When it comes to choosing a program or degree, it’s difficult to prioritize. The best degree is both a job trajectory that your student wants to pursue as well as a degree that employers value when hiring.   However, that combination is sometimes elusive.

One program that has seen a great deal of popularity in the last decade is human resources management.  Many colleges offer specialty certifications in HR, such as the well-known program at Stritch.edu, and your graduate to-be will have plenty of choices if they choose this to go down this path.

Why choose a career in human resources?  Here are 4 reasons for consideration:

1. Companies will always have a need for human resources.  Companies can’t run on machines alone. Although in some industries, automation is a trend, someone still has to be around to ship the products or monitor the machines. A human resources team is needed to pay those employees, manage benefits, handle staffing, etc.  Human resources teams may stay lean in tough times, but they’ll never go away; they’re just as essential as upper management in ensuring that things get done, and HR often picks up the slack where other departments don’t.

2. Human resources departments have jobs for all skill sets.  You might think that you need to be a “people person” to work in human resources, but not all HR staffers spend their time working on direct employee interaction.  HR is now a major technology user itself, for functions like payroll, promotions and review processing, and employee monitoring tools like internet censoring and time cards.  Some HR teams have entire technology teams within them.

HR also needs data entry processors, strategists, and other experts.  Don’t think of HR in typical cliches, as there are plenty of opportunities here. If your student is considering a career here, many companies are usually open to letting them talk with a human resources professional about their jobs, the pros and cons, and other career considerations. After all, career advice is another HR function!

3. Human resources degrees offer many transferable skills.  What a student learns in a human resources program can offer you valuable insights into people skills and technology skills that will serve them well in other careers, such as PR and communications, sales  and marketing.  Many HR specialists often go on to work at companies that offer HR services, such as payroll and software providers, large staffing and recruiting firms, or human resources strategic consultancies.  It is a more versatile degree than some realize.

4. A human resources degree is an excellent base for other master’s degrees.  Is your student considering a Master’s degree as a long-term goal, but you’re not sure what?  A human resources degree is actually the perfect stepping stone for that next step on the career ladder, because of how well-rounded most educational HR curriculums are.

HR graduates can go on to earn their Master’s of Business Administration, earn certifications in accounting or finance, and more.   Less popular is the Master’s of Human Resources, but it is also an option.

For more information about a career in Human Resource Management, visit the industry’s leading website, the Society for Human Resource Management.