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Little scope to expand my HR role in small charity

Holly

I work for a small third sector organisation, which last year paid for my level 3 Foundation course, and am now a Foundation member. 

As the organisation is around 16 people from the CEO down there is, on the surface, very little scope to expand into a HR role from my current (Research Assistant). I have seen elsewhere that getting into a HR role is very competitive and I don't feel like I have the HR skills on my CV to actually move into the sector. 

Do I play on my transferable skills and interest of law/policy and/or ask to take on some of the HR at my current org. to build a practical base? 

I would be interested to hear opinions on what hiring managers would be looking most for and from those who have entered HR from another field

Thank you. 

Holly

Parents
  • Even in a small enterprise, there's quite a lot that can be done to build relevant experience for a future step into a more substantial role. Start by reviewing the charity's people policies. Although a full staff handbook is certainly overkill for an organisation of 16 employees, there are still policies that you are required to have by law. Often, SMEs will get started with off-the-shelf versions that tick the boxes but don't really serve the needs of the enterprise.

    Not only will a review give you valuable experience in policy development, but will also make you your organisation's expert in those policies and procedures, guaranteeing involvement in any employee relations casework that might pop up.

    You don't say what your organisation does, but does it also have volunteers? Charities often have more volunteers and employees and, although volunteers sort of sit outside the HR umbrella, it is often down to HR in charities to clearly define where and how the line is drawn. Getting involved in this will be useful to any future role in another charity, but is also surprisingly useful in business (where it is very common to get enquiries about opportunities to "volunteer for experience"), so an understanding of the law around volunteering is good to cultivate.

    Finally, is there any aspiration for the charity to grow at all? If so, they will need to recruit. The process of preparation for recruitment, advertising, selection and onboarding is all good, solid HR experience that you should try to get into.

    But don't sweat it too much. Entry-level HR Administrator and Assistant roles don't require much in the way of core HR experience. A Level 3 qualification and good experience in administrative tasks is usually sufficient to open doors.
  • in reply to Robey
    Thank you for the reply, these are some really interesting points!

    We do have a full handbook which was updated by an external firm recently(!)

    It is a charity due to being a not-for-profit research organisation so nothing in terms of volunteering but it is something I shall be reading into.

    I did have a part in on-boarding including updating the existing method but it garnish any attention so not sure if it was any good or not

    The feedback I have had from job applications was around lack of experience so maybe I need to give the CV another run through the CIPD tools
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  • in reply to Robey
    Thank you for the reply, these are some really interesting points!

    We do have a full handbook which was updated by an external firm recently(!)

    It is a charity due to being a not-for-profit research organisation so nothing in terms of volunteering but it is something I shall be reading into.

    I did have a part in on-boarding including updating the existing method but it garnish any attention so not sure if it was any good or not

    The feedback I have had from job applications was around lack of experience so maybe I need to give the CV another run through the CIPD tools
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