Does it matter if human resources is usually not the “sexiest” career? Do companies suffer when b-school dropouts end up in HR instead?

This isn’t to hate on HR; after all, the profession gets enough hate from outside its ranks. But it is an interesting conundrum. HR, unlike, say, accounting or brain surgery, is something you can “fall into” quite easily: you take an entry-level admin job, a few years later, you’re asked to take care of payroll, and next thing you know you’re poring over benefits and 401(k) statements.

Jessica Lee, Employment Manager for APCO Worldwide, a PR firm in D.C., wonders if this should change. “What if we continued working towards improving the profession and the caliber of our own talent… and really worked toward making it a career of choice, and we ourselves were a bit more choosy about who we let in?”