HR Advisor needing to gain more exposure to case management

Hi Hayley

It is one of those really annoying aspects of HR where the advice / feedback is 'you need more experience' but then they don't give the opportunity to get the experience!

Firstly, I would contact your local Employment Tribunals service and request a list of cases for the month. Explain that you wish to sit in on a case as an observer. Employment Tribunals are public and so observing one is always beneficial to understand the level of detail. A good judge sometimes allows you to review the bundle too (although the GDPR may stop that!). You could do with finding a misconduct / dismissal type case, or a disability one, that you can listen to both sides of the situation from the lawyers. I did this in my early career and it helped me really understand the implications of getting things wrong during the process leading up to dismissal.

Secondly, make contact with a HR Consultancy company, a local one, even a one-person band. They will no doubt be busy and you could offer up voluntary admin / assistant support to them in exchange for sitting in on things they get involved in. The HR consultants I know (and I was one myself) would probably bend over backwards to have some 'free' assistance support, sometimes just typing up hand written notes from grievances which are 30 pages long), or drafting letters for the HR consultant to take over, will help you gain a better understanding of what is involved in case management from start to finish.

Finally, do not let the feedback dent your confidence. Clearly you have managed to work your way up to HR Advisor and that is by no means easy. Tell me your 10 best skills that you possess? How did you obtain those skills? How do you use those skills? How do you develop them? Writing these answers down will help you articulate what you are actually good at. Don't underestimate that you have transferable skills that will be beneficial to any organisation.

Criticism is never easy to take but sometimes, you have to take it on the chin. Remember the people giving you feedback are doing so to make you self analyse and reflect on your development areas. You recognise them now, that's good, move on. Don't let them get you down. Ultimately, you also need to remember, they've met you for all of 60 minutes in a fake setting, exerting some control and power - not necessarily going to be shining bright in these situations (I hate interviews for this very reason and make it my mission to relax people in them, because they aren't performing monkeys who must answer a question the right way!). Dust yourself down and pick yourself back up. You know yourself better than anyone else, including those interviewers.

I wish you all the best
Lynsey

Hi Hayley

It is one of those really annoying aspects of HR where the advice / feedback is 'you need more experience' but then they don't give the opportunity to get the experience!

Firstly, I would contact your local Employment Tribunals service and request a list of cases for the month. Explain that you wish to sit in on a case as an observer. Employment Tribunals are public and so observing one is always beneficial to understand the level of detail. A good judge sometimes allows you to review the bundle too (although the GDPR may stop that!). You could do with finding a misconduct / dismissal type case, or a disability one, that you can listen to both sides of the situation from the lawyers. I did this in my early career and it helped me really understand the implications of getting things wrong during the process leading up to dismissal.

Secondly, make contact with a HR Consultancy company, a local one, even a one-person band. They will no doubt be busy and you could offer up voluntary admin / assistant support to them in exchange for sitting in on things they get involved in. The HR consultants I know (and I was one myself) would probably bend over backwards to have some 'free' assistance support, sometimes just typing up hand written notes from grievances which are 30 pages long), or drafting letters for the HR consultant to take over, will help you gain a better understanding of what is involved in case management from start to finish.

Finally, do not let the feedback dent your confidence. Clearly you have managed to work your way up to HR Advisor and that is by no means easy. Tell me your 10 best skills that you possess? How did you obtain those skills? How do you use those skills? How do you develop them? Writing these answers down will help you articulate what you are actually good at. Don't underestimate that you have transferable skills that will be beneficial to any organisation.

Criticism is never easy to take but sometimes, you have to take it on the chin. Remember the people giving you feedback are doing so to make you self analyse and reflect on your development areas. You recognise them now, that's good, move on. Don't let them get you down. Ultimately, you also need to remember, they've met you for all of 60 minutes in a fake setting, exerting some control and power - not necessarily going to be shining bright in these situations (I hate interviews for this very reason and make it my mission to relax people in them, because they aren't performing monkeys who must answer a question the right way!). Dust yourself down and pick yourself back up. You know yourself better than anyone else, including those interviewers.

I wish you all the best
Lynsey

Hi Hayley

I can endorse Lynseys advice to contact consultants.
It is hit and miss whether or not you will be successful securing voluntary work but it can also be a way of networking too and who knows where that will lead to :-)

Hi Lynsey

Thank you for your response.

That's exactly it Lynsey. It's seeing that I am an opportunity with other attributes I could offer in order to gain experience!

Would I presume that this would be the courts themselves that I make contact with as when I have done a search on employment tribunals it brings up the court but also a local solicitors? Great tip though Lynsey and I will be definitely looking into that, even it means travelling to a bit further to watch a misconduct or dismissal case.

Again, a great idea with the local HR consultancy company to gain some experience in and something else which I know I can look into, even if i was in work, it's still a great learning opportunity and would broaden my network.

I think my confidence has been knocked for a number of reasons. Lack of a permanent role to really get my teeth into in the last 18 months, a position made redundant where I was happy in, short term roles that haven't stretched me.

I know that I have to look at JD's that may be at a lower level but cover the experience I am wanting to gain and I am comfortable with that. I've also realised that it is being honest with the recruiter about a role and tell them about the experience I have and ensuring that it's clearly communicated to the hiring manager. I think that's appreciated and shows integrity on my part without selling myself short and managing everyone's expectations.

I will review the questions you have suggested and write down the answers as I have found the more I dissect and review my own experience or write down the examples on a JD, the more confident I feel once at the interview.

Your final comments are so true in relation the interview process and criticism. I am very much a reflector and am self aware, As you rightly state, no one knows me better than me!

It's a refreshing viewpoint you have regarding interviews and I wish other interviewers took your approach as it would make this process a lot easier !

I really appreciate your comments and feedback, thank you.

Wishing you all the best.

Hayley