Interview w/ Christopher Law - HR Business Partner at Canadian Bearings Ltd.

1. Where do you work now and what are your main responsibilities?

I am currently working for Canadian Bearings Ltd. I am mainly responsible for payroll and benefits, employee relations, recruitment, terminations, communications and organizational effectiveness.   

2. Did you always see yourself choosing the HR stream? What was/is it about HR that (eventually) grew on you?

I was originally in the accounting/finance stream but I always had an interest in human psychology as well. I ended up taking an introduction to HR course and I loved it. (I never looked back.)  I really liked to variety of tasks you could do within HR. It offered opportunities to help people through training, coaching managers to do their job more effectively, it really offered a lot of room to learn and develop new skills which made it very appealing to me because I love learning. 

3. What advice would you give management students, interested in a career in Human Resources?

If you are fortunate enough to be in the coop program try different HR jobs at different companies, really get a taste of different roles and companies.  Even if you are not in coop, you should try hard to find summer jobs that incorporate some aspects of HR, even shadowing someone in HR for a day a week at your summer job will give you some good exposure.  Join your local HRPA association as a student delegate, attend networking sessions and build your network now!
 
4. What was your favorite course at UTSC?

I would say my favorite course was probably Recruitment & Selection with David Zweig. It was fun to create an entire recruitment system from beginning to end.  It was a very practical course.

5. What do you miss most about your time at UTSC?

I miss the relationships I made with my fellow classmates and professors.  I also miss being around so many like minded individuals who are there for greater learning.  I also miss the social aspect of being a student and being able to participate in various school associations. 

Cornell Jones