8 Years in HR

I’ve been in the counseling field for the last twenty years. It is the last career of my life. It is very rewarding and usually pays well.  But, as an independent contractor, it only pays well when people show up for their scheduled session.  I am writing this during a four hour break caused by cancellations and a no show!

But I had a few careers before this one, including an eight year stint in Human Resources. It was an amazing whirlwind! My sense of HR before getting into it is that it was the conscience of the company. HR made sure the employees were treated fairly.  When I got my first job in HR that was still the case. By the end of my eight year stint, we were not supposed to talk to the everyday employees. We were supposed to be coaches for the managers.  That was disappointing. Of course, because  everything goes in cycles, things in HR may be like they used to be.

As a Democratic Socialist, the new HR was probably not a good fit for me. The focus was less on keeping employees happy and more looking at the bottom line. I get it. That’s how things work in a capitalistic society. And that’s okay. It just didn’t set well with me.  This conflict was one of the reasons I pursued the career change.

I mentioned it being a whirlwind.  The company I worked for was building small chemical plants on the sites of paper mills. When I started with them we had five. When I left we had over fifty. When I started we were only in the United Sates. When I left, we were all over the world. I was traveling somewhere, usually every other week.  It was exhausting and exciting.

I got to see places I never would have had the chance to see on my own.  Usually, but not always, the paper mills were in pretty rural areas. I’ve been in International Falls, Minnesota, and made the isolating two hour drive north to Dryden , Ontario, seeing moose along the way. How cool is that?! I’ve been to the Ruffed Grouse Capital of the World in Park Falls, Wisconsin. I drove over the Edmund Pettis Bridge, famous from civil rights protests. It was near our plant in Selma, Alabama. I was in Iron Mountain, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. There I learned about the UPers and their strong sense of pride in place. The Upper Peninsula was very close to being out 51st state, called Superior after the lake.  Travelling all over the country gave me a better understanding of the diversity of our population and the commonalities as well.

Internationally, I learned that other countries have benefits that are way better than ours! That made my Democratic Socialist heart beat faster! Haha. I have been to Tha Toom, Thailand and Aanekoski, Finland (my favorite place). I got to visit Brazil and France and Portugal. I even got to go to Netanya,  Israel where they had the best hummus I ever tasted.  Traveling internationally I got an appreciation of the varied cultures and interests in different parts of the globe. We tend, here, to think that everyone wants to be like the USA. That is far from the truth.

For the most part, my travelling days are long over. No more whirlwinds for me.   I am content to explore Pennsylvania for now.  Did you know that there is a place in Pennsylvania that was prepared to accept Royals during the French Revolution! It’s less than two hours away.

Back to work for me now. Hopefully tonight I can make some money!