Gertie Kertesz was doing well in her career in Human Resources in a tech company in Vancouver. But even though she looked forward to coming to work every morning, she felt something was amiss. She'd reached that point which most of us often do, when we find ourselves itching for more.
The key to success, however, is to have a clear goal in mind. Especially, if it's a professional goal. For Gertie, it was advancing her career. She decided to get a CPHR (Chartered Professional in Human Resources) designation.
But as a busy, working professional, where was she going to find the time to go back to school? At that point, Gertie came across the Diploma in Human Resources Management program at Ashton College that allowed students with a Bachelor's degree and relevant work experience to pursue the CPHR designation without having to take the National Knowledge Examination (NKE).
The program was the right fit as Gertie could take all her classes online. "I went to Ashton College because their program was able to provide me with work-life balance. I took the evening online classes when I got home from work, and my classmates and teachers were all there. It was great to still be able to have that classroom feeling but on line."
After graduating from Ashton, Gertie gained the CPHR designation and got promoted as an HR Business Partner at the tech company where she previously held an HR Generalist position.
Gertie says that the most important factor to be successful in the HR profession is to have emotional intelligence and soft skills, which are extremely important to build relationships and manage people.
''You need to be curious about what lights people's souls on fire, what makes them excited and engaged in what they are doing. This creates a culture of happy productive people and that's what it's all about.
Most recently Gertie co-founded a consulting HR company, Unbound HR, that works closely with clients collaborating to design and implement innovative human resource solutions that have maximum impact on business result