By Angie Poulsen

As the recipient of the 2012 Vancouver Island Region BC HRMA Student Scholarship, I was fortunate to attend all three days of this year’s BC HRMA conference.  Each day was jam packed with world-renowned speakers, relevant businesses at the tradeshow, and plenty of time for networking with some of the most talented HR professionals in the industry.

Whenever I sat down for lunch, coffee, or a snack, I was welcomed by a variety of people from different companies and backgrounds.  Each person gave me tremendous advice on my own career aspirations, such as suggestions for different HR positions that I might be interested in pursuing, training courses that employers find valuable in their organizations. They also shared thought-provoking insights on the most recent speakers.  Having the opportunity to brain-storm with so many different professionals allowed me to talk about my own company and gain further understanding on some of our most challenging issues, such as talent management and recruitment strategies. I am currently a third year, part-time student striving to complete my business administration degree with a major in human resource management and I am a human resource manager with The Home Depot.

One of the themes of this year’s conference was People, Passion and Profit, which was a good reflection of the speakers and overall buzz in the room.   Some of the “must see” speakers were Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO; Jeremy Gutsche, creator of Trendhunter; and Dr. David Rock, leader in “Neuroleadership”.  Although you might not think these speakers relate to the HR profession, each of them tailored their message to be inspiring and forward thinking in our discipline.

One of the most valuable messages I took away from Jeremy Gutsche was that “if you only portray yourself as average, that’s all you’ll ever be.”  To me, this message relates both to myself and my company.  Rather than benchmarking to our competitors, we should strive to be excellent and innovative.  Also, instead of looking to see what the minimum experience, education or skills for a career path is, look to exceed expectations and be terrific rather than just meet standards.

Although those in attendance were mostly senior HR professionals, I would highly recommend that students and entry-level professionals attend the conference.  There are so many opportunities to network with future employers or just interact with practitioners who have multiple years of experience.  I found the conference extremely valuable and a really fun couple of days.

Thank you to BC HRMA for giving me the opportunity to attend the conference, and I look forward to seeing some familiar and new faces at next year’s conference!