I manage all of the health and welfare benefit plans for about 600 of our 800 employees in the United States, Bermuda and Canada. Among other activities, the Benefits Specialist and I make sure our company's benefits are competitive, manage the benefit renewal process, keep us in compliance, resolve day to day claims issues and monitor retirement plan calculations.

EDUCATION | Bachelors Degree in Human Resources Management, Masters of Science Degree in Human Resources Management, Professional Human Resources (PHR) Certification

HOW TO GET STARTED | My advice for this career is to be open-minded when an employee comes to you with issue. Make sure you get all the facts together before making a final decision. You have to get creative sometimes with the decisions you make. In order to put the best benefits package together you might have to make trade-offs between benefits, shop around with different brokers or propose a cost-sharing option.

MUST HAVE TRAITS | Compassionate, organized, open-minded, good listener

how I got started | I had an HR internship in college, but I started in recruiting. From there I moved into employee relations which gave me some exposure to benefits and payroll. Turns out I'm a little too blunt for employee relations...which was ok because I realized that I enjoyed doing benefits the most. Managing benefits allows me to work with employees throughout their whole time at the company - not just when they're interviewing or have an employee relations issue.

why this job?| I wanted a career where I could work with people and help them - but in a corporate environment. To me, people are what make a business successful, so it's exciting for me to make sure our employees are taken care of - that they have the best benefits, they're paid well and they're rewarded for good performance. I also chose HR because you're not limited to a certain industry, every company needs human resource management to make it tick and be successful.

why I love this job!| I like the fact that my day is different every single day of the week. You never really know what's in store when you walk into your office in the morning. I like the challenge of figuring out how to fit everything in, between project work and the day to day surprises. It makes my day when I get a phone call or email from an employee thanking me for resolving their issue.

my typical day| I don't think there is a typical day in HR. Sometimes I don't even check my voicemail until the afternoon because the morning was so busy. For example, an employee might call from the doctor's office because the insurance company is saying they're not covered - so I'll talk to the doctor or the insurance company and make sure their systems are updated. Or I'll work with an employee who's going on a leave of absence to make sure they have all the right paperwork completed. We also have regular meetings with the benefit broker to review claims, department meetings and meetings with the investment committee to monitor the administration of our retirement plans.

what they are | Even though I love it, the biggest challenge is balancing the day to day vs. the larger projects. We have to make sure the bills are paid, people are aware of and enrolled in their benefits and their claims issues are resolved - but we also need to carve out enough time to work on the larger projects that need to get done...like implementing a new benefit plan or closing out a retirement plan.

all about growth | Usually the career path is Specialist, Analyst, Manager, Director, Division Head - if you work for a large enough company. If you're fortunate enough to work for global company, you could also grow by working on international benefit programs. Once you oversee benefits for a company, you could branch out into the brokerage world because you've been their customer. Or you could work for an insurance carrier. There are a lot of ways you can use your experience.

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