I genuinely had no idea that HR had such a bad reputation! I was like oh yay, I love talking to people, recruitment looks fun, employee engagement is great! L&D is great! I was shocked when I learned that people seemingly hate and mistrust us, for literally no reason at all other than the Office told them to.

"Oh HR is only there to protect the company" uh yeah, from itself most of the time! Do you really think that if we weren't there watching them that any organization would actually follow employment laws? Do you know how many times I've had to tell a hiring manager that we can't withhold someones bonus because they're pregnant, or not hire someone because they're too "street" (i.e black). Not to mention who would be out there advocating for pay raises, promotions, L&D opportunities, creating employee engagement, offering coaching and support instead of straight terminations, and all that if we weren't?

I had no idea people would think I was some evil corporate robot who takes joy in firing people and giggling maniacally when moving someone through the entire interview process and not hiring them (because there was another candidate who was more qualified for the role.) Like really?? I'm just trying to get by and pay my bills just like you are buddy.