“How much did they pay you to give up on your dreams?”

Every once in a while (too often to be honest), I find myself nodding in agreement with the posts on Fistful of Talent. I know, I know, I mention them far too often here, but it’s only because they are a bunch of fantastic folks. Some of my posts are inspired by what they put there so I’ve decided to go ahead and make it official – ‘Once a month, I will post my opinion on any one select piece published on FoT.’

For this month, I’ve picked this one.

Did I dream of being an HR professional? Hell, no! I don’t know how many people dream of being in a job that is the subject of all corporate (well, most) jokes.

Do I regret it? Hell, no! You know why? Because I worked hard to turn it into my dream career. Or maybe I got lucky. I’ll choose to believe it’s a combination of both.

I agree with much of what’s written by Mark, except this line – “It takes 8-12 years to get to positions with real strategy attached. Sometimes even longer. Until then there is a lot of repetitive and transactional work. About as exciting as an entry level accounting career.”

It doesn’t have to take that long. It usually does but not if you are determined to get there sooner. For every dream that you give up on, you create a new one. Our dreams at 13 are not the dreams we have at 22. So if at any point, you feel like you are giving up on your dream, there’s more than one choice –

‘Get out’ or ‘Turn what they are paying you to do into a dream.’

I dreamt of being a writer for the longest time. I still write bits and pieces that have nothing to do with HR. I write a lot about HR. My work serves as fodder for what I write. Also, now I have another dream and it has everything to do with HR.

This profession probably has the largest playing field. I can’t imagine doing and enjoying anything else. I have a decent amount of strategy sprinkled in my role; I have some bit of transactional work but then who doesn’t. And if someone ever tells me that HR isn’t a great career choice, I am going to spend as much time as it takes to convince them that it is.

So don’t tell me you can’t live your dream and definitely don’t tell me that working in HR can’t be one.