The HR Leader in conversation with Subhashree Das on tips for entering the HR industry

Subhashree Das is a client services officer in the contract management team at Konica Minolta. She came on The HR Leader to give her recommendations for people looking to enter the HR industry, as well as the benefits an international company can receive from a culturally diverse workforce.

HR Leader: “What advice would you give to people trying to enter the HR industry?”

Ms Das: “It is good to do some of the other certification through some local university, and that would definitely help in the job search. Also, I think in the meantime, you should start working, get local experience in any field that you can because that helps [in] understanding the demographics and how things are in any organisation, how things run.”

“Apart from that, other challenges are you have to keep upscaling yourself and just try to build on your competencies. The more you know, the more you get. And there is no substitute for hard work. If you work hard, you’ll eventually get it. So, persevere, be resilient, be relevant,” continued Ms Das.

“Start with the small names, start-ups and things like that because it’s easier to get through the door. And there is more learning because you get to do a lot. In big organisations, we have different teams and their own set of tasks. But in smaller organisations, you learn a lot because you’re pretty much handling the entire gamut.”

HR Leader: “How can a culturally diverse workforce benefit an international organisation?”

Ms Das: “I am working with a Japanese company [that] is merged with [a] Canadian company. Now you see practically the opposite ends of the world … So, you need to have those bridges. And it is quite interesting to be respectful and understanding of different culture[s] and different people, what is OK with one and not with another.

“You need to have people who are global in terms of their experience, who have worked with different cultures. So, we do have the training around it, like I used to run training programs for people who were going to a different country. What are the dos and don’ts, and the soft skills.”

Ms Das added: “Somebody who is well-travelled, somebody who has worked with different clienteles. Maybe that person can bring in experience, which can help ... Something as simple as knowing a language [can] make a huge difference.”

The transcript of this podcast episode, when quoted above, was slightly edited for publishing purposes. The full audio conversation with Subhashree Das on 30 January 2023 is below, and the original podcast article can be found here.