Availability of Part-time HR Manager roles in London

Hi Paula I found a parttime role in London on mumsnet. Have you used the websites Capability Jane and we are in the city. Goodluck!

Hi Paula, I have had similar situations whereby I have been told part time roles are like gold dust and they are. There is silence when saying you want to work part time. This has seriously impacted my HR career and I have worked as a senior HRBP previously with over 20 years experience and MCIPD qualified. Its such a shame in this day and age that we are where we are.

Hi Paula

I do understand your frustrations. I am not based in London but in Manchester but I don't think it is much different here. It is crazy that as a profession we are expected to "champion" flexible working and yet there are very few part time or flexible roles out there in the field of HR. I know of so many women in HR (although not limited to HR) who, due to the lack of flexible opportunities, choose not to go back to work after having children. There must be a huge talent pool out there going to waste.

Last year I was on an extensive job search for a part time opportunity. I am HR Advisor/Manager level. I only found one Recruitment Consultant who actively put me forward for roles and had the conversation with her clients about the possibility of them considering a part time candidate. At best, I was being considered for 4 days whereas my preference (and current working pattern) is 3 days but I didn't come across any companies which would consider offering someone 3 days when advertising 5 days. The roles actively advertising 3 days (although very few and far between) tended to be stand alone for small companies, which is what I am currently doing and my preference would be to move away from that for professional and development reasons. My decision to work 3 days is hugely based on cost, my childcare vouchers just about make it financially viable to work 3 days (I have more than 1 child) but anything more than 3 days means I would be earning very little money for the extra days. In addition getting the kids dropped off and picked up for just 3 days is stressful enough, I think I would burn out if I had to do it for 5 days. A lot of nurseries/before and after school clubs don't open until 8am and close at 6pm so those times alone make it difficult to work a standard working day if you have more than a 30 minute commute. So even if I were to consider full time, my job search is massively limited by location.

Keith, in your experience you may find the HR profession open to part time roles but if they are internal roles, it doesn't really help new candidates looking to move when applying for a full time role in the hope they can later negotiate reduced hours is not an option to them. I am also aware of a number of people who have left the profession because their current employers would not accomodate part time working. Those in part time jobs, possibly feel like I do - trapped because they struggle to move externally.

The thing is, I probably work far more efficiently now than I have ever done. My company get good value for money because I I make sure I get everything done in the 3 days I am here and anything that doesn't get done I would take home with me and do once the kids are in bed. I don't mind doing that as I know how valuable a part time HR role is. I don't know if there is a fear from companies that by hiring someone part time they will somehow get substandard work/service but in reality they probably get more committment because of how limited decent part time work is! Just my opinion and experience on this.

You are not alone

Anna

Hi Paula

In my early HR career, I too needed to work part time and eventually managed to find an entry level role working in the NHS that suited me. In my experience, the Public Sector are usually quite open to compressed/reduced hours however, the basic remuneration will probably not tally with what you are used to working in the Sectors you are used to.

As for recruitment agencies, I wholeheartedly agree with your comments on the difficulties of finding one that will consider applicants wishing to work part time. It is only now that my circumstances have changed and I am looking at full time hours have I found them willing to engage and put me forward for roles.

On a slightly different note, having myself navigated the agency route these past few months I have been extremely disappointed with my experiences. This has included being put forward for job with a list of objectives rather than a JD and then being advised that I was unsuccessful because I didn't meet the clients full requirements. Things I wouldnt have known without having a definitive job description and then it feels like you are being critiqued on unknown and unseen criteria. Conversations with friends and colleagues let me know that this is extremely common. When I approached agencies to source candidates for me, the ones I worked with requested JD's all the time and were not happy to start the search without it! Lesson learned here for me in that I now ensure that I request as much information about the job I am being put forward for.

I have also been put forward for roles, interviewed and then told that actually, they have changed the scope of the job or that the company are not ready to recruit yet. Changing the scope once you have gone through a wave of interviews is not totally unusual in itself nor is not being ready to recruit and this is not necessarily the fault of agencies either but frustrating as a candidate nevertheless. But yes, the whole lack of acknowledgement thing is irritating too.

I dont know what others on here would say but perhaps apply for full time jobs and then raise the question of whether the employers will consider part time/job share. Perhaps once they see you are a worthy candidate it might encourage them to look in to these options. Anyway, Good Luck with your search

Hi Paula

Just a thought, but would it be worth approaching the institution you are doing your PhD with to see if they have any vacancies or if they could connect you with any employers who might have something to suit you?

Ishbel

The topic of part-time and flexible roles in HR is one that's been raised intermittently over many years both in this community and in the CIPD LI group.

I wrote to Peter Cheese almost two years ago asking for more CIPD support for members looking for flexible roles and have tried to get a SIG around flexible working set up in my local branch - with very little response from the powers that be!

As others are saying - the current situation is a shocking waste of talent - particularly when I keep hearing there's a shortage of good people for senior HR roles.

I second what Cass says above.
Public sector is a good place to work for part time roles.
I work in a large FE College as part of a team of 5 and both our HR Officer and Head of HR are part time.
Basic pay isn't as high as other industries but the flexible working/annual leave/actually only working 9-5 does make up for it.

Hi Anna... This really ought to be part of the 'Future of Work' conversation. All part of the transition to better work. I'll have another word with people here.

Hello Ishbel and all,

Thank you for this. I did think about it, I already volunteer at my uni's 'careers clinic' for graduate students and alumni (helping them with their CV preparation, interview skills, etc.). I also did some work as a sessional part -time tutor for a couple of years, tutoring in their CIPD accredited MSc in HRM courses. However, to be perfectly brutal, I worked long hours (vs contracted hours) and could neither cover my mortgage payments nor strike a balance in terms of output with my PhD studies.

On a different note, the type of private-sector employers that universities tend to deal with to place their graduates would generally advertise/recruit candidates for permanent full-time employment. Somehow, I get a sense that there is this perception amongst employers and employees (I dare say...) that 'part-time' employment is not 'real' work...is not taken 'seriously'.

As Keith highlighted previously, some larger employers may consider current (internal) full-time employees' applications for part-time employment. As others have already highlighted here, there is no certainty that these applications would be successful. It very much depends on the organisation's culture, and also the role the applicant is performing. I do tend to agree with Keith though, candidates may have a better chance to apply for this switch in status where they are known to the organisation, and they have worked there for a while.

Of course, this does not help with mobility for those already working on a part-time basis looking to change organisations, nor those external applicants like myself. I will, in the meantime, look at the NHS and also some charities for part-time HR advisor/manager/BP opportunities.

Thank you all for your input and your thoughts. Very much appreciated.

Paula

Dear Anna,

Many thanks for your response and your insight. Yes, I would agree that forming a SIG for part-time HR practitioners would be an excellent idea. As you say, it is such a shocking waste of talent....

Speaking on a personal note, I do not tend to agree with recruiters or hiring managers that say that there is a shortage of 'talent' out there. In my experience, there is more of a shortage of 'know how' to recruit than anything else. Transferable skills/experience...does anybody understand how that works? Is anybody interested? At the moment, it would appear that there are far too many candidates per position advertised so very few people really care. They are are 'placing' people that 'tick' boxes, not necessarily the 'right' or the 'best' candidates for the organisation(s) in question. In the recent past, I have been sent to interviews with clients at the last minute without even having met the agency recruiter(s)...I am not having a 'go' at agency recruiters! I now understand that they have targets imposed on them otherwise they'll lose their jobs. So, they are in sales jobs. But indeed, I agree with you that this is a shocking waste of talent and experience.

Peter Cheese is unlikely to be interested in part-time or flexible work arrangements for the HR community. HR is till grappling with much more basic challenges such as: Is HR a 'profession' on equal footing as accountancy or law? but perhaps a SIG/Support Group for part-time/flexible workers in HR could be formed at CIPD Central London branch-level if we could possibly have someone to sponsor us with their interest?

Have a good evening, and thank you again.

Paula