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

Andre

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?

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  • Andre
    Good luck.
    In order to help you move forward if you want to contact me via the messaging thing on here I will give you an honest independent assessment of your Cv and LinkedIn presence. As a senior HR bod would see it.
    Keith
  • in reply to Keith

    Hi Keith,

    What do I click on here to message you or send my LinkedIn profile / CV etc?

    What I have at least learned with this discussion is that I am not going to get a job off LinkedIn.

    Over the past three years, I have, worldwide, made 63,500 HR and other role applications with the 1 click apply by just tapping the button and sending my profile.

    Its also far less time consuming than completing an application form one at a time, and you can also attach and send your CV along with your LinkedIn profile with the tap of the button.

    Half view it but never respond, and the other half send an automated recruiter reply back that other candidates better match the requirements of the role / experience requested by our client.

    Thousands of people worldwide view those online LinkedIn job advertisements which are also cross advertised and they are really for experienced hires with a 100% exact profile match and fit.

    I did it as I thought I could eventually ‘click myself to a new role’ if I did enough of them both globally and overtime, but never got a single interview, yet an offer out of this. 

    This experience of mine could actuality feed into a new topic that if people are not going to get a job off LinkedIn, what is it there for (ie your online CV) and how effective is it as a job searching tool.

    Having said that, one also needs to write many many blind speculative letters to companies before they would get a job using that method of approach or tapping the unadvertised hidden market as well. Most would reply that we don’t currently have any vacancies but will keep you on file for future.

    Generally, it is extremely difficult and highly competitive nowadays to actually get any type of job on any level, including working in Starbucks Coffee.

    We have never had full employment and there are always more people looking for work than vacancies available, and the employers are very selective and careful who they take, often putting up barriers along the way.

    Kind regards

    André

  • in reply to Andre
    I definitely agree that you need to largely ignore the jobs you can apply for with one click via LinkedIn. I was applying for jobs 2 years ago, after 14 years in my previous role - so I had no experience whatsoever of how recruitment works 'these days'. It was quickly clear that one-click applications don't work at all. Based on my own experience, I'd say that LinkedIn is your shop window - you need it to be clear, comprehensive and selling your 'benefits' - the things that make you stand out as a job prospect. Most recruiters will review your profile there if you apply for a job, so it's an additional resource that you can use in your favour.

    What I found still works best is taking the time to write a well-crafted application for any job you're interested in. Don't cut and paste, write with enthusiasm and knowledge about the organisation, and use plenty of examples. I know you know this, but it's worth getting a friend to read an application through to check you're selling yourself as positively as you can. If you're applying by CV, tailor your CV to each application you make (which not everyone does - we tailor the supporting letter, but it's worth tailoring the CV too). Don't use tables in your CV (I had not realised how few recruitment tracking systems can 'read' information in tables).

    I recognise that you've said that you get through to interview stage reasonably well - so you're definitely in the running for the next position. If you weren't ready for it, and they weren't willing to take on someone with your experience, you wouldn't be shortlisted. So I'd recommend again sourcing some interview coaching - from someone who will tell you directly what you need to change to become the first choice candidate.

    While I understand your frustration in not being able to progress quickly in HR, you need to sell the benefits of your previous sector experience - as others have said, it's a real strength in many areas. I think you said that your previous career was in law, and that's an industry that really only wants HR professionals that have a strong understanding of the sector. Having a strong legal knowledge/framework is also so very relevant to HR, that it's hard to see your career change as anything other than a positive element of what you'd bring to a role.

    Good luck - don't let your frustration become the story here. I think there's been a lot of very helpful advice on this thread, and I hope you'll find the right next step in 2019.
Reply
  • in reply to Andre
    I definitely agree that you need to largely ignore the jobs you can apply for with one click via LinkedIn. I was applying for jobs 2 years ago, after 14 years in my previous role - so I had no experience whatsoever of how recruitment works 'these days'. It was quickly clear that one-click applications don't work at all. Based on my own experience, I'd say that LinkedIn is your shop window - you need it to be clear, comprehensive and selling your 'benefits' - the things that make you stand out as a job prospect. Most recruiters will review your profile there if you apply for a job, so it's an additional resource that you can use in your favour.

    What I found still works best is taking the time to write a well-crafted application for any job you're interested in. Don't cut and paste, write with enthusiasm and knowledge about the organisation, and use plenty of examples. I know you know this, but it's worth getting a friend to read an application through to check you're selling yourself as positively as you can. If you're applying by CV, tailor your CV to each application you make (which not everyone does - we tailor the supporting letter, but it's worth tailoring the CV too). Don't use tables in your CV (I had not realised how few recruitment tracking systems can 'read' information in tables).

    I recognise that you've said that you get through to interview stage reasonably well - so you're definitely in the running for the next position. If you weren't ready for it, and they weren't willing to take on someone with your experience, you wouldn't be shortlisted. So I'd recommend again sourcing some interview coaching - from someone who will tell you directly what you need to change to become the first choice candidate.

    While I understand your frustration in not being able to progress quickly in HR, you need to sell the benefits of your previous sector experience - as others have said, it's a real strength in many areas. I think you said that your previous career was in law, and that's an industry that really only wants HR professionals that have a strong understanding of the sector. Having a strong legal knowledge/framework is also so very relevant to HR, that it's hard to see your career change as anything other than a positive element of what you'd bring to a role.

    Good luck - don't let your frustration become the story here. I think there's been a lot of very helpful advice on this thread, and I hope you'll find the right next step in 2019.
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