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Does HR primarily look for 'sector specific experience' and if so, why?

Andre

In relation to recent posts here, it seems to be especially difficult to make such a lateral career move as from being an HR Advisor in the NHS to working as an HR Advisor for ASDA Supermarkets, although still slightly easier to go the other way around from the private sector to the public sector. Why is that? 

And more to the point, why is also that as thinking in terms of pure practicality and logic, HR experience is HR experience and the job role is the same. The only real difference is the employer and a slight change in the environment that you are working in. Whether or not you are an HRBP for TGI Friday's, BP, Stena Line, Amnesty International, West Midlands Police or Manchester City Council, you still need to perform the same functions, attend similar types of meetings and make similar types of decisions at the end of the day. 

Are the employers concerned being over selective, rigid, too picky and possibly unrealistic in their expectations, or do they essentially want the full package, the best possible experience match and fit, and primarily feel that one can come in, hit the ground running and perform the very best having done exactly the same type and level of job at an identikit organisation, just in a different location?    

What then happens if someone wishes to change from being an HR Advisor in the public sector to becoming an HRBP in a company such as The Boston Consulting Group, or an organisation such as Tearfund?

Impossible again with a capital 'I'?      

  

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  • It can be done - I've worked in Fashion Retail, Charity Sector (Art Gallery), Corporate IT and now Kitchen Equipment retail. I've also had applications turned down for Fashion Retail, Charity Sector, Corporate IT and a whole heap of other sectors and companies.

    At the end of the day it largely comes down to whether your c.v. demonstrates the skills/ experience that they are looking for, and do you fit in with what they want for their team. Some companies only want a straightforward replacement for what they had before, others are interested in bringing in skills from other sectors. If there are 20 applications for the role, sometimes it's an easy way of breaking it down to look for previous sector experience. Sometimes I've found it's less about sector, but more about the size of an organisation that you've come from that matters - are you used to dealing with a large number of employees/ business partners, working in a large HR team, or used to being somewhere smaller where you are it and the decisions are largely yours.

    As Keith says, it's often most difficult to move from public to private sector - pace, commercial approach, flexibility of approach etc. but not always.

    None of the changes I made were quick or easy and it really was down the role being right for me and me being right for the role.
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  • It can be done - I've worked in Fashion Retail, Charity Sector (Art Gallery), Corporate IT and now Kitchen Equipment retail. I've also had applications turned down for Fashion Retail, Charity Sector, Corporate IT and a whole heap of other sectors and companies.

    At the end of the day it largely comes down to whether your c.v. demonstrates the skills/ experience that they are looking for, and do you fit in with what they want for their team. Some companies only want a straightforward replacement for what they had before, others are interested in bringing in skills from other sectors. If there are 20 applications for the role, sometimes it's an easy way of breaking it down to look for previous sector experience. Sometimes I've found it's less about sector, but more about the size of an organisation that you've come from that matters - are you used to dealing with a large number of employees/ business partners, working in a large HR team, or used to being somewhere smaller where you are it and the decisions are largely yours.

    As Keith says, it's often most difficult to move from public to private sector - pace, commercial approach, flexibility of approach etc. but not always.

    None of the changes I made were quick or easy and it really was down the role being right for me and me being right for the role.
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