Is a job in Human Resources really as easy as is the common perception? I don't mean to belittle anyone working in HR but I have heard people say that a job in HR has relatively low pressure. I wanted to confirm with people out there if this is true.

I would say the highest pressure on the job is the fact that employees often feel I am on management’s side, while management feels I am on employees’ sides. That’s when I know I am doing my job as a neutral investigator.

I am a Human Resource Manager in the public sector, and HR is the most difficult and rewarding job I have had. There are many days that involve the mundane, day-to-day administrative processes that just feel like we are pushing paperwork around. Then there are days where someone makes a threat or engages in egregious misconduct and we have to be able to make quick decisions that follow the rules of the bargaining units and address the issues.

I would say the highest pressure on the job is the fact that employees often feel I am on management’s side, while management feels I am on employees’ sides. That’s when I know I am doing my job as a neutral investigator. I can receive a lot of pressure from high level management sometimes to bend the rules or just make a problem go away, and I have to be assertive, persuasive, and convincing enough that people in positions much higher than mine do what I recommend.

So is the job easy? No. Is it high pressure? It can be. But I take a lot of satisfaction in helping people and solving problems, so it’s worth it.