I want to be an international HR manager

I have worked in sales and
training in a large international IT Company for six years. A year ago I changed
career path and joined the International Assignments Group within the Regional
HR Department. I’m really enjoying it and would like to know which qualification
would be most advantageous to help me become an international HR manager. I
think I have one distinctive advantage – I live and work in an expatriate
environment. I originally come from Eastern Europe to work in the UK 2 ½ years ago.

Margaret
Malpas, joint managing director at Malpas Flexible Learning, writes:

This
is exciting! I agree with you that your experience of working here is a
very valuable asset when it comes to being considered potentially
successful as an expat (after all that is exactly what you have been doing successfully).

Having
worked on projects in Central and Eastern Europe I can also say that there are many
opportunities for those with good HR experience in the region too. There is
a shortage of people with both local knowledge and HR skills/experience,
so the package you could command would be excellent.

The
CIPD programme is increasingly sought overseas. You could also do a top up
Masters degree – some of them have an international elective, so I would
recommend this as a qualification.

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Allison
Sheard, consultant at Chiumento Consulting Group, writes:

There
are a number of options open, depending on what level of qualification you
already have. If you have a degree then a Masters in HR which includes an
international element could be useful. If it also qualifies you for CIPD that
would be a bonus. The alternative would be an MBA, taking the international and
HR options. Either could be done on a part-time or full-time basis. However it
is worth researching the various MBA courses as the choice of college or
university is important- there is a perceived hierarchy. There is a lot of
written material available to help you make your choice as well as the annual
MBA fairs.