Page 39 - Final Inspirational Women Issue

Inspirational Women

often coaching them through new job
interviews, or working to help them HOW TO BECOME A HUMAN
improve their resume, so they would
have a better chance of getting hired by RESOURCE PROFESSIONAL
another employer. By Patricia Bustamante
One factor that Patricia is keenly
aware of is that in her position you
need to become the example of how As with most of my interview subjects, I asked Patricia for three tips
you want the employees to behave. for anyone wanting to become a Human Resources Specialist.
“You are under a microscope, so if you 1. Obtain an education in the field of Human Resources Manage-
do things like gossip, the employees ment
will take your lead and do the same.
You know you are constantly being 2. Fully understand the company for which you choose to work.
watched, so you need to be an example. As I did with my first position in HR, I started at the bottom
If I make a mistake, I am human, and I and worked my way up. This puts you in a great position as an
own up to it, which is a good example HR professional because it allows you to know the way every
for your employees to follow.” department works within your firm. Go to department team Photos by Dawn Nicoli/Nicoli Productions
What Patricia loves most about meetings and absorb all you can. Shadow different employees in
her job is getting to know the employ- different department to fully understand the different roles and
ees and learning how each is unique. how each contributes to the whole This will make you better at
“One of my strengths, when I go into your job – in recruitment, in developing programs and processes,
an organization, is that I spend a lot of and in managing the needs of each department, each individual
time getting to know the employees. and the company as a whole
It’s not just what they have going on at 3. To truly understand HR and be successful you need to have a
work, sometimes it is about what is go- desire to help other people. If you are all about your own suc-
ing on at home. So, if you get to know cess, you won't be good at the job. You have to care about the
them, and they open up to you, it is employees and work with them so they can do their job better
easier to try and help when you know and be successful.
what is truly behind their problems at
work. In the end, It’s all about truly car-
ing about your employee. When they
realize that you care about them as a
person, it builds trust, respect, and un-
derstanding. Doing this allows me to
be a successful HR partner long-term
and allows me to successfully align
the HR initiatives to the organization’s
goals and objectives while maintaining
a great place for the employees.”
After spending time with Patricia,
I can honestly say that my first impres-
sion was definitely correct. Besides
being a consummate professional in
everything she does and an asset to any
firm that chooses to hire her, she is a
really nice person.
For more information contact Patricia
at http://linkedin.com/in/pbustamante
http://www.hrextensionus.com/

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