Human Resources serves as the backbone of every organization, and with the ever-evolving role of HR in today’s tech-driven workplace, the skills needed to be successful in this field are always changing.
Mary Schils, department chair for Fox Valley Technical College’s HR program, recently joined WHBY’s Hayley Tenpas to break down the key skills for success, the different career paths available and employment insights for graduates of this program.
Tap the video to listen to the interview or scroll down to read the transcript.
Tenpas: Taking a moment now for our Focus on Careers with Fox Valley Technical College and an opportunity to highlight careers of promise and nearly every single position I can think of, every company I can think of, every business I can think of is usually operating with a core program, and that would be the Human Resources department. Again, really, the spine, the backbone of any company helping with such intricate and sometimes very serious and personal details for their employees. There is a program that you can go through at Fox Valley Tech to help you gain your Human Resources associate degree. We will highlight that here today as we are joined by Mary. Would you pronounce your last name for me because I don’t want to mispronounce it?
Schils: You bet, my last name is Schils.
Tenpas: Great to meet you, Mary.
Schils: Nice to meet you too. Thanks for having me, Haley.
Tenpas: Thanks for being here. I believe it when there are so many different things to learn when it comes to the human resources world. I know it is the kind of department in many companies that you think about, and you need it as needed. They pop in, of course, as needed, and you hope they don’t unexpectedly pop in in some situations. But, you know, they’re a really important core part of so many companies, and I’m eager to learn more about the program at Fox Valley Tech.
Schils: So interesting that you mentioned, you know, kind of like hoping that sometimes they don’t pop in. I think that is a rap that sometimes human resources can get. Hopefully, I can help dispel that a little bit.
Tenpas: Good. Well, how did you get to your position as department chair for this program at Fox Valley Tech? Tell us a little bit about your journey.
Schils: Sure. It is a bit of a convoluted journey, which I think is not uncommon for human resources people. When I got out of college, I started managing a fairly large department unrelated to human resources. And the thing that I always cared most about in that role were the people that were also in that department. And so, as that particular organization grew larger and larger and there was a need for a human resource person, I got tapped on the shoulder because it was just an obvious passion of mine.
That is how I dipped my toe into the profession. And then after that, I really grew into a variety of different HR leadership roles for different organizations. And 14 years ago, I had the great pleasure of joining Fox Valley Technical College as the department chair and human resource faculty member. So, no longer practicing human resources, but really teaching folks who had an interest in and passion for that career direction, helping them learn and understand what human resources really is.
Tenpas: That is fantastic. So, I’m going to ask you the same question you kind of just stated there if that’s all right. What really is human resources? Can you explain it? And, you know, I would imagine technology has to have helped with this, the evolution of HR and really what it all encompasses as we approach it in 2025.
Schils: Like any business profession, I would say technology has greatly changed what we do in human resources. I guess when you think about human resource work in a big-picture way, it is getting involved in every aspect of the employee experience, if you will.
So, starting from the very beginning of recruiting and trying to find individuals who would be a great fit for an organization, through helping them learn what their job is and training, through working with them perhaps during times when things might be a little tough in their lives, helping work through that with them. Thinking about how an organization actually pays somebody when they work for you or what kind of benefits an organization provides, it really runs the whole life cycle of when an employee joins your business.
Tenpas: I can think of some of the fond moments of figuring out my maternity leave, for example, and figuring out FMLA and those complicated processes. You know, I would not have been able to do it without our wonderful HR professionals here at Woodward. So shoutout to Ali and Kelsey, they are fantastic. They do such great things for us here, and I’m thankful for them.
Schils: Absolutely. I think if a human resource person is doing their job well, employees would have that exact sentiment that you just mentioned, that they are thankful for having them there to help navigate all sorts of things. And also, I will say at the leadership level, at the management level, hopefully those individuals in a business also recognize the contributions that a good human resource person can make.
Tenpas: All right. Well, let’s talk about the program a little bit. We will dig into it. What does the curriculum look like? What do the class loads look like for this associate degree program?
Schils: Okay. So, like many of our programs at Fox Valley Technical College, the human resource program can be completed in two years, but it certainly does not have to be completed in two years. We have plenty of students who are studying while also working, and so they are taking coursework part-time. Very flexible in that regard.
Some examples of classes specific to the human resource area would be things like compensation and benefits, which is all about learning different pay practices and different ways to compensate individuals, benefits, and fringe benefits that a business offers. There’s also an employment law class, which is interesting. There are all sorts of governmental regulations that every employer needs to abide by in terms of their employee group. There is recruiting and hiring. How does an organization get the word that they have job opportunities, and how do they attract individuals who would likely be successful there? There is training and development, helping employees throughout their time with the organization to keep building skills. We work on that. And we also have a class specifically geared toward technology in the HR field because, like I said, with any business profession, technology is changing like crazy and how to capitalize on and maximize the power of technology.
Tenpas: I think a great example of that would be the app that we have here as employee owners that helps us clock in if we need to, check our stubs, see our benefits, all of those things at our fingertips, which might have been a file of paperwork 20 years ago.
Schils: Absolutely. And the great thing about that is I think it makes it easier for employees to stay up to date on their employment experience. And from the human resource person’s perspective, that frees them up to do other types of work that are really of value to the business.
Tenpas: We are talking with Mary today, department chair for the Human Resources associate degree program with Fox Valley Tech. We will pause here, but we will talk more about the program and what the job outlook looks like for these graduates as well. You’re listening to our Focus on Careers with Fox Valley Tech. Mary Schultz joins us today, Department chair for the Human Resources associate degree program. So, Mary, as we kind of wrap up here today, what’s the job outlook looking like for these students? Are we seeing some success in getting them hired and where in the Fox Cities?
Schils: Yes, absolutely. The job prospects are really, really strong right now, very good in the Fox River Valley, for sure. Human resources is one of those professions where organizations do not necessarily hire great numbers of them. Usually, an HR department may have one, two or three people, depending on the size of the business itself. So, speaking about large employers of HR program students does not really fit, because as I said, usually it is just a small number of folks. But small businesses that are growing certainly need an HR professional to help them maneuver through different things that start to apply as they have more and more employees. There are great opportunities with small businesses and also large businesses as well, where a person might be able to specialize in one particular area of HR.
Tenpas: What are some qualities that you notice help students to thrive in this position? What do you see?
Schils: One of the most common things incoming students say to me is that they love people, and that’s a terrific place to start, of course. Beyond that, I think it’s a desire to investigate and solve problems. When you’re working with human beings, there are always complexities and uniqueness to situations, so problem-solving is a great skill to have. Also, individuals who are forward-thinking have the ability to think about what’s important today but anticipate what’s coming. As we’ve learned through COVID and those kinds of things, the work world has really changed. So being able to focus on the future is excellent.
Tenpas: What kinds of positions or careers would you say students are able to jump right into upon graduating from this program, Mary?
Schils: Many start in recruiting, not an uncommon place to start, which is a really good way to get your feet wet, so to say, in the profession. Organizations tend to frequently look for those kinds of positions to get filled. There’s also a position called an HR generalist, which is an individual who does a little bit of all HR functions. Small businesses tend to have HR generalists; that is another great opportunity. And then, actually, even payroll, there is some coursework that has to do with payroll, and every business wants to pay its employees, so they need to have a good payroll person.
Tenpas: All right. There’s a lot going on in the world of HR. Truly.
Tenpas: Excellent. Well, Mary, thank you so much for sharing more about your world with us. And it’s a bright future in the world of HR. Thanks for teaching us about it today.
Schils: You bet. Thanks for having me, Haley.
Tenpas: Thanks so much. All right.
