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New in London- looking for advice and/ or support

Nivek

Hi All! 

I recently moved from Sydney to London and I've been actively looking for a role (Generalist HR Advisor/ Jnr HRBP) for the past 3 months. Whilst I have been trying to stay positive, I have found the process rather disheartening. I'm wondering if there are others who are familiar with the challenges of moving to London and securing their first London-based HR role who may have advice for me? 

Some quick information about me for context: I am a dual citizen with full working rights (British and Australian), most recently working in the technology industry as HR Advisor supporting a client group of 160 based in the UK, Australia and Pakistan, 3.5 years' experience at the Advisor Level, Bachelor Degree in Psychology and Masters in HR and OD, AHRI and CIPD member. 

I have had meetings with various recruiters and two client interviews. One of which I went through to the second stage, however, I withdrew as the role wasn't the right fit for me (I am a Generalist and it was an L&D role with 50% design and 50% delivery). The other was with one of the top 10 tech companies, the feedback was very positive, however my interview responses weren't 'deep' enough - fair feedback as my interviewing is a little rusty. 

I have applied for 67 jobs, with some applications taking as long as 2+ hours each (for big commercial businesses asking detailed questions in their application process), and I have only heard back (rejections and otherwise) from 37%. Each time I get a lead they seem to drop off. Calls to recruiters go unreturned. 

I have since broadened by application to include Junior/ entry-level HR Advisor roles. Although this isn't ideal, I am more than willing in order to get my foot in the door, however I am not having any luck with these roles either! 

Am I potentially doing something wrong? Am I missing something? Any and all advice from those in the industry would be greatly appreciated! 

Warm regards,

Nivek

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  • Hi Nivek

    Lack of UK-based HR knowledge and especially experience is probably offputting to recruiters. But your 'foot in the door' etc approach I'm sure is sound - if you keep trying, even though the response rate be low, eventually you'll probably succeed provide you don't get disheartened first.

    Otherwise, intensive networking (eg London CIPD Branches) might help, as might volunteering or even internships and / or independently following UK-specific HR qualifications (assuming you haven't already)

    Last but not least, welcome to Community and all good wishes for future
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  • Hi Nivek

    Lack of UK-based HR knowledge and especially experience is probably offputting to recruiters. But your 'foot in the door' etc approach I'm sure is sound - if you keep trying, even though the response rate be low, eventually you'll probably succeed provide you don't get disheartened first.

    Otherwise, intensive networking (eg London CIPD Branches) might help, as might volunteering or even internships and / or independently following UK-specific HR qualifications (assuming you haven't already)

    Last but not least, welcome to Community and all good wishes for future
Children
  • in reply to David
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts, David. I completely take your point, and do agree that the UK-specific experience is a big factor. I had a group of 60 UK employees in my client group, and although there weren't many ER issues, I certainly think the experience I had; setting up the company pension fund, working on a UK acquisition, routine contracting etc. has helped somewhat - thankfully!

    I would love to get along to some of the CIPD events - although I checked out the upcoming events for the local CIPD groups (South West London, London and South London) and I can't see anything for July - I'll definitely keep my eye out.

    I've been refreshing with the ACAS online courses which seem to be an affordable option for the time being.

    Thanks for the warm welcome, David. Glad to be a new member of the community :)