Human Relations Skills My career path led me to obtain a position as an Office Services Manager for an international engineering company. During my first year, my supervisor recognized my strong interpersonal skills. Additionally, my natural confidence allowed me to feel comfortable in any environment, while my charismatic personality meant people naturally gravitated towards me. Recognizing these skills, my supervisor offered me a business development role. I immediately excelled in this role, but believed I needed a bigger challenge. I communicated my wishes to my supervisor and we discussed my needs. He concluded that with my strong human relations skills, legal knowledge and experience I would be well suited as a right-of-way acquisition. These very dynamic and diverse roles have a common, yet complex element, which is building relationships with people. I believe that to be successful in my career I need to have good human relations skills. Our textbook states that human interpersonal skills, or interpersonal skills, are the ability to deal with people, both inside and outside the organization. When the textbook says to “deal with people” what exactly does that mean? In my opinion, it is a conglomerate of the following: • communicate effectively with others; • I personally believe that, in addition to communication, conflict resolution is the most important human relationship skill to possess. Related to my career as a right-of-way acquisition agent, conflict resolution is a skill that is used in almost every interaction with a property owner. When an owner does not agree with the proposed project or the impact on their property, I must be able to amicably resolve their concerns to reach a resolution. Alternatively, avoiding conflict or addressing it with a combative, confrontational tone leads to tense and less pleasant interactions. In conclusion, I believe that in all aspects of life a person will have to deal with other people. No matter what your career is or how well you do in it, your relationships with others are the key to your success or failure. In my experience, even when someone has an average job, good human relations skills can usually make that person seem better to others. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true: poor human relations skills can make an otherwise skilled person look like a poor performer. Finally, achieving good human relations skills can help you in several ways. Human relations skills can help a person get a job, enjoy their job, be more productive, and stay there longer with better chances of advancement. Understanding yourself and others can help you be happier and more productive in all areas of your life