Deirdre Orr: She is HR

Who is Deirdre Orr?

Deirdre Orr is foremost for her unique experience and sustainability towards career growth across multiple industries. Deirdre is the founder of Deirdre Orr Consulting; she is also an expert resume writer and career coach. From a hobbyist writer in college, she transformed her hobby into a lucrative business in 2015. In her 14 years of corporate leadership in Human Resources, she has helped thousands of people secure their dream jobs, likewise, gained the prowess to coach individuals to excellence. As a coach, her dedication lies in helping these individuals discover what they are passionate about and transform it into a satisfying career for themselves. She has learned from her previous career paths the need for people to become more purposeful and dynamic by maximizing their potentials and inner creativity.

Her goal is to guide her clients into making life-changing decisions while inspiring them to venture into their passion. As an expert resume writer, she uses her versatility to create relevant, engaging, and highly-optimized CVs/Resumes for any career path. She also provides both professionals of all levels with insight, tools, and motivation to help them navigate their entire career ladder.

I currently help high performing junior/mid level HR Professionals land their dream HR Leadership role in 90 days or less using my transformational coaching framework- HR Leadership GPS.

I also provide life changing career services to ambitious job seekers of all industries helping them land their next level role in 60 days or less!

Did you choose HR or did HR choose you? How did you find yourself in the Human Resources Industry?

I would say that I chose HR. My undergraduate degree is in Psychology. I really wanted to be a child psychologist. So, after graduation I started working for the State of Tennessee as an Investigator of Child Abuse and Neglect. I did that for about 7 years. At that point in my career I was totally burned out. I knew I wanted to get a masters degree, but I no longer had the dream of being a therapist. All I knew was that I love people and I loved helping people. After a few weeks of research of a few master's programs I decided to go back to school to earn a secondary degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. With that degree I knew that I could easily pivot into HR or become a OD consultant. Upon completion of my degree I landed my first role in HR as a HR Assistant/Recruiter. And from there it's been up ever sense. Hands down the best decision I've made.

What do you think is the most important issue facing women of color in Human Resources in 2022 and in what ways can we create positive impact to improve that area?

I feel the most important issue facing women of color is an issue that continues to be an issue. PAY DISPARITY

I'm sure you've seen the viral post of the recruiter stating that she offered a candidate $85k salary when the range went up to $130k. In the post she said the reason why she offered the candidate that salary was because "that's what the candidate asked for". There are several issues with that scenario, the biggest one being the candidate not aiming higher when negotiating the salary, but of course it's disheartening to know how wide the pay scale was and the recruiter didn't advocate for her to have a higher salary.

Pay disparity has been a problem and continues to be a problem for women of color. We are confident in our careers. We aren't fulfilled in our careers. We also don't have the seats at the table that we need to bring change to that issue.

To move forward in a positive light and combat salary disparity we should do the following:

1. Do your research when it comes to the roles you are seeking

2. Always, always negotiate your salary

3. Invest in a HR Career Coach... Like Me to help empower you to elevate in your career and get the salary you deserve.