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What the hell HR!

What the hell HR!

Can someone tell me how I’m meant to gain experience for a HR position..... without already being in that position you need to have experience of?
It's an impossible to resolve catch 22 situation and applies to far too many roles in HR.

If the same standards were applied to other situations then we’d have no doctors, lawyers, politicians, parents, bakers, swimming instructors, teachers, hairdressers, astronauts…. Well essentially everyone.


Does a HR degree and Level 7 CIPD (both of which I have) and 9 years of experience in a range of different HR roles count for nothing? Most roles state "Working towards Level 3 or 5" and I still get overlooked for even for an interview.

It's also very frustrating that I know people who don't have one/any of those two qualifications but they have somehow managed to progress further than I.

So again I ask: What the hell HR?

You might say that in the current employment market that it's understandable.... But this has been going on for two years now. I'm motivated and enthusiastic to resume my HR career, I want to be challenged and tested on a daily basis, but as the months and years receded in the rear mirror then those feelings are ever so slowly eroding....

Also, please don't say: "You need to find the right employer to give you the experience"; every employer is the right employer. Every employer can give you the experience.
It reminds me of a sign I once saw: "Bar staff needed. Previous experience required". Well if every company has that stance then eventually, you're going to run out of bar staff.

Or am I on some industry wide black list of ‘do not employ’? I'd really like to know.
(Yeah, legally these lists can’t and don’t exist. But from personal experience I know that they do….)

I’ll also questioning what’s the point in having a CIPD membership if I never use it? Surely it would be much more cost effective to cancel it and then sign back up as and when I do employed in a role that defines it as an essential requirement. Until then I’m just throwing money into the fire aren’t I?

I'm just ridiculously frustrated that I can't get any role whatsoever in a HR department and there doesn't seem to be any way for me to improve my standing. The impression I get (which has been confirmed by multiple agencies) is that I'm over qualified for entry level HR roles, by don't have enough experience for the higher roles. So I'm in a glass floor AND glass ceiling scenario PLUS the aforementioned catch 22 situation above.
God help me.

So it would seem that I have to smash my head against a closed door until I give up and go make a career in another sector..... which I don't want to do as I really, really, REALLY like working in HR.

It's just a shame that HR doesn't reciprocate those feelings.

So one final time: What the hell HR!

A very frustrated, baffled and demotivated

James

Parents
  • Hi James,

    Something clearly isn' working for you. You might want to think about a few things:

    - What is your Candidate Proposition? Does this clearly define your strengths and what you have to offer over and above others in the shortlist? Or does it just read like any other HR CV? What is your point of differentiation?

    - Personal Branding? How are you coming across in your CV and LinkedIn profile?

    - Evidence; can you demonstrate plenty of evidence of where you have successfully used essential industry skills? This provides credibility to your profile. Evidence is really important in a CV. Hirers hire on trust.

    - Job Search Strategies; reconsider what is working and what isn't.

    - Career Track? (Make sure your application matches as closely as possible, the role's essential requirements). If you are an average match, the shortlist pile will no doubt have 'closer-fit' candidates.

    -Interview Technique?

    - Network - do you need to refresh your network? Are you speaking to the best-placed recruiters to help you, are you maximising your network collateral and are you visible to potential Hirers (so they can find you)?

    Really hope that helps. Whilst you might feel like banging your head against a brick wall - I'd suggest having a look at some of these points instead! That would be my preferred action anyway.
  • Posted at same time as Ginnie but concur wholeheartedly with her advice
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