ONLINE MASTER'S DEGREE INHUMAN RESOURCES

A human resource department takes care of an organization's most valuable asset — its people. They handle everything from compensation and benefits to training and development to labor relations and conflict resolution. HR strives to keep employees working efficiently, and happily, at their jobs.

HR professionals often begin their careers with a bachelor's degree in human resources or business administration. Pursuing a master's degree allows them to build on their experience and move their career to the next step — whether that means taking on a management role or going deeper with one specific area of HR.

When looking for master's programs, it's important to evaluate and compare what different programs have to offer. For example, programs geared toward HR generalists provide a broader scope of HR topics and tend to provide a more global view of how organizations run and are managed. Other programs allow students to drill down into a specific subject area like labor relations. Students looking for this sort of specialization may want to explore programs that offer capstone or thesis project opportunities.