Not at all trying to play devil's advocate or being unnecessarily harsh here, but does serving some 5 years + as an HR Administrator really automatically qualify or entitle someone to become an HR Advisor?
After all, you are an HR Administrator. That is your role, job, HR career, HR experience, track record and most importantly, your HR grade, band and level.
We are ultimately all what we are in terms of our job description. You can't call yourself the CEO of Tesco if you are on the Saturday night replenishment shift.
Should not an HR Administrator just focus instead on being and continue to be the very best HR Administrator that they can be? Is that unreasonable in any way but the most sensible course of action to keep the eyes on the current and existing 9-5?
In addition, an HR Advisor is a completely different and more advanced level role to that of an HR Administrator. It also requires a completely different type of skill set and experience. You advise, you don't do the administration, so in a sense, it would be logically impossible to get experience advising when you are meant to and paid to be administering. It is simply not in the boundaries, responsibility and authority of the parameters of your job description.
Very few trainee or junior HR Advisor roles exist and they are also notoriously difficult to get. Often you either somehow (by hook or crook) go in immediately on that level or then you never do.
To use an analogy here, in the grand scheme of things, most Police Officers join the force, serve some 40 years on the force and retire on the PC level rank. They may do some sideway lateral moves or go into certain specialisms such as firearms, river, air or dog handling, but they are still PC's, not Detectives, Sergeants, Inspectors, Superintendents or Commanders. A very clear distinction, structural boundary and hierarchical dividing line does exist. However, have they all failed either as every force only needs one Chief Constable and one Assistant Chief Constable at any given moment in time? The higher you climb, it becomes a pyramid that thins out with fewer jobs at the top. You also need bobbies on the beat and not just strategic policy makers at force HQ.
Similarly, in the Civil Service and NHS the main grade is Administrative Officer and Band 3. Why should that be any different in HR? Most people are and will always be on or in the main clerical grade. That's their lifetime career.
Professional qualifications help but they are still no substitute for relevant experience which will always win the day.
There exists no specific or pre planned formula to move from being an HR Administrator to that of an HR Advisor, but being a strong believer in fate or destiny, I will leave with the following conclusion:
There always exists a certain element of circumstantial luck, good fortune and timing involved in the wider equation here. Right time, right place and no one else in the current mix is better than yourself. However, 'you either get it or you don't.' Some people do quickly and easily and some people never, even if they try for years.
But thats life and the adult world. If you can, you can and if you can't, you can't.
Be however grateful that you have a job than no job at all and make the most of what it is. The grass is not always greener in the other side and some people often fall into the trap of always thinking that something else is better.
In short, there is no shame in like in the Police, also being an HR Administrator for 40 years, making and turning that into your lifetime career. Overtime and with 10 years + experience one can even perhaps become a Senior HR Administrator. Is that not a step up?
