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Told I'm at HR Advisor level but can't get roles

Hello there

I've been working in HR for 2.5 years now and have my CIPD Level 3 in HR Practice. I am working towards my CIPD Level 7 at the moment. I have worked as an HR Administrator, Assistant and Associate/Advisor and now working as an HR Coordinator. When applying for roles I have been going for HR Advisor roles and told that that I'm a good fit, have good experience but lacking the Employee relations experience. I know I need to find someone who will give me the opportunity as most of my roles have been corporate and they have a specialist for ER cases or separate department. When I did work on ER cases it was as an Admin, taking notes and assisting. I don't have lead experience. It is frustrating as I know I could do the role with some support to start with. Trouble is how do I get the experience? At my current company they have an employee relations department for the factory and for where I work in IT there are no cases... How do I get to work on Disciplinaries, grievances etc if there isn't the opportunity at my current company and I can't get a role where someone will give me the opportunity? Any advice you could give would be really appreciated. I have tried applying for HR Admin roles to get more exposure to cases and told I'm above that level and over qualified. Stuck!

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  • Hi Claire,

    Welcome to the forums!

    It is really challenging - you're right in that all you need is one company to give you the opportunity.

    A few ideas - not sure whether they would all be achievable but worth mentioning:
    - Can you shadow in ER dept for the factory?
    - Can you position the ER work you have done (admin side) with the theoretical learning from your CIPD when interviewing? E.G. start with this is what I have done....this is what I would do....
    - Could you offer up some volunteer time to a local (largish) charity or community organisation, to get exposure (typically they have the need for HR help but not the capacity to have staff so rely on volunteers sharing knowledge/doing what's needed)

    Kind regards,
    Laura