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
  • Another suggestion to add to the mix is to work for a relatively small organisation/not for profit/charity as an HR Administrator. I've certainly taken on several administrators that way who have had far greater opportunities to work at all levels of the HR team, simply because there is more flexibility. It wouldn't change the job title perhaps (or maybe in time because that kind of organisation will often try to recognise someone who goes above and beyond), but it could give valuable experience that you could draw on in future interviews and applications to take the next step up.
  • I managed to find my 1st role in HR after leaving uni with a non HR related degree by studying the CPP (now equivalent to Level 3). I started as 'Clerk' , and was then in Assistant roles for about the next 15 years, but as I worked in large Public sector organisations was fortunate enough to be given lots of opportunities for learning and development including shorter term Secondments and Acting ups. I was then able to find a role as Senior HR Assistant as the next step up, which was more recently re-named Advisor to more accurately reflect the duties.
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  • I managed to find my 1st role in HR after leaving uni with a non HR related degree by studying the CPP (now equivalent to Level 3). I started as 'Clerk' , and was then in Assistant roles for about the next 15 years, but as I worked in large Public sector organisations was fortunate enough to be given lots of opportunities for learning and development including shorter term Secondments and Acting ups. I was then able to find a role as Senior HR Assistant as the next step up, which was more recently re-named Advisor to more accurately reflect the duties.
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