If you are contemplating a career in human resources management, you will find that there are a wide range of opportunities that you can look forward to. Preparing in advance for this area is essential if you want to be successful in your efforts. This is because it is not uncommon for some human resource professionals to work in their field as an HR generalist for smaller companies with fewer employees. While other professionals in the HR area perform the duties of an HR specialist in both medium-sized and larger corporations.

Having said that, here are the courses and topics that a typical human resources management certification program will consist of:

1. A wide scope of HR topics
Because each HR professional has more than one type of opportunity that they can take advantage of today, it is important for those professionals in the industry to be well equipped with the knowledge, experience, and the expertise to do proficient their overall duties. As mentioned above, the smaller companies are hiring an HR generalist that is knowledgeable in a wide diversity of topics that relate to human resources management. Also, due to the variety of different services HR professionals provide on a regular basis, higher level management may require a Certified Human Resources Leader (or CHRL) designation online. Fortunately, for those people who are interested in higher level positions in this area, they can benefit from taking and completing the CHRL designation online in the privacy of their own homes.

2. Business law to workforce planning courses
Midsized to large companies and corporations usually require more than one individual, and may have an entire HR department to take care of the duties and responsibilities that fall under the scope of Human Resources Management (i.e., screening potential employees, job interviews, on-boarding, etc.). Therefore, based on the need or the preferences of the individual, they may want to specialize in:

• Compensation
• Benefits
• Organization planning
• Interviews/onboarding

Hence, as a result of the knowledge base that will be needed, the program is usually made up of courses like business law and ethics, benefits, compensation, workforce planning and development, and management principles. With all of these courses in this field, the individual should complete their certifications programs with the knowledge needed to operate effectively in the areas in which they are assigned.

3. Laws that Govern HR and hiring practices
Students to an HR program will also learn about the most recent laws that govern employment in the workplace. Some of these laws will relate to basic practices that management must follow (i.e., minimum wage) while others may include more complicated workplace issues (i.e., workplace harassment).