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Sonali

Hi everyone

I really need your advise on how to proceed with my career aspirations. 

I have about more than 10 years of HR experience in India, then we moved to UK and I had to take a gap of 5 years due to maternity and childcare. During this period I tried alot for job opportunities but there was no luck. So after 5 years I did get a job in HR but as a baseline start role. That was surely a disappointment but I thought atleast there is something to start and parallelly I enrolled myself for level 5 CIPD. I really don't want to waste my past experience and start the whole journey from scratch. I have been trying to apply for jobs but there is no luck. 

Do you guys thinks its because my current resume says I am an HR administrator? or is it the gap? or is it no substantial experience in UK market? I am so disappointment as even the relevant work industry where I have spent 10 years of my career is also not valuing my experience. Sometimes I really feel it wasn't really worth moving to UK...

Please throw some light and guidance with your experience in UK market.

Much appreciated!!

Thanks 

  • Hi Sonali, have you been able to get feedback from places you have applied to?

    I suspect that the most likely reason is that Indian and UK employment laws are quite different so for higher level roles, an employer will want to be sure that you have a really good understanding of UK employment law. Getting your level 5 should help with that - it wasn't clear from your post whether you have now successfully completed your level 5, or recently started it. You may want to look at some specific employment law training too.

    Have you used the CIPD self assessment tool on the profession map? That will give you a really good idea of where you can focus your learning. There are also a number of free courses available to members.

     Is your current employer able to give you any experience in supporting at a higher level so you can gain some UK based examples of higher level HR work? 

  • This is a tough one to say because we don't have your CV/applications etc so there may be other reasons but at a guess, I would say it is likely to be the lack of UK experience.

    There will be so many similarities in the way HR operates in both countries, but there are also many, many differences - even just looking at employment law in the two countries, there will be vast differences. Then you have to consider the differences in custom and practice. I have no doubt that if I were to move to India, I would have so much to learn about the cultural practices and preferred communications etc. let alone the law.

    Your previous experience is likely to help you progress far more quickly than someone inexperienced would, so you are not starting the whole journey from scratch. The skills you have in supporting managers and the experience you have of how businesses operate and how to hold conversations and influence and problem solve, will all shine through and help you progress quickly. The "weakness" of your lack of UK experience will soon transfer into a strength - international experience, different perspectives, different ways of working that can be combined with UK common practices.

    It may take some adjustment of your expectations first.

  • I agree with the advice from others, but would also mention gently that there were grammatical errors in your post here. That is in no way meant to be a criticism, but I wonder if it is having an impact? I appreciate that posting on a site like this and a job application are very different, and they may not be present in your job applications, but would certainly ensure that you get someone else to proof read anything you send, so that doesn't form part of any initial impression. 

    Otherwise, I wouldn't be dispirited at getting an entry level post - it's a good place to start and get used to the UK employment environment. I imagine that with your experience and skills from 10 years of experience in India, you should quickly progress. Can you talk this through with your line manager at appraisal, and see how they can support your career development?

    Good luck