Everytime I pop by this thread I get more amazed. HR must be the most lucrative career and best kept secret in the universe.

At first is people claiming super high salaries that put the IBs to shame. Then consultants say it is usual for fresh grads in HR firm to be having discussions with Board Director/ CEO/ CXO… Now better still, even undergrad HR interns and temp administrators are claiming their jobs are like SVP/VP.

Simply bizarre.

The earlier response are not bad, got some pros explain different career path in HR & pay difference between specialist and generalist, I am graduating next year and open to joining HR so is very useful to me.

It is only recently that the thread got derailed by jokers who are more interested in boasting about what a big shot they are then providing information, just ignore the last 5 pages of this thread.

Actually HR managers pay very high cos they can kill the company by hiring a ton of idiots. Which will trigger the "bozo-explosion" lololololololololololololololol.

Of cos if u do paper work nia then not consider HR liao

When I started my first job about 8 years, I had discussions with Directors and my CEO quite often.

Usually we discuss what coffee/tea they want me to buy for them and where to buy that's nice to drink but still reasonably priced. They are nice people, they won't ask their PA to tell me indirectly but will ask me into their meetings rooms for this serious discussion.

And yes, I was in the HR Dept. Human Retriever. :)

Need Advice...(No exp HR manager vs CPIB IO)
 

Ok i need serious advice here.. some will think negatively for both offers, but listen me out...

I am currently in an engineering firm doing project management and sales. All in all I have 2.5 years of project management in civil engineering industry which also includes sales experience. Both in govt and in pte firm.

I am thinking of switching to HR field...or either that to an exciting investigation job with CPIB which was being offered to me last year..."about 4,3k for CPIB"

for the HR field, it is a friend business dealing with logistics, courier services.
He is the boss and his business is into the 2nd year which has big clients of KPMG, AWS and is doing well, currently expanding. But this company is new and my friend feel I can make the cut as HR manager even without experiences...he jus wanted someone who he can trust in his business..(but many advice friends should nv be colleagues)"I am not investing anything"

down side is courier service is competitive, he himself is a malay, and the company is malay dominated (not racist) but because delivery job mainly are malays taking the offer. This new setup need HR and new a HR setup and being in corporate and MNC, i understand simple HR matters, not strategically but generalist job is simple to understand. From payroll, leaves, simple employment act, outsource insurance etc. I have also understood simple taxes as I worked in IRAS before. I have also studied basic HR in university locally... just 1 module.

He is willing to offer about 4.2k to hire me...(but this does not justify market trend as I hv no experience), and market will will recognise my credentials as a HR manager based on my resume, he hire me probably because I have good portfolio in the army days, I am trustworthy and align with his goals and my working exp as project engineer. (Logical, sensitive and people oriented)

My this friend has HR exp at hotel line, and failed a business before. well spoken and do all financial himself. He started the company with ACRA and external aduit firm will aduit his company. So he also needs IT dept, financial dept to start. Of course, its up to me and him to recruit more delivery men for the job as this means more jobs and more sales. For me to recruit more executives, commercial and sales personnel for the company is also my job and his...

Environment to me is important, and doing HR is also an interest to me, helping my fren expand his business is risky but to integrate a racial dominated by Malay is not easy for me as I dun really like such a culture dominated by a certain race...(its not racist but more of own preferences).

Yes HR is not just above as mentioned. But there are many companies startup with new beginning and need new setup for every dept... problem is whether should I go for it? The road is not easy...izzit risky jus to try enter his company and work and try out?

Yes indeed we cant compete with company like DHL, Fedex and other logistics coy...but this is the challenge

My friend excel well in the army days as regulars and has wide network with major COL and high ranks officer where they recommend many clients to him.

Othe wise... I wanna quit my engineering job to enter CPIB IO as investigation is always a thing for me... the working hrs are long I noe..but I believe passion will overcome most of the downsides...of course I hope it will not be like this when I have a family and kids...

the pay is considerably stable but I heard there are dangerous moments for this job...

I am in a hesitation mode...how...?

:(

My opinion is to either ask for at least 20% shareholding of your friend co. as a business partner or join the CPIB straight away.

Think about it, you totally no exp with HR and your friend's setup is just a 2 year old small pte company, thousands of failed SMEs have MNC as clients, it means absolutely nothing. You call yourself HR Manager is already straight away a joke, it's like the blind leading the blind. Most likely like all SME you will be doing saigang & not really doing HR.

Either join as a partner as entrepreneur or join CS for job security. If you just join friend SME w/o any shareholding, if succeed after few years upside you get nothing at all except a fake title, but if later kapok, you are stuck with a silly HR Manager title with totally no relevant HR experience, no job, and probably engineering not going to take you back also.

not trying to be funny... but getting shareholdings but not investing any amount? who will want that? it will complicate things when something happen to the company being shareholder? equivalent to director...and owner of the company..
liabilities will be shared... I wouldnt want that either?

In fact demanding shareholding as part of compensation is a common practice among starting companies. Put it this way how else are small firms going to attract good caliber people otherwise? Their salaries are low, benefits marginal, training is a joke compare to MNC & usually looks very bad on anyone’s CV, why will good people want to join them? There are not enough dummies to con just by giving fancy title & even if there are, this is not the kind of people you want right?

Think about it, if there is no shareholding, what value does this adventure give you? You just end up choosing a high risk job with meager pay, no value add to CV, learn nothing about HR & get totally no rewards on the upside for the risk you take. To me is a no brainer to choose CPIB if there is no form of share compensation to compensate you abandoning your current job just to join a startup.

Minority shareholder does not automatic grant you directorship, this is something for you all to work out. Don’t kid yourself you’ll be doing anything HR in such startups, they don’t have the luxury to hire one manager just to do HR, it will be 20% HR 80% other stuff.

My 2 cents, think wisely.

The job from ur friend’s co sound like HR process co-ordinator. How many people under you? Usually you should have 1 assistant for every 50 people in the co., otherwise can tell you is super siong.
It is safer to join established BPO company like Boardroom/GMP/Manpower etc if you want to learn transactional processes than take the risk in a startup IMO. Benefits & bonus are also much better & more important is a better brand name for future careers.

My assessment
 

Yes I agrees with most of the things you mentioned. It's obvious a risk to take, and fancy me asking for shareholding is quite bluntly and greedy to ask for. To pay someone with no HR experience a HR manager pay compared to the market is really a laughing stock already and it is also his risk when I am leaving.
What worried me is a startup is not easy but by stating proper HR business process align to company objectives should b the challenging thing. One step at a time..

2nd is the Malay domineering part. I have to task myself to recruit necessary and required personnel based on company required portfolio and sales. Not many delivery job will be taken by Chinese.. All in all the company should have a mixture of race, well calibre personnel fit for an Organisation that deliver the best courier service. I would need finance and slowly IT personnel etc.. I believe HR assistant I can find easily in the market with considerably low pay.

Perhaps I shouldn't be offered a HR manager role but an assistant manager first and state in my résumé HR manager only after a year? In terms of credential and credibility, my friend has exp of HR asst manager at hotel line and decided to start this coy in 2010...

If shareholding is really a must, I would rather take bonus or profits sharing at end of the year.. Because I aren't the core person clinching sales for the company, there are sales manager or more sales mgr coming in depend on capacity availability. Right now, friend needs someone to integrate all the here general stuffs for HR to have a system within.. From payroll, leaves and to personal employee C&B, recruitment.

An employee handbook would be good...

Joining CPIB is safe choice but not necessary good route for starting a family and gain ultimate satisfaction? It's a join and hard to leave thingy.. 2.5 years bonded inclusive of training..