Hey, i know exactly how you feel! i am in the same boat, but just at level 3 CIPD. I am facing the same issue.

Hi
I got my foot in the door through agency work and temporary contracts - you will be amazed how things will move once you have 'HR' on your CV

Good luck!

Jo

Sending out my CV constantly average 30Cv's a day and only 2-3 negative replies, because of the lack of experience in HR

Now, this will be your problem. You are sending your CV to people who aren't looking for HR staff and then acting hurt when they treat your unsolicited advertising as spam.

Presumably, if you have an MSc in HRM you must have covered recruitment strategy. So you're an educated poacher who wants to be a gamekeeper. So turn your knowledge to your advantage. "Strategy" doesn't involve hiring every waif and stray that wanders in with a CV and a sad look. It means matching skills against needs and attitudes against culture. So look for people who are actually hiring - ideally, who are actually hiring HR staff, but don't be too picky. An entry-level role in administration may be your foot in a rewarding door. But be selective about that.

Frankly, it's a seller's market in recruitment right now. Your scattergun approach isn't paying off because you're shooting at the wrong targets. But if you aim at employers who (1) are looking for people to do jobs you are qualified to do and (2) have a culture, brand or product that naturally chimes with you and your aspirations, then you ought to find that it's more of a duck shooting expedition.

CVs, meanwhile, are blunt instruments, but they can be honed into an elegant weapon (for a more civilized age). Instead of sending off 30 identical CVs to people who don't want them, send one, well-crafted and bespoke CV to a company who would actually like to read it and you'll get a far more positive response.

Lastly, yes, experience speaks volumes. I'm not sure what possessed you to do an MSc in HRM without any practical experience in the field. You're going to look both over-qualified and under-experienced at the same time. No one will touch you for a Manager's role - for which you have the academic qualifications - because you lack any grounding in management or experience with the day-to-day grind of HR Administration. But for the kind of entry-level job you probably need to start in, you're going to potentially intimidate insecure managers with your qualifications.

I don't recommend lying on CVs, but you genuinely may get a better response if you say you have a Level 3 qualification. That is, after all, technically true. However, you may be better off being honest and aspiring for a manager who has the self-confidence not to be intimidated by your academic credentials.

Better still, look for recruiters who are using online application forms. This involves more work than attaching an email and clicking "send", but it's a better opportunity to put the experience you do have into context and illustrate your professional knowledge for the better.

Finally, if pursuing gainful employment in the field of your choice is your main priority, be prepared to relocate to find it. This will vastly expand the range of potential employers available to you. But I say that as someone who was never prepared to compromise on location and who has the income (and employment gaps) to prove it.

Hi Giedrius and welcome to the Forum

Not much to add to Robey's excellent response other than the fact that I was job hunting relatively recently and found I often had positive responses from direct applications via Linked In job alerts.  (If you are not on Linked in, register yourself and sign up for them.)

I spent a lot of time on my cover notes and I think this made all the difference to the response rates.  So apply with a really well drafted cover letter/email.  Look at their person spec and address how you meet their criteria using examples - these can be from your holiday job, sports team, voluntary work if you have not got HR work examples.  Be creative and think a bit laterally (obviously do not lie!) but if you think you can make a case for why the skills developed through birdwatching, namely forward planning, preparation and patience would be a really good match for the skills needed for being an HR Officer at company x, make that case!  Explain how and why you would be a good fit for company x.  Also put a well-constructed case for WHY you want to work for company x and what it is that attracts you about them.  Obviously, spell check and re-read very carefully.   It is quite rare to get an application where people have actually considered the needs of the recruiter, so anyone that does goes to the top of the pile.  I once managed to get to 3rd interview stage despite missing interview 1!  My sincere apology, coupled with the positve 1st impression made by my application was sufficient for the very nice manager to give me another go (I eventually got to the last two).

I would not use the same approach with agencies -  a few lines to entice them to actually open your CV should be sufficient as they are really not that interested in you other than in whether you look a vaguely interesting prospect to put forward to their client.  With them, carefully adapt your personal statement and your CV to match their ads. 

Good luck!

Only a couple of comments to add to the excellent advice above - being able to complete more than one good quality application a day is rare, especially if you're doing an application form (where there will be far fewer applicants, so it's worth spending the time there). Having spent a few months last year job hunting, one tip I learned is that many larger organisations filter CVs/applications according to key words - and crucially (for me) their software has a problem with information in tables. So if you're using tables in Word for formatting, you may find this is a problem.
More generally, ensure that you are clear about what you have done, and give specific examples rather than general assertions. Use Linked In as your friend, get relevant recommendations and ensure that your experience and achievements are well expressed and consistent. Get another person to review both your LinkedIn profile and your standard CV, but tailor each CV in the same way that you tailor the covering letter to be relevant to the skills the organisation is looking for in the person specification.
And get work experience and build business contacts, wherever you can. Use the CIPD networking groups, and the Institute of Directors also has a very good value membership for students within 2 years of their graduation, and even as a non-member their seminars are great places to network.

Hi Giedrius, just wondered if you have checked out this very website for all things career-oriented for some useful advice: Link is: www.cipd.co.uk/.../career
Good luck. :-)

In reply to Anka:

On the back of Anka's reply, if you have been a team leader you technically have HR experience. I don't know what you did before uni, if you worked and in what capacity, but if you've been involved in appraisals, new employee interviews, training, grievances that sort of thing then that's HR. You can add this to your list of duties or in your cover letter to show you've some experience in the basics, even if you didn't use HR software to do it you were part of the process.
Good luck.

I lack ER and L&D Experience so its hard for me too