Guest Contribution by Steve Conway
The three seemingly separate and disconnected segments of liberal arts, technology, and human resources are intricately connected in the professional world because an HR with a liberal arts background and a good understanding of the latest software tools will find themselves in an advantageous position. To understand how that applies, read on.
Understanding Liberal Arts Education and Its Effects on the Student
Liberal arts education, unlike advanced and spear-headed professional courses, builds the core foundation of education in general.
Due to developments in a broad range of skills and categories spread across different academic subjects, liberal studies help students grow their basic knowledge base in a rounded manner, so as to be more receptive to advanced education in any specific field with relative ease.
The Positive Impact of Liberal Arts Education on Future HR Professionals
The impact of some liberal arts degrees on the role of an HR executive is so direct that a Bachelors or a Masters in Liberal Arts is often enough to get you started as an HR professional. With regard to understanding what makes liberal arts so relevant to the job ahead, the following brief points should be taken into account.
- HR is a social aspect of the corporate world, and multiple areas of liberal arts specialize in studying and understanding the human mind and society itself
- Soft skill development is integral to both HR and liberal studies
- Liberal arts education in HR and multiple other fields is found to be responsible for long-term career development
- The same study also points towards employers preferring a new recruit in HR when they have a liberal arts background
Relevance is the Most Important Factor to Consider While Choosing a Liberal Arts Degree Course
North Central College is one of the more practical and well-known liberal arts colleges in Illinois since the institution offers its students a multitude of options to choose from, including 60 majors, 60+ minors, 12 graduation courses, and four certificate courses. Depending on your own career goals and future education plans, be sure to choose a course that is in line with those plans.
The Technological Impact
The implementation of HR software solutions and various specific tools for specific tasks in the sector have added tremendously to the productivity, efficiency, and time management capabilities of HR professionals in the last three-five years.
To an HR professional with a liberal arts degree relevant to the work that he/she is doing, these tools augment and amplify their education, understanding, training, and abilities.
Some of the impactful uses of tech that HR has benefited from can be briefed as follows.
- Cloud HR Management – Unrestricted, selectively transparent, and remote access to all HR management duties
- Career Portals – Helps in recruitment by letting the HR find the right candidates for each job, faster, and with greater relevance
- Payroll Management – It’s a basic but essential feature that is included in almost all HR management software solutions nowadays
- Automation (multiple applications and variable uses) – Makes most repetitive tasks in the department an automated procedure
It is to be noted that there are various other career paths open to someone with a proper, rounded educational background, but Human Resource Management is certainly one of the highlighted careers to be pursued here.
***
