket feminist to the AnnE I know to today. 

Krista: I didn't know any of that. 

Claire: How about you, Krista? 

Krista: Um, that also sounds a lot more direct than anything I did. Uh.

Claire: And for anybody who's listening right now, you can't see that Krista is petting her cat like Dr. Evil.

Krista: It's just how he's sitting and he's in his purr-y chirp mode. So I'm hoping that if I placate him by giving him the attention that he desires, that he won't chew on the power cables that I have down here, which are not the newly upgraded ones. They're the old kind. So he could chomp them in one bite 

Claire: Uh, which is another metaphor for HR right there.

Krista: Um, but, okay. So to answer your question, um, for me, HR was oddly enough, well it was really recruiting, I guess technically, but I got into, but a lot of people. And a lot of people make those different. And that could be a whole other episode talking about the differences between recruiting and HR, or lack thereof in my hot take version.

So I was working in the nonprofit arts, performing arts and, um, as a, a like program manager and administrator, um, and stage manager. And, uh, it turns out that working in the arts. Much to no one's surprise is not a particularly lucrative living for most people. Uh, myself included. Um, it also did not help that I was the most financially stable person in a relationship that, uh, was for lack of a more graceful term, sucking me dry financially. Um, so. I knew I, like, I, I ended up got out of that relationship, which was great, uh, for that prospect for the financial side of it. But I was still really struggling and in debt and burning out from trying to make ends meet in the arts and like puzzling together a million different side gigs. So much so that I started to hate the arts and I was like, if I have any time off, I'm never gonna go see a show again. I'm never gonna enjoy music again. I'm never going to enjoy so many things that I really love and that are why I started working in this field. So I really need to get out of it and to do something else.

AnnE: oh, that's so sad…

Krista: yeah. but so I had a friend who in college, we, um, I was a double major in theater and rhetoric and one of my. Co double majors who did computer science and theater, because that was infinitely more practical. Um, they recommended, they were like, “Hey, I work at Yelp. They're hiring. Um, how about recruiting? Seems like you could probably be good at it. They seemed like they got a good vibe going,” and I didn't know the first thing about recruiting at all. Um, but I applied for recruiting coordinator position, uh, and kind of the rest is history from there. So I started in technical recruiting as a recruiting coordinator. And then I, I don't know if this is probably not gonna make me sound very good, but, um, I just, I couldn't stay focused on just the recruiting part of the job, like it all fit into the system of how this workplace existed and just industry wide, you know, we make certain choices, we make, you know, we, we execute a strategy. And it, some of the things like didn't always make sense, so I was the, the troublemaker asking a lot of questions that nobody really wanted to answer. and uh, and they're like, why don't you just like, stick to recruiting, stick to your headcount goals, stick to whatever. And I was like, but like, what is the point of spending all this energy and time Um, and frankly like money in the budget to recruit if we are not recruiting them to a stable and functional workplace?

[00:10:00] AnnE: Why do I feel like it's gonna be a theme of this podcast that we're all troublemakers in some realm and then came into hr, which people don't think of HR as troublemakers, but we are.

Claire: Well, I, I think that that is the transition that happens a lot of times is that you are the one around the office that starts agitating for change and for improvement and, It gets added to your list of responsibilities often without a change in compensation, and then it gets added to the resume and the next job winds up having some sort of HR title 

AnnE: that is, that sounds very familiar from what I've seen. Is that your origin story? No. Claire, you were a trainer.

Claire: Oh yeah, my God. If, if we're gonna go on the whole journey, um, no, but, uh, I, well, I'll skip forward to the next job, which was, I was an executive assistant, in previous generations, you might call it a secretary, but, uh, I did. I, I just did like everything for my boss. I was his personal assistant, executive assistant because of who he was in the office.

I also was just arranging a bunch of company level things and, uh, kind of made the transition from executive assistant to chief of staff and just was much more focused on the people operations roles. And so I like to tell people, I don't think of myself as being in hr. I think of myself as being in people operations. Ccause I'm much more focused on operations. I can do the HR thing, I can speak hr, but it is definitely not my happy place. and I think that polish that you expect from HR does not come naturally to me. there are a lot of technical parts of HR that require a totally different skillset and, and I am much better suited to the compliance, the systems, um, you know, insurance, payroll, creating workflows, that side of things. So, I wouldn't, I, I have one foot in hr, but I wouldn't say that I'm all the way in the tent yet.

Krista: yet, see, I think this is where, this is where like we should have a different episode. Maybe that is about like what, what are the differences between like HR and people operations and recruiting and all of these other things.  I guess you're, you're talking more about like the specialty of. Uh, like the technical components of operating a business where it intersects with how employees operate in that business.

Is that a fair definition for you?

Claire: Um. Oh, God, I don't know. I, I think I, I do like, I do talk to team members. I talk to employees, but, um, employee relations is kind of an incidental part of my job a lot, I think. And when I think about. HR Hrps, I think that that FaceTime is a lot bigger part of their job. whereas for me, more often than not, the employee is the person receiving the deliverable, but is not all that involved in most of the process. It's just that most of what I'm doing is happening in the background. Most people don't want to hear me talk about what I do. They just wanna hear that I did it and it was successful.

Krista: well, it's a good thing that we have a podcast then, so you can talk about it.

Most interesting parts of HR

Claire: Krista, like, I'll let you take this one, but what's the most interesting part that people don't even know is part of the job?

Krista: Well, interesting for whom? For me personally?

Claire: Yeah.

Krista:  Um, I, I think of it as, uh, like I, um, I think in systems and I am, am often, I think like maybe the most, this is often not fun for the client or the people I'm working with, but, um, is very fun for me, which is that. Quite often, uh, the root cause of a particular problem is not what they think it is. And I really enjoy kind of like disentangling that system a little [00:15:00] bit and like separating into component parts and analyzing and like kind of diagnosing what the actual issues are. I kind of think of it as like, uh, you know, I'm, maybe I'm a mechanic, right? And you're coming in, you, you, you brought your car to me, and you're like,” there's a weird noise.I think it's this”, uh, and I'm like, “Hmm. Is it that, or is that a symptom of a different problem?” Like the reason that you're, I don't know. I'm not a mechanic at all. So this is a terrible analogy, but, um, you know. Like, maybe you're out of oil and that's why your engine sounds the way that it does or something. and so you're like, I have a weird noise. And I'm like, you're out of oil. You should do something about that.

Claire: I am just picturing like my employees are making a weird noise. It goes like”wahhhhhh”, and that is hr.

Krista: yeah, yeah. 

AnnE: Yeah, I think mine, my first instinct was I like being HR because I like knowing things. I like knowing the tea. I like being involved. I like, even if I'm not working on whatever the thing is, I like knowing that it's moving and understanding how it fits into the bigger picture. And I think that's always been my favorite part.

But as I thought that, I remembered yesterday a client started to send me a message about something hit send. So I saw it pop up and this was in a signal message. And then immediately deleted it. And I saw just a bit of it. And so I quickly typed, no, no, no, no, no. I wanna know what that was. And she said,” no, you don't want this one yet. I, I'm gonna, I'm gonna work on it. And, and it'll get to you when it's. When it's more done.” And there was part of me that was like, oh, I wanna know what you're talking about. And then there's part of me that's like, yeah, you know what? I don't wanna touch it until I have to. So I wonder if I'm like taking a step back from that part of HR where I feel like I need to know everything.

I wanna know things, I wanna know things strategically, but I know a lot and I don't know that I necessarily need to know more. So I like the tea, 

Krista: but but is that like something that people don't think of as part of hr? I don't know.

AnnE: That's a good point. I guess people do think of hr, like, knowing the thing. So maybe that was not a, that was not an answer. 'cause the question was, what do you like about the job that people don't normally think of as part of the job?

Claire: Yeah.

AnnE: Okay. Yeah, I guess people do know that. Um, okay, so then I think my second answer is I like the technology. Um, well, let's be clear. I don't like the technology. I don't think HR Tech is good, but I like

Krista: We’re gonna talk that about that in another episode,

AnnE: we are gonna talk about that another episode, but I like being able to use technology to. Have automation to make things simpler, to make processes easier for folks, and being able to find and identify the right solution is a good part of the job. And it's also a heads down part of the job where I'm not needing to navigate people's feelings and stuff. I'm just worrying about the technology and making it work. And I like that.

Claire: Yeah, I mean, I think my, what I like best is also similar to what you like, you both like best and I think that this might also just be a function of why we are friends. It may not be a representative sample, but I really like the problem solving part of it. I think of it more like a jigsaw puzzle, and I'm finding different pieces all over the place, but I, I like understanding how information flows through systems, not just like the tech, but like different companies and, um, there are a lot of handoffs in the backend of hr, between, you know, the, your, your bank and the payroll company and like the 401k company, there's a lot of regulations and then they have to put like, technology on top of that and, and make it work like with rules and stuff, and I just think it's, it's really interesting to be able to pick all of that stuff apart and then put it back together in a way that like doesn't break and doesn't mess up people's paychecks when something goes wrong with their benefits, because you have taken the time to pick all of that apart before, you can actually find the problem and actually fix it. And then people think you're magic. And it is a wonderful feeling. 'cause I'm not actually magic, I'm just obsessive.

AnnE: I am patient. I'm not magic. I'm patient.

What we (occasionally) hate about HR

Claire: Oh, I'm not patient. Uh, well, AnnE, so as a patient person. What do you hate most about working in hr?

AnnE: I was about to ask you if that was the next question. I'm glad it was. What I dislike most is that it's never finished. I, you talk about it being a puzzle, and I really like that. I really like that aspect of Hr, putting together the puzzle, finding the missing pieces, but there's always a piece you just can't find or a piece that just doesn't quite fit. And so even when the whole puzzle's together, there's still something eating at my brain of this isn't quite done. And I just, I rarely feel like I can fully check something off my list. And I know that's what keep keeps HR interesting. To be clear. But also sometimes I just wanna feel done with something and I just, I never feel done.

[00:20:00] Krista: yeah, there's like so little that sit and forget

AnnE: Yeah. 

Krista: much to everybody's chagrin.

AnnE: Yeah.

Krista: As it turns out, the work is never done.

AnnE: Never.

Krista: Welcome to being a human, but also working for humans.

Claire: Well, so then what do you hate most about it, Krista?

Krista: um, this is gonna sound like I'm complaining, but I hate how undervalued this function is overall and how like I spend so much energy in the minds of my decision makers to build a business case for them. Like also the phrase business case. I'm like, if you just valued this function the way that you value your product function or some other function of your company, we wouldn't be having this conversation about the things that I recommend that we do. We would just be able to do them. So I like, I hate and get frustrated by like the amount of energy that it takes to, like, not fight, but just like advocate for things that are really obvious to me and, um, you know, would benefit everyone in the long run. Like there, it's, it's, it's a two-sided. It's one that there's like, there's not enough value, but also that like they don't value long-term thinking. Um, and I do, so, you know, a lot of the stuff that we do is, you know, sees really long-term some like, you know, long-term dividends. That could sometimes be a quarter, it could be six months, it could be two years or several years from now that we really are confident in the results of something that we did. And most, most leaders, uh, you know, will, will say that they would rather see something that's like pretty immediate, you know, within a month, within a couple weeks. Um, and that just like isn't realistic for how humans operate. So I, I, I deal with that tension a lot.

Claire: Yeah, 

AnnE: Yeah, that’s a good one.

Krista: Yeah. How about you? 

Claire: yeah. Um, I mean, for me it is that. Ultimately, our job is to do what's best for the business. And there are times when what's best for the business is not what's best for an individual person. And when I have to be in those situations and deliver that message that things are not gonna work out the way that somebody wants, and they have very valid feeling for why they want what they want. and sometimes you have to deliver the message that like, I'm sorry, but in this case it's not about you. Because my heart does go out to those people in most of those situations, Yeah, I just, those are, those are the ones that really like keep me up at night and that I don't like doing.

Krista: I was gonna double click on you for a second and just ask you to share an example of something of like where that happened because I, my theory is that yes, that part does suck and it does happen, but it happens a lot less often than many leaders would like to think it does. Like most of the time, and this is kind of how AnnE and I operate, like what is best for the employee is best for the business. But I know that, I know that's not always the case, but so I'm, I'm curious about an example for you where, where that happened.

Claire:Um, I, I think that there are situations where people are having big feelings, um, but it, it doesn't rise to the level of like discrimination or harassment or anything like that. Um. And the answer is ultimately like, we need you to put on your big girl pants or your big boy pants and just deal with it because we have a job to do and like, I would never deliver it that way, but like often that is the answer that you have to give somebody, and that doesn't make their big feelings about it, any less valid. Like it's possible that that person really is being disrespectful or that their job really is undervalued, um, or they are busting their ass. They're just focusing on the wrong thing. and it. Is really dissatisfying when you have to deliver that message. Like nobody, nobody wins. Um, and it just makes the world feel like, um. Crueler place sometimes. Um, and I don't like delivering those messages, which is probably why I like to hide behind my screen and, you know, work in the systems and just deliver the result.

What keeps us up at night

[00:25:00] Claire: Okay, so now those are the situations that keep me up at night. What keeps you guys up at night, AnnE?

AnnE: I stayed unmuted. Oops. I think what keeps me up at night is. I don't know. I have anxiety. Everything keeps me up at night. Tiny little things keep me up at night. Um, but yeah, I would say kind of along the lines of what you said, Claire is disappointing people. Is. Is the thing that keeps me up at night. I like to find a solution that's gonna work for everyone, not always able to do that. I've gotten better at disappointing people, I think, and it doesn't take as much of a chunk outta my heart as it used to. So I'm more resilient to it, I guess. But yeah, trying to keep thinking of a solution until I find the one that works for everyone. I think. I would say that probably is what keeps me up at night, but it doesn't exist, so I just gotta. I gotta do my best and I gotta know, sometimes people are gonna be disappointed. I had a manager tell me once that management is an exercise in deciding who to disappoint and when. And I feel like HR sometimes is an exercise in who to disappoint and when.

Claire: How about you, Krista?

Krista: um. I, I agree. I also feel like disappointing people is not the best. I think for me, the hardest parts are, you know, of course there, there are often not easy answers right? there. They're not like humans are flawed and imperfect, and the solutions are too. Um, you know, the options that are available to one company or another may not be the options available to an, to someone else. Um, and that, you know, can really impact from company to company what someone can do about a particular problem. So I, I think the hardest, the part, the part that keeps me up at night is probably that, um, is when there are conflicts that. Uh, are complicated by, you know, power dynamics or relationships that are really sticky. And just trying to find a way to, for me to stay human and for me to have empathy for all parties, even if at first it doesn't seem like they deserve it. Um. Um, and still find a way to, you know, be diplomatic and still serve justice or serve diplomacy or serve, you know, whatever it is that I, that needs to happen in that moment for the best long-term outcome, for the business and for the people involved. So like trying, trying to problem solve the, the things that are not, um, so easy, which is, you know, also something that I really enjoy about the job. It's just that it's also hard. And it's, it's probably good that we, that I am uncomfortable with it just because, uh, you know, we're dealing with people's livelihoods and. The impact can be really significant. Um, so I, you know, always try to balance what, like, sure. The bottom line for the business. You know, it may not be about saving every dollar, right? What's best for, for the business. So, um, it may also be about other things, whether that's legal risk or whether that's, um, you know, reputational risk. If they treat someone badly on their way out. you know, the, the un uncomfy human bits are the, are probably the things that keep me up at night.

AnnE: Yep. 

Krista: can also be really rewarding though, when they go Well,

Claire: Yeah.

AnnE: Yeah. 

Claire: Oh yeah. Well, I mean, for me it's, " ugh, why did I say that?" Like, you are so under a microscope and, um, people read a lot into your wording in certain things. And when I wake up with my heart racing at 2:00 AM it's often like. Oh my God. Everybody was judging me for how I said that. Um, which, you know, is not the most important part of the job, but it's certainly one that I have distress over.

Lightning round questions

[00:30:00]  Claire: But we, we should wrap up quickly. So I am going to just, I have three more questions. I'm gonna go through a lightning round with you guys. Um, and I keep saying you guys, and I'm trying not to say that anymore, but, uh, real quick. Okay. What is going through your mind when you are firing someone? AnnE?

AnnE: I'm thinking “this sucks. Do it with as much compassion as possible”. And also “this isn't about you, AnnE. Oh my God.” Those are the things that I'm telling myself.

Claire: Yeah.

Krista: yeah, probably the same for me.

AnnE: How about you, Claire? You're not usually the one doing the yeah. I'm not usually the one doing the firing, 

Claire: but I am thinking, um. That it's not worth arguing. Um, I hope you can move on quickly. Uh, yes. It's not fair. Let's, let's focus on the future is usually what I'm thinking. Um, 

Krista: I'm also obsessing in the background a little bit over like did I really do everything I could to prevent this?

AnnE: Yeah. 

Claire: Yeah. Uh, as we've talked about in a previous episode, usually by the time it gets to that meeting, um, I am usually at peace with it that there is not much that could have been done. Um, but the person who is across the table from me is probably gonna be the last one to realize it. Krista, what do you think about, bosses?

Krista: What about bosses? I'm giving a quizzical look.

Claire: They’re bossy

Krista: Um, uh, I bosses and partners alike. Um, I look for. Values alignment. And um, I really like them when we are on the same page. Um, and I have a really hard time with them when we don't and they are unwilling to get on the same page. And that doesn't mean that we have to be in agreement with anything. But, just that like we have to understand each other and be able to move forward, you know, productively.

Claire: AnnE? 

AnnE: I work in nonprofits and politics and a lot of the bosses and leaders in this space are big: "we've always done it this way", people, and nothing frustrates me more than that attitude of we've always done it this way, and I like the leaders who are willing to be flexible, who are willing to change things up and say, we haven't always done it this way. And I think we've got great examples in the 2025 elections of we don't have to always do it this way. And I hope some of the bosses start hearing that. How about you, Claire?

Claire: Um, I think that there aren't enough bosses out there who are good at stepping out of their own perspective and often that makes my life difficult and I will not tell them, but I resent them for it. Um, not necessarily my bosses, but, uh, 

AnnE: we don’t have any bosses right now

Krista: can you tell that this is related to why we don't have bosses? Yeah.

Claire: yeah.

AnnE: Yeah.

HR Certifications

Claire: Last question. Do you need a certification to work in hr? 

AnnE: Fuck that. 

Claire: No.

AnnE: No, I say this as a person with a certification. Krista and I got our certification in, Krista, 2024? Or 2023?

Krista: 2023, I think. But yeah, we did it literally as an experiment. 'cause we were like, what is this about? Is it actually useful? No, it was not.

AnnE: It was not useful. We memorized a bunch of things that by the time we celebrated, when we finished our exam and we passed, we celebrated by eating burritos in the park. By the time I finished that burrito, all of that information had left my head, but the information that I regularly use in this role that stayed.

Krista: Yeah, 

Claire: We should, we should talk about that in another episode sometime. But I also think that certifications are a waste of money and do not actually, uh. Test how somebody will do in the job. 

AnnE: Can I jump in really fast?

Claire: no.

[laughs]

AnnE: So I think that certifications, people think of, I'll get a certification, I'll know what I need to know about hr, so I can start in hr. And I really don't think it's gonna help you. So if you're trying to figure out how to get started in hr, don't turn to a certification to do it. Talk to other HR people. I have learned all of my best HR. From watching people who are better at it than I am and learning from them. And so I would say don't do, don't do a certification. Get some people, watch them, do it, talk to them, ask questions. That's how you get into it.

[00:35:00] Krista: also the companies that are requiring or preferring that they, that someone has a certification are probably not gonna be great employers to begin with if they don't share. that perspective about certifications.

Claire: Yeah, there's no right answer. And certifications make it seem like there is a right answer, and often they give the impression that the right answer is the shitty one. Um,

AnnE: union busting one? Yeah. Fuck that.

Claire: or just, you know, the minimum requirement. Um, where it's not meant to be the, it's not meant to be the norm. It’s meant to be the line that you should not go below.

Krista: It's the floor, not the ceiling.

AnnE: I I loved memorizing why to not break child labor laws. And it's because the first time you get fined like $5,000, the next time you get fined like 12,000, next time it's 30,000. And I was like, no. The reason not to violate child labor laws is because children shouldn't be working.

Krista: See? you did remember something after we ate our burritos

AnnE: I did. Well, not, those aren't the exact numbers. Don't quote me on those exact numbers. That part's not right, but I do remember what we had to memorize there. Okay, I've taken us off track. Sorry,

Claire: Yeah, I mean it. So it turns out that, um. You don't actually need a certification to stop for a second and think, is this likely to get me sued? Um, it turns out that you're, you might be born with that software. Yes.

But yeah. So today we talked about how, uh, very few people. Plan to be in HR when they are little children, but there are many routes into HR and um, that there are technical aspects of it and figuring things out that can be really interesting that people don't really are part of the job. We also learned that. It is a tough job and you are doing a lot of emotional labor and bearing a lot of responsibilities for really consequential decisions. Um, there are a lot of things that keep you up at night and HR is not thinking how much you suck when they're firing you. Um, bosses can be good or bad, and certifications are a waste of money.

une back in next time for more tips.

AnnE: Tips and hot takes. That's what we bring. 

Krista: That's it for today's episode of HR Peep Show with your hosts, Claire Baker, AnnE Diemer, and me Krista Lane. Thank you for listening and stay tuned for future episodes covering both hot takes and practical advice to build sustainable people-driven companies. To view transcripts and full credits or find out more about us, go to hrpeepshow.com.