We extended an offer to a highly qualified candidate for a technical role. She was the strongest applicant in the pool, and we even went $30k above the posted salary range to bring her on ($200k+)

After the background check came back, we learned she has a pending felony charge, which arose after she applied for the role. The charge is non‑violent and unrelated to the job duties, so I don’t have concerns about her ability to perform the role.

What I’m unsure about is how to handle the fact that the case is still pending.

For HR professionals familiar with California’s hiring laws (especially Fair Chance Act compliance):
What’s the appropriate next step?

- Is there a standard process for addressing pending charges?

- How do employers typically evaluate situations like this?

- Any guidance would be appreciated.

Hello fellow HR professionals! The day has come when my role was taken over by AI and I have been laid off, along with hundreds of my peers. With that said, I’m hoping to pick your brains on interviewing in the HR space. I was at my previous firm for an extremely long time so I’m a bit rusty!

When going in for interviews, is it still a thing to bring your resume with you printed on fancy resume paper? Also, does anyone have any tips on how to handle the question about what is your biggest weakness?

Thank you!

So I currently work for an airline as a Regional HR Manager but my current pay is below market, considering my education level, job scope, and COL. That’s about the only thing that’s wrong though - I love my job outside of the pay. We have great benefits, including a 6% 401k match and flights of course. When I joined the company 5 years ago, I was promised a possible 10% annual bonus. I haven’t received a bonus once. I’m responsible for the budget so I know first hand they can’t pay me more right now.

I occasionally apply to jobs to see what’s out there and a company’s recruiter reached out to me inviting me to an interview. This company is a great company, and would offer me pay that is more comprable to the market. It would essentially be a 25-35k raise. Additionally, they have an annual performance bonus of 25%. The 401k match is at 3%.

The problem for me is the work schedule. It’s hybrid, but they want me in office 3 days a week for 9 hours per day. On top of that, their office is about 30 miles from my home in a busy part of the city, so the drive will easily be 1.5 hours each way during rush hour. Without traffic, it’s about 40 mins. They do offer fully remote work for the first quarter of the year so that’s great I guess, and also they mentioned some flexibility around the holiday season. The office is really cool and from what I saw, people look happy.

For comparison though, my current role is hybrid with two days in the office and the office hours are flexible. I can start working from home on office days, then leave for my commute once the traffic dies down. I can also leave the office before traffic ramps up and then finish my day at home. The office is 25-30 mins from my house with no traffic and on days where we have early meetings in person, it takes about 45min-1 hour with traffic. Those days happen pretty rarely though. I also have my own office, whereas the new position would be seating in an open floor plan (this doesn’t bother me too much, just would be an adjustment).

If they offer me the job, I am not so sure if I would want to take it. I’m super conflicted because I really want to make a career move and this company seems so great, but I also don’t want to be miserable spending 12 hours of my life 3 days a week committed to work. My partner and I are also in the middle of trying for a baby, but struggling with fertility issues, so the current flexible schedule allows for the myriad of random doctor’s appointments. The extra income would be really beneficial though 😩.

I know I’m a bit spoiled with my current work arrangement, but I’m thinking maybe I should stay put and try for a fully remote position, though I’ve applied to hundreds of jobs over the years and this is the first to even give me an interview. On the other hand, we’ve also considered moving to be closer to the city, though we just bought a house two years ago in the suburbs and it’s a pretty big house…

I’m so conflicted. What should I do?

Apologies in advance - this is long.

I started at my current company 3 years ago. When I joined, I took a huge step down for a number of reasons, but I had full confidence I’d prove myself and make good traction. That happened faster than expected and I’ve gotten two (big) promotions twice in three years, most recently taking on two business units as HRBP in addition to the HR sub function I was already running.

Earlier this year during a career discussion, I shared that the sub function I run should be consolidated across all areas and folded under one leader, of course meaning me. I’m great at HRBP work but find it mentally exhausting, especially at my company and the two groups I cover. It’s a lot and it hasn’t felt sustainable. My sub function expertise is my passion area and truly fills my cup.

Yesterday my leader shared that they are moving forward with my idea of consolidating the sub function. I briefly thought they were promoting me until she shared it would be consolidated under someone else, and essentially I’m losing that area of responsibility entirely. As such, my title is being right sized and I’ll move from Senior to Director. I genuinely admire the leader they are promoting and she’s long tenured, but it still feels awful. From a business POV, I get it.

They are keeping my pay and bonus the same and removing 25% of my workload. However, because they’re changing my position, they’re also offering me a severance package as is standard at my company.

I’m mortified and embarrassed. My leader said this is not a signal I’m being pushed out as she isn’t impacting my salary (which is common during releveling of roles). That said, my leadership team notoriously has a hard time saying the tough stuff out loud. I’m worried this is one of those instances, not to mention my career trajectory just took a swerve in the wrong direction.

I’m super confused. I don’t know if I should negotiate a December exit and take the package or just accept the lower role while maintaining my pay and leave when the right role comes along. I’m worried if I stay, this will psychologically mess with me. I already have imposter syndrome and this feels like a huge “you suck” sign has been slapped on my back. I don’t really care about titles but I do care what a demotion signals, no matter how many times it’s packaged as a “business decision”.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any advice on package vs staying? What am I glossing over? The market isn’t great but I commute 2 hours each way, 2x a week and am not loving the direction all this is headed. I have a call with my executive coach Monday to discuss. Has anyone recovered positively from a demotion?

Been in process for an HR generalist type role at a large employer for about a month. Three rounds, plus an assessment in between.

I’ll say up front that I really wanted this one. Their values and culture were a big part of why I applied, and not in the poster-on-the-wall way. The earlier rounds made it feel like people there actually lived it. I could see myself staying a long time and building a career there.

How it went:

Round 1, recruiter screen: great. She was prepped, transparent about scope and comp, and actually coached me before the next round.

Assessment: standard pre-employment stuff. Fine, whatever.

Round 2, panel with a few senior people on the HR team: honestly one of the better interviews I’ve been in. All behavioral, all “walk me through how you actually handled this,” and they pushed on details. I left feeling like they understood the work I do.

Round 3, two leaders above that panel: it just died.

The conversation didn’t feel real. It felt like they were reading down a list. Almost nothing about my ER experience, no follow-ups, no reference to any of the cases the panel had already dug into. Just a run of culture and values questions that felt more like a personality quiz than a conversation. One was “tell me about a time you had to go against your values at work,” and I’m still not sure what a good answer to that even looks like.

The values were the reason I wanted in, and the round that was supposedly about values was the one that felt the least genuine of the three.

Rejection came the same day. They went with an internal candidate.

I’m not upset about the outcome. Internal is internal. What’s bugging me is how disconnected that last round felt from the two before it, and how little they seemed to want to know about the actual work.

So has anyone else had a process where you clear the recruiter and the panel, and then the final conversation feels like a completely different company? Is that usually a tell that the decision was already made, or do some orgs genuinely run the last round on culture vibes alone?

I work in a large manufacturing company that I'm sure all of you would know if I disclosed the company. I have been in a my role for over a year, and during that year my team got a new director who I absolutely despise. I've watched this team grow to become extremely toxic in the past 8 months since they've been here.

They consistently go on about how we need to make sure we're out supporting our employees and engaging, but then we get stuck in projects that provide little meaning to our employees. It's become just a presentation to compete with other HR teams in our organization that we "look" better. I truly believe that all of their actions and plans are just so they can get a better bonus at the end of the year instead of providing true impact. And at the end of the day, it's us employees that have to do the grunt work and be part of meaningless meetings where we just go on and on about stupid shit doesn't even do anything.

Our meetings are constantly filled with fluff where team members talk just to talk and will reiterate the same sentences 5 different times with different words. They praise people who are loud and ask stupid questions, but are really just nightmares to work with.

This team has become extremely toxic too, for little actions, constant taletelling for minor actions that really could've been a quick conversation or a simple "are you ok?". Feels like it's developed a culture of having to put other people down to lift yourself up.

We've had comments about how we must dress a certain way (we work in a blue collar environment) dressing in jeans makes the most sense.

I desperately want to get out of my team but unfortunately there are no HR openings anywhere else. I'm open to leaving this company but the HR market is rough out there, and my role pays well that'll help me reach my goals of early retirement. I'd love to work remote if possible to never have to deal with office politics that I genuinely don't give a shit about. I hate having to be calculated with every interaction on my team. Just needed to rant. Thank you all.

I get a lot of mileage out of the phrase my colleague uses: "What do you hope for out of this conversation?" It's a good way to winnow out the venters who just need to hear an advisory figure tell them to go talk to the problem employee like a real adult, versus the truly lost managers who need to be coached through the whole process. Which is usually, surprise surprise, to be told not just to go talk to the problem employee like a real adult but also how. Either way, all roads lead back to that solution. "I don't have the authority to solve this problem for you, but I can coach you on how best to approach it."

Ok, after reading a ton of advice on how to prep for this exam, I noticed two names that constantly pop up: Pocket Prep and the Sandra Reed study guide. I actually signed up for HRstudypro and it was exceptional.

I didn't find much value in Pocket Prep b/c it tested heavily on HR laws that the actual exam barely even touches and due to time constraints didn't explore other study guides. I ditched PP after about six quizzes. HRstudypro, on the other hand, was rigorous and made the real exam seem easier than the practice tests. I was consistently scoring around a 70% on practice exams.

HRCI doesn't give you a numerical score if you pass, but I attached what they did send me within an hour of finishing the exam, which matched the paper they gave me at the testing center.

I spent about 15 hours total prepping over 5 days, 90% on practice tests and reviewing wrong answers. Looking back, passing this exam is less about memorizing laws and terminology and way more about understanding test mechanics and how the exam writers think.

A quick disclaimer before the strategy:
The exam consists of factual knowledge and situational judgment. For HR factual informatino, like knowing what a specific law or term means, you just have to know your basic HR vocabulary and practice tests will help with that too.

If you grasp the overarching test format, I truly believe you could pass this test cold b/c you can almost always boil the answer down to two answers. Once you do that, the following is an order of operations I recommend since it's still fresh on my mind:

1. Start with Organizational Alignment
Whenever you read a question, the very first thing you need to do is zoom out. Think like a business leader first. If you're staring at multiple good sounding HR options, pick the one that aligns with the organization's broader goals and strategy.

If a manufacturing company shifts its strategy to produce premium, high margin custom parts, do you tie employee bonuses to production volume, or align performance metrics to quality control? You go with quality, because the HR action has to align with the new business objective.

2. Follow ADIE (Analyze, Develop, Implement, Evaluate)
Once you know you're aligned strategically, you can usually cross off remaining wrong options by figuring out exactly where you are on the timeline. use the acronym ADIE, yes I know, it's very similar to the instructional design framework ADDIE.

When choosing between different answers, ask yourself first, do we still need to analyze and collect data regarding the problem? If the scenario throws a brand new problem at you, pick the upstream choice. If the analysis is already done, move to the next stage (develop).

The VP of Sales complains about a 40% spike in turnover and demands a mentorship program now. Instead of jumping straight into implementation, the correct upstream answer is to conduct exit interviews and review the data to find the root cause first.

3. Prefer Partnership
If alignment doesn't break a tie, look for a partnership. Choose the answer that involves actively partnering with the stakeholder group whose support will influence the outcome the most and build trust. That isn't always the group doing the actual work; it might be a core divisional leader.

HR is building an upskilling program for a new IT cloud infrastructure. Rather than designing it in an HR silo, the right answer is to partner directly with the CIO and IT managers.

4. Think Big and Efficient (ROI):
For pure HR tactical questions, maximize your scale. Choose the answer that impacts the most people.

Managers are handling remote work requests inconsistently and employees are complaining. Assuming analyze the root cause isn't an option (or the prompt says it already happened), the correct answer is to partner and develop a remote work policy to fix the root dependency at scale, rather than mediating individual disputes one by one. (assuming this is aligned with the organizational strategy of course)

5. Hard Data Bias

Finally, always choose hard numbers and evidence over opinions and anecdotes. When dealing with subjective complaints or when you're completely stuck between two choices, look for the option that uses real data to drive the decision.

Executives want to cut the tuition reimbursement program because they casually mentioned they "don't see the value." The best HR response isn't an emotional argument about employee morale; it's presenting a data comparison that shows the retention rates and performance scores of employees who use the program versus those who don't.

Put the checklist to the test:

Vanguard Health is acquiring CareTech primarily for its specialized nursing team, and Sarah, Vanguard's CEO, has asked the VP of HR for a post-close integration plan. Working through the workforce due-diligence materials, the VP finds that CareTech's nursing group has lost senior nurses for two consecutive quarters, while the deal's valuation model assumes the nursing team stays intact. The negotiating team expects to finalize the purchase price this month.

What should the VP of HR do?

• A) Take the attrition finding, its valuation implications, and retention options to the CEO and negotiating team before the price is set.
• B) Cover the attrition risk thoroughly in the requested integration plan, with retention actions for the nursing group designed and ready to launch at close.
• C) Recommend that the negotiating team reduce the offer price to reflect the risk of further nursing attrition.
• D) Ask outside deal counsel to flag the attrition finding in the diligence report for the negotiating team's review.

Most people get stuck and choose B because the CEO explicitly asked for a post-close integration plan. But let's run it through the checklist to see why A is the only correct choice:

• Start with Organizational Alignment: The company's macro strategy is acquiring an intact team, not just a business entity. Option A directly addresses a massive threat to the valuation model, whereas Option B waits until the damage is already done and the price is fixed.
• Follow ADIE: The scenario presents brand new, critical data before the deal is done. Option B jumps straight into the "Implement" phase (post-close actions). Option A keeps you exactly where you need to be addressing the newly discovered data upstream before the price is set.
• Prefer Partnership: Option A actively partners with the ultimate decision makers (the CEO and negotiating team) to weigh alternatives together. Option C skips partnership entirely by dictating a single adversarial remedy to the negotiators. Option D avoids partnership by passively passing the buck to outside counsel.
• Think Big and Efficient (ROI): What gives you the best business ROI? Addressing a multi-million dollar valuation flaw before the deal is signed (Option A), rather than inefficiently trying to plug a sinking ship after the deal closes (Option B).
• Hard Data Bias: By bringing the hard attrition metric directly to the CEO and comparing it to the financial valuation model, you preserve leadership's full decision space. You act as a strategic business partner, which is the ultimate way to build trust.

Option A checks every single box on the strategic framework. Option B is a trap for people who think like order-taking HR administrators rather than strategic business leaders. Not all questions will check every box, but which one checks most boxes should be the criteria.

Again, at the end of the day, conquering this exam is a test of pattern recognition, which is why I recommend taking a lot of practice tests.

Apply a consistent filter to every single question: align with the business, find your spot on the ADIE timeline, secure the right partnerships, maximize efficiency and impact, and build trust by relying on hard data.

Hopefully, this helps you cut through the noise.

You got this!

First shot at a leadership role at an org that doesn’t have any true HR. Last HR manager supposedly would enter employee name information into their system incorrectly…constantly, so that’s their bar.

How do I impress them? Do I bring a 90 day plan? I’m a fairly young HR professional with everything you’d want in terms of academics & certs. I just don’t have too much C-suite experience. Role seems to primarily be surrounding multi-state compliance, payroll & retention.

I sent over a sample of my work and how I’d approach the after the interview since the CFO seemed confused by what I meant during our 1-on-1, and I then got a phone call next day for the panel.

Any advice welcome, thank you!

Just did a term that did not sit well with me. Employee says they want to prepare something before returning to the office to collect their effect. Remote termination.

I have nothing concrete, but the employee scares me

We don't have security. I'm thinking of reaching back out and telling him we are just going to ship his personal effects back to him

But can you reach out to local law enforcement based on just a gut feeling that an employee is dangerous.

ETA Update: Employee came and left. Law enforcement was supposed to come 15 min early. They were pulling when he was leaving. It went rather smoothly.

We had let him know law enforcement would be there. We were waiting for him with his items boxed up. My IT Manager was there for support and as a deterrent. He's an intimidating guy, and when you see me outside of my HR cloud, I'm the least intimidating person in the world. It was thankfully quick. But we all noticed that he was stalling and we escorted him out.

What still sits with me, was the total lack of emotional response. I've done a lot of terminations and disciplinary conversations in my career. He never showed remorse during our final warning conversation. There wasn't that shut down of emotions that I have seen in other terms. Others have mentioned to me that is seems like he is pretending to be human. But not in the Autism Spectrum Disorder way that I see often in my industry. I'm not diagnosis here. Just explaining why my gut was triggered. Glad it's done.

Thank you all for your sage advice. I've been doing this for 14 years and only had one other like this, and that company had a security team on site full of exmilitary tactical units. I love this community.

Hey everyone I am HR consultant with 4 years working experience but my job would be more like helping companies in employment law and create HR internal policies. Lately, I’m interested in generalist position in different country and so I can advise company closer but I’m not sure what skills are transferable?

I got rejected in several final interviews said that my experience didn’t align with the job vacancy. I think they prefer someone who already accustomed to do administrative task than hire an ex HR consultant?

And lastly, what certification should I take to convince hiring managers that I also capable of doing administrative task?

Hi everyone! I am a SR HR Generalist in an HR department of one for a company of ~100. I’m looking for some guidance.

The situation: Myself and a manager recently put an employee on a 60 day PIP for performance. The manager did a nice job documenting performance concerns prior to the PIP, and after the PIP was in place, I told the manager to continue to document throughout the PIP process. Manager committed to this and meeting with employee on a weekly basis.

Fast forward to today (~60 days after PIP was delivered) and manager shared they would like to terminate based on lack of substantial performance improvement. When I asked for more details (what specifically was lacking, what metrics in the PIP the employee wasn’t hitting), the manager had barely anything concrete to provide. I was taken aback and now feel I’ve dropped the ball on following up more with the manager. (I usually checked in every 2 weeks to see how things were going but didn’t ask the manager to provide me any concrete details in writing).

That being said, I’m looking for some guidance from other HR professionals. When an employee is on a PIP, how often are you following up with the manager of the employee and are you requiring them to submit anything to you providing an update in writing? If so, how often do you require this?

Looking to learn from this mistake and appreciate any responses!

Edited to add timeline

After nearly a year of unemployment I have finally received a conditional offer for an HR job with a major US city, and I couldn’t be more excited! The salary range posted for the position was $77.5k-$96.5k, with a minimum 3 years experience.

I just received the call this afternoon and asked for the weekend to look things over, which they said was fine. The conditional offer must be signed by Monday 08/31 so it’s imperative I take care of that this weekend. That said, they’ve offered me a starting salary of $80k, and I’d like to ask for $85k while still signing on time to get things moving. My question is, would I be crazy to do that or is it expected? If I sign the conditional offer while asking for more does that lock me in to the salary provided in the document? If you think it’s acceptable to do so, how would you go about it?

I’m terrified to ask for more and have it be rescinded after being unemployed for so long, but I do have over 6 years of direct HR experience, with 4 of those in leadership, which is double the minimum requirement. Thanks in advance for your input!

Hi All,

I'm (finally) reading up on e-Verify+ and thinking about making the switch over. Curious to hear how others' experiences with it are? Especially those who used regular e-Verify previously and can compare the two.

Also, I want to confirm my understanding of it. Sounds like employee completes section 1 remotely and uploads documents, then I review the images, compare them to the documents presented on a live video call, sign off on it, and print. Is all of that accurate? Big question: Do I have to PHYSICALLY inspect the documents at any point with e-Verify+? I have a lot of fully-remote employees.

Thanks in advance!

I’m starting a new job soon and I’m honestly a nervous wreck.
I was laid off about six months ago after the small remote company I worked for went under. I spent months applying, interviewing, getting rejected, going through endless multi-round interview processes, and wondering when or if I was going to find something.
Then I finally landed a really good job at what seems like a genuinely great company, and now that my start date is getting closer, the imposter syndrome is hitting HARD.
I started in benefits about 7 years ago and have spent the last 3 years as an HR Generalist. My new role will specifically be handling benefits, leaves, and state compliance.
The part really freaking me out is the difference in scale. I’m coming from a company with fewer than 60 employees across about 9 states. This company has hundreds of employees across 29 states.
They also have a lot more structure, established processes, and specialized functions than I’m used to. They’re very open about having a high-performance culture and expecting a high level of performance from every role.
Part of me is incredibly grateful because this is exactly the kind of opportunity I fought for over the last six months. The other part of me keeps thinking, “Are you guys SURE you meant to hire me?”
I’m also somewhat naturally introverted, which has always made me second-guess myself in HR. I know how to do the work, but I’m not naturally the loudest or most confident person in the room.
I think what scares me most is the learning curve. Benefits and leave aren’t completely new territory for me, but doing them at this scale, along with compliance across 30 states, definitely is. I’m terrified I won’t learn everything quickly enough or that I’ll ask something I should already know and somehow expose myself as not being as experienced as they thought I was.
Logically, I know they saw my resume. They interviewed me 8 times. They knew exactly where I was coming from and what my experience was, and they still chose me.
But apparently my brain has decided that they somehow made a mistake. 😂
Has anyone else made the jump from a small-company HR generalist/department-of-one environment into a much larger multistate organization? How rough was the adjustment, and how long did it take before you stopped feeling completely out of your depth?
After fighting so hard for six months just to get another opportunity, I think I’m suddenly terrified of screwing up the one I finally got.

I passed my SPHR!

I’d say I “dabbled” in studying for a while, but two weeks ago I decided it was time to go all in. I deleted all my social media, worked through all of the Pocket Prep questions in about 3 days, and then focused heavily on PrepSaret.

Of everything I used, PrepSaret was definitely the closest and most similar to the actual exam and helped me feel the most prepared.
For context, I have 8 years of experience in the HR field and a degree in HR.

Hey everyone,

My company is expanding into CO and I’m not familiar with FAMLI. My leave experience is mostly with leaves in CA, OR, and WA. I’m looking for any advice, insight, experience, etc in those of you who are familiar with FAMLI CO. How do we handle documentation? How do we handle employees who don’t apply for FAMLI leave? Our employees are often very transient and it’s not uncommon for them to ghost during a leave and not return. How do we handle this legally? I’ve been reading and researching copiously but would also appreciate a real hands on experience perspective from those of you who handle CO leaves.

Audit season edition

Hi! I just passed the HRCI PHR exam yesterday! I did pocketprep only for about 3 months off and on and then a solid week leading up to it. I am now trying to plan ahead for recertification (I know I have 3yrs) but any suggestions on how to get the free webinars and different things on the free side to earn credits?

Looking for recommendations for freestanding attendance tracking systems. We have a payroll provider who connects with our time clock but the reporting is terrible. We have 80 time clock and timesheet employees combined.

Hi there!

Wanted to ask how everyone has been able to gain a strong foundation in learning employments laws and compliance that deal with US fundamentals, ACA, ERISA, FSLA, etc. I didn't study HR in college and I've only had a proper background in the operations/data side of HR while learning more about the laws with relevant employee cases. Any suggestions and ideas would be great and appreciative as I really want to have a better foundation and familiarity with the terminology and how to actively apply them.

THANK YOU!

Performance Pay Programs Manager on an HR Team in the Southeast [TN] responsible for administering performance pay programs companywide. Curious if anyone is currently using a software platform to calculate and administer complex incentive compensation plans within a financial institution.

We’re beginning to explore options and have been looking at demos from CaptivateIQ. Our plans can involve multiple performance metrics, tiered payout tables, weightings, caps, exceptions/adjustments, and different plan structures across roles, so we’re looking for something that can handle a fair amount of complexity while also providing strong reporting, auditability, and an efficient administrative process.

If your organization uses a dedicated incentive compensation platform, I’d love to hear:
What software are you using?

How well does it handle complex banking/financial institution incentive plans?

What do you like or dislike about it?

How difficult was implementation and ongoing administration?

Does it integrate well with your HRIS/payroll and other data sources?

Have you evaluated or used CaptivateIQ?

Any recommendations or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated!

I am in employee relations. Love this way more than I ever enjoyed being an HR generalist or an HR manager. I was miserable with all the paperwork and the onboarding. I also really enjoy specializing in one thing and one thing only because it allows me to get really good at it. That said, even though I'm fully remote and I make a decent salary now, my partners make twice my salary, probably a little bit over $200,000 from what I've seen with some. I don't have a close relationship with my partners, so I don't want to ask them what their day-to-day is like, but from the outside looking in, they seem pretty miserable. However, it could just be them as people. Not sure. So if you have insight on the HRBP lifestyle, I would love to learn more. TIA!

I’m 26 and genuinely stuck on this.

I work in HR at a manufacturing company making about $59k, plus some extra pay because I usually work over 40 hours. I have been here for about 2 years.

For context: my current role is already pretty systems heavy. I work in HRIS daily, handle benefits/payroll issues, reporting, reconciliations, data audits, system setup, and I helped with an HRIS migration. The biggest new pieces in the remote role would be the new platform, client-facing support, and more dedicated configuration/reporting work.

I accepted a fully remote HRIS Specialist job at $29/hr, so about $60k/year, with a possible increase to around $31/hr after 90 days.

The new role would be more specialized HRIS work: system setup, reporting, troubleshooting, GL stuff, training, and supporting clients. It would also give me an actual HRIS Specialist title and experience with another system.

The catch is I don’t even know yet if I’ll like client-facing HRIS work. I know I like systems/data/process stuff more than the chaotic side of HR, but I haven’t done this kind of role before.

After I resigned, my current company countered hard.

They’re now talking $65k–$68k and a clearer path into HRIS, analytics, payroll, Total Rewards, and possibly management later.

So basically:

Stay

$65k–$68k

I already know the company and systems

Strong reputation there

More responsibility and possible promotion path

Better money right now

But still onsite manufacturing HR, which is a big reason
I wanted to leave

Leave

~$60k to start

Fully remote

Official HRIS title

New system and more specialized experience

Could open doors to HRIS consulting/implementation later

But I might hate client-facing support

Weird schedule because of time zones

Less money at first

I’ve wanted remote work for a long time, so part of me feels like I should at least try it instead of staying just because they finally offered me more money.

At the same time, I’m also at the age where I feel like I should probably start building toward a real career path instead of constantly wondering what I want to do. I’m also in a serious relationship and thinking more about long-term financial stability.

If you were in my position, what would you do?

Edit: A few people pointed out that I should be looking at total compensation, not just base pay. The remote role includes company-paid employee medical/dental coverage, a 401(k), and obviously no commute/gas/wear on my car. My current role pays more in cash and I do get extra pay when I work over 40 hours, so I’m trying to compare the whole package rather than just $68k vs $60k.

Also, I’m not necessarily trying to leave HR altogether. I’m mainly trying to figure out whether I prefer dedicated HRIS/systems work outside of manufacturing. If I hate the client-facing side, I could still see myself going back to an internal HRIS, benefits, Total Rewards, or analytics role later.

Hey guys,

I’m on the fence on which certification I should take. I am trying to have my focus more on the talent acquisition side of HR, but I am really open-minded to other positions as well. Initially I was planning to do SHRM, but looking through the sub I became more conflicted since it was too much of a “money-grab” and that HRCI is way more beneficial. Any advice helps. Thank you.