Working in HR? If you could start again, would you?

Having now passed the State retirement age and left employment to project-manage the re-development of my house (something I would not have had the time to do whilst working full-time!) I have reflected on my career.
I was "flattered" into HR when head-hunted internally by the then Group HR Director after 20 years in operations management who suggested I would be able to help him achieve Group HR objectives.
It is now almost 20 years since I made this move and although I became an HR Director, Head of HR and an HR Manager in various organisations I am not sure this was the right move for me!
We talk glibly about HR "earning" a seat at the top table, influencing business management team decisions and making the HR function integral to the success of the Business. Really!
I might have been influential in the Business had I remained in my General Management role and certainly been much better rewarded for my efforts!
However now as a Fellow of the CIPD, a qualified Employment Law paralegal and Member of the CMI I want to take my knowledge back to our profession to help the profession achieve its stated objectives and work with less-experienced managers to help them achieve their business objectives.
During my career in HR I recruited HR professionals through agencies and direct and always believed unsuccessful candidates should be treated with respect and dignity. I should have asked agencies to send me copies of their communication with candidates in order to ensure this was the case but took it as read their view would be the same as mine.
Having now sent my cv in its various forms to agencies following role alerts I am disappointed that replies are either non-existent or robotic in their format.
I am not desperate to return to work and my confidence that returning to my chosen profession would really be helpful is diminished.
Do I regret my time in HR? I have met some excellent HR professionals and have been privileged to see several take up senior roles especially when I have left and my succession planning has been effective.
Knowing what I know now back then would I have accepted the head-hunt? No.
My final thought is why we created the Business Partner title? Surely all employees are business partners. Why is does HR feel special?

Having now passed the State retirement age and left employment to project-manage the re-development of my house (something I would not have had the time to do whilst working full-time!) I have reflected on my career.
I was "flattered" into HR when head-hunted internally by the then Group HR Director after 20 years in operations management who suggested I would be able to help him achieve Group HR objectives.
It is now almost 20 years since I made this move and although I became an HR Director, Head of HR and an HR Manager in various organisations I am not sure this was the right move for me!
We talk glibly about HR "earning" a seat at the top table, influencing business management team decisions and making the HR function integral to the success of the Business. Really!
I might have been influential in the Business had I remained in my General Management role and certainly been much better rewarded for my efforts!
However now as a Fellow of the CIPD, a qualified Employment Law paralegal and Member of the CMI I want to take my knowledge back to our profession to help the profession achieve its stated objectives and work with less-experienced managers to help them achieve their business objectives.
During my career in HR I recruited HR professionals through agencies and direct and always believed unsuccessful candidates should be treated with respect and dignity. I should have asked agencies to send me copies of their communication with candidates in order to ensure this was the case but took it as read their view would be the same as mine.
Having now sent my cv in its various forms to agencies following role alerts I am disappointed that replies are either non-existent or robotic in their format.
I am not desperate to return to work and my confidence that returning to my chosen profession would really be helpful is diminished.
Do I regret my time in HR? I have met some excellent HR professionals and have been privileged to see several take up senior roles especially when I have left and my succession planning has been effective.
Knowing what I know now back then would I have accepted the head-hunt? No.
My final thought is why we created the Business Partner title? Surely all employees are business partners. Why is does HR feel special?

Thanks for sharing your perspective, Mark. Everyone will have their own very personal 'take' for sure... especially when reflecting on a long career.

As an aside... as a non-practitioner, it took me a while to understand what a Business Partner role might entail.

My final thought on this is whether I would have been able to make a greater contribution to the worplace in general had I not entered the world of HR. Guess I will never know!