Perhaps I am! I’ve been applying for HR jobs left, right and centre and nothing, not even an interview. It’s really demotivating as I worked extremely hard to get my CIPD qualification, so much so that I am about to start my level 7. Now I may not have worked in a solely HR role but I do have experience and many transferable skills that I feel would benefit many organisations. I would have thought that being CIPD qualified would mean something? And it’s not like I am applying for BP roles. I know I need to take a pay cut and work my way up but there’s just been no interest in what I have to offer
Hi Andrew
Fantastic offer from Keith to look at your CV.
I had my CV looked over by a very experienced and lovely HR lady (all for free I might add) and I made several changes as per her recommendations.
I started getting more interviews and landed a dream permanent role. I have also (quite a few times) been told how impressive my CV is.
It really can make all the difference.
Good luck :)
Lisa
Hey Lisa, thanks for getting in touch! I paid for my CV and LinkedIn to be updated to showcase my HR/People skills but looks like I may have wasted my money lol! Let's wait and see what Keith says
Andy
Well done to you Andrew for reaching out and asking for some guidance. Just keep crunching away and you'll get to the finishing post. It's good to hear your CV was reviewed although I'm fearful it may be too generic. Whilst it's a long winded process it really pays to select a small number of vacancies and tailor your CV to each of those roles to demonstrate how your skills and experience match THAT job. I'm certain Keith's feedback will greatly help. :-)
Hey Clare! Thank you so much for commenting. I will carry on crunching away and if my CV is not right I will keep seeking advice and guidance until I do. Love the idea about selecting a few roles and tailoring my CV to match the skills required. Once again thank you
Hi Andrew, I’m sorry to read that you’re not having much luck in the job market at the moment. I just thought I would share my experience of it, hopefully it will help. I completed my CIPD 3 this year, I didn’t work in HR at this time but sought lots of experience with my employer at the time, taking a pay cut and doing a lot of admin and training and development. I also looked into HR volunteering, though I was unsuccessful with this. I was fortunate to get a HR admin role and, after gaining some experience over a couple of months, moving companies to a HR officer role, which I am in now. I recently went for an advisor role, came 2nd in the interview, beaten by someone who has more experience, I only have 6 week’s worth, if that. The feedback I’ve received about all my applications is how tailored I have made them to the person spec and using examples, where possible, to elaborate on them. I also sign off my supporting statement with reiterating how I meet a company’s values. After receiving advice, I’m looking at starting my CIPD L7 next year, I was told that the way to handle this is in interview is to show why you’ve invested in this rather than to think it’s a way in to get experience in HR in the first place. I asked this question of a HR manager recently as I was concerned that investing in this may not be an advantage to future roles, if I needed to move jobs. Good luck on the job front, I’m sure once you’ll get your foot in the door it will all be worth it.
Hey Reena - thanks for your reply and huge congrats on the job front. Turns out my CV was complete BS so with some guidance from Keith I am re-writing it and making it more relevant to the types of roles I am applying for. I also was about to start studying my Level 7 but I think I’m gonna to postpone this for the time being following some advice - it’s important I get some more experience under my belt. I’m gonna keep at it and hopefully one day soon someone will take a chance on me. Andy
Really sorry to read about the CV Andrew but also really glad you're now clearer about ensuring it hits the mark. And also glad to hear about deferring your studies, I think that's a wise move, trying to job hunt in parallel with studies is a big ask. Besides you'll probably get more out of your studies with a bit more experience behind you. Please do let us know how your job search progresses. :-)
