Hello Kirsty,

It will depend on the organisation, but I think you’ll tend to find that in smaller organisations there are more generalist roles and in larger organisations there are more specialists roles, but this varies by organisations.

I think if I was starting over, I’d go for an entry level generalist role as this would give a broader scope to build knowledge and skills across the full employee lifecycle. I ‘fell’ into specialist roles not knowing what was a specialist and generalist when I started out and I’ve found that I’ve moved across specialist teams to give me that broader knowledge and skills set that a generalist would have.

So I think whatever you go into, generalist or specialist, I think you’ll end up where you want to be, you might not know it yet, and that’s okay, it just means you may take a different career path to getting there depending on if you start out as a generalist or specialist.

I hope that helps.

Hi Kirsty are you signed up to the CIPD Student Conference on 2 March AM (it's free and online) reason I mention is because I believe there is a session on this very topic you might be interested in!

11:20 - 12:05

B2: Panel Discussion: Generalists v’s Specialists

When pursuing a career in the people profession you will either become a generalist, with many broad skills, or a specialist – an expert in one area. Are you currently considering what is right for you? Both require different skills but which one is the best option for your personal career journey? We’ll hear from successful generalists and specialists about their career journey into their chosen area and the reasons why they love the work they do. What are the advantages of each? Are there any limitations?

Speakers:

Amanda Arrowsmith, People and Transformation Director, CIPD

Oli Howard, Head of Membership, CIPD

Natasha Whitehurst, Global Inclusion Lead, Rolls-Royce

Kehinde Oluwo, Organisational Effectiveness Partner, Diageo

events.cipd.co.uk/student-conference

In reply to Johanna:

Oh, great spot Johanna

I work as a general manager, as soon as I was appointed, the role was generalized due to the smaller nature of the company. I am typically a specialist so it has been something I have needed to adapt to. I would recommend asking yourself whether you are eager to learn broadly across the whole of HR, or if it is more your style to specialize in a specific area. That will give you some directionality.

Hope this helps.

In reply to Johanna:

I have already signed up, but this discussion sounds perfect! Thank you

In reply to Nick Richardson:

Thank you, yes it does help.

In reply to Richard:

Thank you!

The quickest and easiest way to find out about life as a generalist or specialist is to simply chat to as many HR people as you can. The key is to get past the marketing and find out what day to day life is like.

Over a career it is entirely possible to become a specialist in different areas or swap from specialist to generalist and visa versa.

Hi Kirsty, I started out after Uni as a generalist working in a few public and private sector organisations, during this time I discovered a real love of learning and development, I volunteered to do it all (my colleagues hated delivering sessions etc) and decided to then specialise. Having the generalist experience has been invaluable, not to just securing a specialist role, but by being able to give real examples and real advice to managers on workshops etc. Whatever route is right for you, I'm sure you'll find it. Best of luck!

Good luck with your studies and your career. I would recommend a mix of being open to opportunities and also exploring options before narrowing down too quickly. Careers are hard to plan for as there are so many variables. The market, the companies we join, the opportunities available at the time we want them and our varying life circumstances. You might have a particular set of skills, interests or talents that lead you in a certain direction and therefore, might need to consider that. I've always viewed all of the varied roles I've had in my career as opportunities for learning, to set the foundations for my next move and, as a result, I've not had a traditional HR career, if there is one.

Careers and conditions in the world of work are also changing so what you might be thinking of now will need to flex and change as your career moves so I think it's important to be flexible and look at experiences rather than narrow into a niche too soon. Be curious, keep learning and keep connected with the community to gather insights and wisdom and these should help you to navigate your career.

A great podcast is 'My squiggly career', well worth a listen to inspire you that not all career paths are linear and logical. Best wishes.

 Kirsty Jade you have had loads of good responses below, but I am determined to use these forums more, so you are going to get my 2p worth as well :D

For me, and what I advise students, is trying to get some good experience across a broad range of areas. You might find yourself attracted to particular topics as you study, but the way those areas work in practice might be quite different, for instance, discussion around recruitment and selection can be quite different to the reality of how that works. I started off in a generalist role and I think that was really useful as a foundation for thinking about what I liked and didn't like. Just as importantly, and it has been mentioned before, is making the right decision about the type of organisation you want to go into - size, sector, HR presence, HR influence, etc. Try and think about what your values are and what will bring you joy - dealing with people can be difficult at the best of times, but if you can find an environment that is supportive and that you can feel at home, it will make it a much more rewarding process. Being valued, having a voice and using expertise may be more important that they type of job you start doing.

In reply to Paul:

Paul said:

Kirsty Jade you have had loads of good responses below, but I am determined to use these forums more, so you are going to get my 2p worth as well :D

Brilliant, Paul - thank you.

This session was not done.

In reply to Yemi:

Not sure I understand, Yemi?

Hi Kirsty,
A great topic and best of luck with your studies.

Like others have mentioned, my career path has been "squiggly". I actually started in my early 20s in a specialist role as "Personnel Administrator (Staff Development)" for a University. I really wanted a generalist role as, to me, that offered the quickest route to progression and career development was important to me. I was very lucky after 2 years to be seconded internally to the other generalist "Personnel Administrator" role for a year which helped build up my strengths beyond learning and development and into casework, recruitment, etc. I subsequently progressed pretty rapidly into an HR Manager role on a maternity cover contract.

After that I did a mixture of generalist and specialist roles (L&D/OD and projects) and, for a couple of years side-stepped into a completely different area of work as a transformation and change management consultant (fascinating). I deliberately chose to have children in my 30s, thinking reaching a certain career level (in my case, HR Director) would offer me security and stability in terms of taking maternity leave and my prospective return to work. That was completely wrong and I spent about 10 years rebuilding my career to get back to that level after my first child. I'm sure my career isn't unique in that respect but it was galling. However, I think having a mixture of generalist and specialist experience did mean I could demonstrate versatility and adaptability in terms of positioning myself as a candidate.

There a lot of specialisms to consider in HR, and as the profession continues to evolve, some emerging specialisms that attract higher salaries due to scarcity. If income is important to you, you could consider which specialisms are highest paid - when I was considering this it was Systems and areas related to pay and benefits. There are also some specialisms (particularly Inclusion and Diversity and Learning and Development) that seem hardest hit when recessions bite budgets. So if stability is more important to you, generalist roles are often less susceptible to cuts.

Sorry for the ramble, hope this is useful to you. It's hard to summarise 20+ years of knowledge on this topic :)