{"id":38165,"date":"2024-12-03T15:51:58","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T13:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cis-spain.com\/en\/?p=38165"},"modified":"2026-10-06T14:57:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T12:57:53","slug":"study-human-resources-everything-you-need-to-know-to-kickstart-your-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cis-spain.com\/en\/blog\/study-human-resources-everything-you-need-to-know-to-kickstart-your-career\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Become an HR Manager: Degree, Skills and Career Path"},"content":{"rendered":"

Companies today don’t just need someone to process paperwork and manage benefits. They need people who can attract talent, build a culture worth staying for, and make decisions backed by real data on how their teams actually work. HR has changed, and so has the path to get there.<\/span><\/p>\n

If this field interests you, it helps to know upfront that of all the <\/span>university degrees<\/b><\/a> out there, none is the single, exclusive route into HR.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are several paths that lead there, and each one prepares you for a different type of role within the department.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this article, we break down what an HR manager actually does, what roles exist within the field, what degree can get you there, and what skills companies are really looking for in HR professionals.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What Does an HR Manager Do?<\/b><\/h2>\n

An HR manager oversees how a company attracts, develops, and retains its people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That means recruitment, training, compensation policies, employee relations, and increasingly, using data to understand what keeps a team engaged and what drives people to leave.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At a senior level, HR managers also connect people decisions directly to business strategy, working alongside leadership rather than just supporting it from the sidelines.<\/span><\/p>\n

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HR Roles and Responsibilities in a Company<\/b><\/h2>\n

Within a single HR department, several distinct roles coexist, each requiring a slightly different skill set.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Role<\/b><\/th>\nWhat They Do<\/b><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Recruitment & Talent Acquisition<\/span><\/td>\nAttracting and evaluating candidates, managing hiring<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Learning & Development<\/span><\/td>\nDesigning internal training and growth programs<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Compensation & Benefits<\/span><\/td>\nBuilding competitive pay and benefits policies<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Employee\/Labor Relations<\/span><\/td>\nManaging the employer-employee relationship and compliance<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
HR Business Partner<\/span><\/td>\nConnecting business strategy with people management<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
People Analytics<\/span><\/td>\nMeasuring and predicting organizational behavior with data<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As you can see, there’s room for very different strengths here, whether you’re drawn to the people-facing side of recruitment or the more analytical, data-driven side of people analytics. Most HR professionals move between these areas before specializing in one.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What Degree Do You Need for Human Resources?<\/b><\/h2>\n

The study path you choose shapes which of these roles you’ll find easier access to early in your career.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Study Path<\/b><\/th>\nWhat It Is<\/b><\/th>\nBest For<\/b><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Human Resources \/ HR Management Degree<\/span><\/td>\nSpecific, technical training in HR practice<\/span><\/td>\nIf you want a direct, HR-focused technical path<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Psychology<\/span><\/td>\nStrong foundation in people behavior and development<\/span><\/td>\nIf recruitment and talent development interest you most<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bachelor in Business Management<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nBroad foundation in how companies operate: finance, strategy, operations<\/span><\/td>\nIf you want to reach HR leadership roles or keep your options open in other areas<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Industrial Relations \/ Law-adjacent tracks<\/span><\/td>\nUseful for compliance and labor relations<\/span><\/td>\nIf the legal\/compliance side is your main interest<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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There’s no single “correct” path here. It depends on whether you want a direct, technical entry point into HR, or a broader foundation that keeps the door open to leadership positions down the line.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Why Understanding How a Company Works Prepares You Better for Human Resources<\/b><\/h2>\n

HR is no longer just personnel administration. In many companies, people teams work directly with budgets, strategy, growth, culture, leadership, and organizational change. Because of that, understanding how an entire business operates can be a real advantage if your goal is to reach senior HR positions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, many professionals who lead HR teams today didn’t start with an HR-specific degree. They studied business management first and <\/span>specialized in HR later<\/b>, often through a graduate program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s one of the most common paths into HR leadership, and it comes with a real advantage: you understand how the business actually runs, from budgets to strategy and expansion, before specializing in managing the people who make it run.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Skills Companies Look for in HR Managers Today<\/b><\/h2>\n

Beyond the degree you choose, a handful of skills consistently show up in HR profiles with real career progression.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Skill<\/b><\/th>\nWhy It Matters<\/b><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Professional English<\/span><\/td>\nHighly valued in multinational and cross-border teams<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Conflict resolution & negotiation<\/span><\/td>\nThe real core of people management<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Data literacy<\/span><\/td>\nPeople analytics is becoming increasingly important in modern HR<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Leadership & interpersonal skills<\/span><\/td>\nHR is, above all, a people-facing function<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Leadership in particular doesn’t develop overnight.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to start building it early, our article on <\/span>how to develop leadership skills at university<\/b><\/a> breaks down practical ways to work on this before you even graduate.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How to Build Your HR Profile from University\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

If your goal is to reach a leadership position in Human Resources, the foundation you build during your degree makes a real difference.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At CIS University, we approach this through the Business Management degree, with an academic model that fits particularly well with this path: small class sizes that allow for close interaction with professors, English used throughout all four years, debate clubs where you train negotiation and <\/span>communication skills<\/span><\/a> in practice, and mandatory internships starting in the second year that connect you with the professional world well before graduation.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Explore CIS University’s Business Management degree<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

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Frequently Asked Questions<\/b><\/h2>\n

Before deciding on your path, here are the questions we hear most often from students considering a career in HR:<\/span><\/p>\n

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