Human Resource Management and Employment Relations

Human Resources Management and Employment Relations (HRER) graduates have the skills to manage and advise on human issues in organisations.

Human Resources Management (HR) focuses on the process of how an organisation manages its individual employees throughout the employee life cycle, from recruitment to training to annual reviews. Employment Relations (ER) focuses on collective relationships between the organisation and its employees.

HRER graduates gain specialised knowledge about HR practises and processes of organisations and an understanding of employment law and employment relations. They gain skills in interpersonal communication, problem solving, analytical thinking and a good basis of business understanding that is valued by any organisation.

Roles and career pathways

Graduates entering human resource or employment relations areas may start in administrator, coordinator or assistant adviser roles before moving into a generalist HR adviser, senior HR administrator or learning and development adviser position. They may work in candidate care roles for a recruitment agency, before working as a recruitment consultant or for a general consultancy firm. After some experience in a general HR role, graduates may move on to roles such as organisational development adviser or employment relations adviser, then promoted to business partner or HR management roles.

Postgraduate qualifications in business administration, training and mediation, organisational development psychology or employee relations or complementary study in Psychology, Commercial Law, Management, Information Systems or Marketing can open up career options and opportunities to specialise in these areas. Studying a conjoint degree in Law can be particularly helpful for work in employment relations, opening up roles in dispute resolution, mediation and other areas of employment law. Information management and data analysis are growth areas in HR so graduates with those skills are in particular demand.

Where Human Resources Management and Employment Relations graduates work

HRER graduates work across all industries and in a range of roles. Graduates who work in HR related roles tend to work in medium to large organisations that employ specific HR staff. These include large government departments with HR teams, non-profit organisations or private businesses such as professional services firms or specialised recruitment agencies. Recent HRER graduates have worked for organisations such as:

Build relevant skills and experience

Gaining part-time paid or volunteer administration experience during your degree will also enhance your employment options.The WFHSS Internship course run by the Wellington Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences helps develop employability and practical workplace experience. Programmes such as Wellington Plus and Wellington International Leadership Programme (WILP) offer opportunities to gain diverse volunteer and leadership experience.

Make career connections

Making connections with individuals and groups during your degree can help you learn more about career opportunities. The Centre for Labour, Employment and Work is an institute based at the Wellington School of Business and Government and offers a range of seminars and resources for students interested in this area. The Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRNZ) offers discounted student memberships, events and mentoring to HRER students.  is a student led group that offers a range of business networking and social events for Commerce students.  The Alumni as Mentors programme for final-year students also helps enhance your connections and employability while studying.