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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

4334 views
  • Hi James, leaving the job search to the side for one moment, and I say the following with the greatest of respect, I think you need to take a step back and obtain help in terms of where your head is at, at this moment in time. This situation has obviously caused you a high degree of annoyance and frustration and it has obviously impacted you personally. Your frustrations are manifest in your posting and as someone who’s worked in HR for 22 years, I am well aware that Health over Wealth wins every time. If you are searching for the right job role, then you need to be careful that you keep your emotions, feelings and yes, frustrations in check- if they are evident in the way you apply or interview for jobs, that’ll come across to those who are recruiting. Again, with respect, get yourself sorted in the first instance.
  • In reply to James Webber:

    Hi James

    My post was about how you come across to me through the medium of your posts, not how you really are, which I cannot know.
  • In reply to Dominic McGeown:

    Hello Dominic,

    I appreciate your concern, however I would politely ask that commentators would cease to make judgements on either my character or my mental well being based on a handful of posts on a website's forum.

    I am happy to listen to individuals' opinions, be they positive or negative, on the subject matter that I initiated and have an open and fair discourse with regards to it. However, I'd like to think that frustration and annoyance are valid emotions to have, for me personally, in this situation (supported by those posts who feel the same).

    I should not be made to feel remorse for sharing them.
  • Steve Bridger

    | 0 Posts

    Community Manager

    8 Jun, 2020 15:22

    In reply to James Webber:

    No more comments on this thread, please. It has run its course.

    Thanks.
  • Johanna

    | 0 Posts

    CIPD Staff

    8 Jun, 2020 15:32

    In reply to Steve Bridger:

    Great that James has had so much interaction and guidance, hope it's been useful and do keep us posted on how you're getting on - you know where to find us James!