Impossible with a capital 'i' to advance in the HR profession?

You have the CIPD 7, Associate Membership of the body, an MSc in International HRM, are considering a PhD in HR / Occupational Psychology and have four years experience working as an HR Administrator.

However, despite of all of that, you basically still can’t get above HR Administrator level to the next level or get an HR Advisor’s level role.

Part of the issue is that they don’t take on Trainee / Junior HR Advisor’s (or indeed Trainee / Junior HRBP’s) and you can’t get the necessary experience in an HR Administrator’s role to get the HR Advisor’s job.

You volunteer outside hours as an HR Advisor and as a CIPD Mentor, and attend all the events in your branch, but it still does not count or is officially recognised as a formal paid 9-5 role to make the cut.

It’s also one of those scenarios that it just does not ever happen for / to you how many applications you ever make, so are any of the following viable options to take instead:

(1) Come to terms with it and make a life long career as an HR Administrator instead, or as a Senior HR Administrator, aiming to be the very best that you can be at that;

(2) Pull completely out of the HR profession as a whole and change career sectors, professions and pathways, starting out again  from zero;

(3) Emigrate and see if you can get the role instead in another country in or outside the EU;

(4) Look at going self employed as an HR Consultant on the Peninsula model?

How would you personally deal with it if you faced a total brick wall blockage that despite your very best efforts, you just could not vertically progress, get on or up in the HR profession as a whole past HR Administrator?

Parents
  • Hi Andre,

    I work as an Assistant HR Advisor for a health and social care charity and I've noticed this level of role becoming more common, I've seen a few similar roles advertised within the NHS among other places. I've found it to be a really good stepping stone to the next level.

    It might not be easy to make the jump from HR Administrator to HR Advisor, but there may be roles out there that are kind of 'in between' that aren't so obvious on the job title front, like HR Officer or HR Co-Ordinator. It's worth focussing on the job descriptions more than the titles.

    I'd say the voluntary work should be counted, maybe look at how this is being sold on your CV.
Reply
  • Hi Andre,

    I work as an Assistant HR Advisor for a health and social care charity and I've noticed this level of role becoming more common, I've seen a few similar roles advertised within the NHS among other places. I've found it to be a really good stepping stone to the next level.

    It might not be easy to make the jump from HR Administrator to HR Advisor, but there may be roles out there that are kind of 'in between' that aren't so obvious on the job title front, like HR Officer or HR Co-Ordinator. It's worth focussing on the job descriptions more than the titles.

    I'd say the voluntary work should be counted, maybe look at how this is being sold on your CV.
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