34yo senior HR generalist, AMA about work, careers, resumes, switching jobs etc

[NickM205]

Bump again for new questions and comments.

[snufy]

Job searching is literally the worst process in life.

ask 50 "experts" get 50 different opinions

The only thing I ever ask, if it goes over 36-48 hours after submitting, make a choice to move forward or not.

Just send a "thanks but no thanks" and it's done.

If a company expects someone to go to great lengths to make sure cv/resume/linkedin/portfolio are top notch, it's pretty disrespectful to never hear anything, or it takes 30-45 days for the "thanks but no thanks". You can't even treat an outsider with any respect, how do you treat people in your company...

HR people are the scum of the earth, salary containment and lawsuit mitigation are your functions, besides that it's all clerical. You're a snitch for upper management.

no offence boyo, maybe you're the exception, but some of these women I can't stand.

Don't ever accept taleo or brassring as a hiring system. Absolutely abysmal.

[beardohio]

HR people are the scum of the earth, salary containment and lawsuit mitigation are your functions, besides that it's all clerical. You're a snitch for upper management.

no offence boyo, maybe you're the exception, but some of these women I can't stand.

[heynah]

Got a group interview type of thing for a banking job next week. The guy running it is apparently quite eccentric and likes to make people uncomfortable.

Ever heard of this? I have no idea what to expect so I'm adopting a "just be free, but professional" outlook.

[Bassackwards]

97% of the time if references are being contacted you'll get a job offer. There are exceptions to that, such as senior positions and executives etc. But I am guessing you'll hear from them soon with good news.

got the job bro! got the tentative offer and waiting for the final offer to come in!

[beardohio]

got the job bro! got the tentative offer and waiting for the final offer to come in!

Congrats, brah!

4th phone interview of the week coming up soon...it's been a good week.

[NZDB]

I'm currently an employee at a company I've been with for 3 years (I.T) and I've held 3-4 different positions in this time ranging from entry to management and back to a senior (but not management) role. There are no positions above where I am that I can move into anymore.

I want to leave to pursue harder work and more technical challenges as this company is focusing only on sales, everything else is irrelevant (almost) while I do quite well at sales I am no longer interested in it as it's not why I got started, naturally this is affecting my monthly performance (I am giving away leads/opportunities actively to my peers) because I want to move to a larger company or a company where there are technical challenges and the company offers training towards certifications and so on (not offered by current employment)

I have already spoken to my bosses once about the sales aspect of my current role and they said I would either need to do it as stated in the job description or revert back to a consultant/technician (year 1 job title)

So the problems as I perceive them to be are that:

1. I have held 3 different official titles at this job, I have some concerns that moving from a leadership/management role to one that is Senior but not management might be a hindrance, I address this in my CV as volunteering to step down to pursue another new role in the company (the one I have now) and promote another member of staff to that role so he can get the experience, this is true but might read as a lie.

2. I have considerable experience with a number of different solutions and methodologies but I have no industry qualifications, I think this is probably the biggest issue as I might be getting passed over because I don't already have the paper but have the experience and competence.

I've spoken to a number of recruit agencies who have said I am "just under qualified" for the job I initially applied for and "over qualified" for anything else they could offer me that suits what I am looking for.

So should I...

1. Leave my current company and perhaps go to another company doing the same or similar stuff then start working towards my qualifications? (Less sales, more tech + quals eventually)
2. Stay at my current company, work towards my qualifications and continue to apply to the bigger companies? (Same situation, self-paced qual path + also actively looking for another job? seems dishonest but w/e)
3. Leave my current company, enroll directly into a learning path to get my certs and then continue to apply with more quals? (No employment, shorter time to earn qualifications, no job guarantee but potentially better chances/prospects)

Just half venting here really, I'm just tired of working on the same client sites with no real challenges, I don't like to pick the low hanging fruit (sales) but in order to get into the field of the highest fruit you need the right gear (qualifications) but my company does not recognize this, does not reinvest into it's employees (but incentives are heavy for sales) and is seemingly content with the current status quo.

[DBallerz]

can you check out my resume friend?





Please ignore formatting, I opened it on a different computer.

[Land_Down_Under]

can you check out my resume friend?

Please ignore formatting, I opened it on a different computer.

id leave out the $ value of the scholarship and just have that u won the scholarship. it shouldn't matter i u beat 20 or 20000 people. just my opinion

[TheNewDK]

Been in Logistics for 15 years and I ****ing hate it and ****ing hate myself and want to jump out of a ****ing window.

I want to become a chef. How do I go about it?

[Bassackwards]

Been in Logistics for 15 years and I ****ing hate it and ****ing hate myself and want to jump out of a ****ing window.

I want to become a chef. How do I go about it?

mcdonalds is hiring; some places at 15/hour

[Bassackwards]

Congrats, brah!

4th phone interview of the week coming up soon...it's been a good week.

good luck bro. we're all gonna make it

[NickM205]

Job searching is literally the worst process in life.
ask 50 "experts" get 50 different opinions
The only thing I ever ask, if it goes over 36-48 hours after submitting, make a choice to move forward or not.
Just send a "thanks but no thanks" and it's done.
If a company expects someone to go to great lengths to make sure cv/resume/linkedin/portfolio are top notch, it's pretty disrespectful to never hear anything, or it takes 30-45 days for the "thanks but no thanks". You can't even treat an outsider with any respect, how do you treat people in your company...

HR people are the scum of the earth, salary containment and lawsuit mitigation are your functions, besides that it's all clerical. You're a snitch for upper management.

no offence boyo, maybe you're the exception, but some of these women I can't stand.

Don't ever accept taleo or brassring as a hiring system. Absolutely abysmal.

Not sure which decade, or 'nowhere' area you live in, but thats a strange, antiquated view of human resources/human capital management. Our department is on a campaign to senior management to adapt a marketing leading compensation philosophy in our region and industry, and another high priority is developing a stepped professional development program for all managers and supervisors. Our department reports to an executive vice president/COO, we have no obligation to work "for" any upper management, other than the EVP/COO and President.

Get out and learn the world. Thats a poor, inaccurate point of view.

Our hiring process can take anywhere from 2 weeks to months. Sorry, we have no obligation to you to make some kind of selection within a couple days. We receive hundreds, sometimes thousands of applications for job postings. We insist on reviewing each one. We also search by committee. This takes time to do such a thorough search. Everyone on a search committee by the way has other work responsibilities. If we had software scan resumes for key words and we only interviewed 2 candidates out of 1000, you would claim the search was a farce. You can't have it both ways.

[NickM205]

Got a group interview type of thing for a banking job next week. The guy running it is apparently quite eccentric and likes to make people uncomfortable.

Ever heard of this? I have no idea what to expect so I'm adopting a "just be free, but professional" outlook.

Heard of a group interview, or heard of being pushed to be uncomfortable? I guess it all depends on the nature of the work, and if the questions are supposed to get to behavior/judgement. I'd remain calm and roll with it, the interview will eventually end however your performance is. The others in the room are probably more nervous than you will be. I would be prepared to have questions ready for the eccentric guy, to play his game without being disrespectful.

[NickM205]

I'm currently an employee at a company I've been with for 3 years (I.T) and I've held 3-4 different positions in this time ranging from entry to management and back to a senior (but not management) role. There are no positions above where I am that I can move into anymore.

I want to leave to pursue harder work and more technical challenges as this company is focusing only on sales, everything else is irrelevant (almost) while I do quite well at sales I am no longer interested in it as it's not why I got started, naturally this is affecting my monthly performance (I am giving away leads/opportunities actively to my peers) because I want to move to a larger company or a company where there are technical challenges and the company offers training towards certifications and so on (not offered by current employment)

I have already spoken to my bosses once about the sales aspect of my current role and they said I would either need to do it as stated in the job description or revert back to a consultant/technician (year 1 job title)

So the problems as I perceive them to be are that:

1. I have held 3 different official titles at this job, I have some concerns that moving from a leadership/management role to one that is Senior but not management might be a hindrance, I address this in my CV as volunteering to step down to pursue another new role in the company (the one I have now) and promote another member of staff to that role so he can get the experience, this is true but might read as a lie.

2. I have considerable experience with a number of different solutions and methodologies but I have no industry qualifications, I think this is probably the biggest issue as I might be getting passed over because I don't already have the paper but have the experience and competence.

I've spoken to a number of recruit agencies who have said I am "just under qualified" for the job I initially applied for and "over qualified" for anything else they could offer me that suits what I am looking for.

So should I...

1. Leave my current company and perhaps go to another company doing the same or similar stuff then start working towards my qualifications? (Less sales, more tech + quals eventually)
2. Stay at my current company, work towards my qualifications and continue to apply to the bigger companies? (Same situation, self-paced qual path + also actively looking for another job? seems dishonest but w/e)
3. Leave my current company, enroll directly into a learning path to get my certs and then continue to apply with more quals? (No employment, shorter time to earn qualifications, no job guarantee but potentially better chances/prospects)

Just half venting here really, I'm just tired of working on the same client sites with no real challenges, I don't like to pick the low hanging fruit (sales) but in order to get into the field of the highest fruit you need the right gear (qualifications) but my company does not recognize this, does not reinvest into it's employees (but incentives are heavy for sales) and is seemingly content with the current status quo.

Without knowing a lot about the company, I think #2 is your best bet:

2. Stay at my current company, work towards my qualifications and continue to apply to the bigger companies? (Same situation, self-paced qual path + also actively looking for another job? seems dishonest but w/e)

Its always better to be employed when job searching, its just human nature.
Continuity, even in different roles in the same company, is generally perceived better than job hopping. My first question when reviewing someone changing companies to do the same role, is why? And hopefully they are prepared with a thorough answer about why.
Stay where you are and work towards your qualifications.

[NickM205]

can you check out my resume friend?





Please ignore formatting, I opened it on a different computer.

I would ditch the objective. We understand a resume is part of the process of seeking a job, it is not a revelation.

Since you are a new graduate, I would start your resume with something like a PROFILE, which is basically a summary of who you are, what you can do. A couple sentences to get my attention. Put your technical skills into a list/bullets. Other than that it looks ok. But the only surefire way to make a a resume standout is to cater it to a job posting or application. Most folks make the mistake of thinking their generic version of their resume is "close enough, they'll be able to tell how im a fit for the job". Thats rarely the case. Work your resume from top to the bottom to be as catered to the job posting you're applying to, as possible (without lying).

[NickM205]

Been in Logistics for 15 years and I ****ing hate it and ****ing hate myself and want to jump out of a ****ing window.

I want to become a chef. How do I go about it?

Do you have any skills or experience? If not, take some classes. If you do have some skills, then start working on a night or two or however many you can, and/or weekends to get experience. I have a couple friends who are restaurateurs, and yes being a Culinary grad is great, but they want performance. If you can cook and make distinctive, repeatable food, then you can write your own ticket.

[goeasyimnew]

Curious to your opinion.

Total professional finance experience < 1 year. Work at a tier 1 IB's Corp/Asset Finance division in analyst role.

Looking to transfer to IBD role, obviously junior position within the next year. Long term goal is HF work after some AM/Managed fund stuff.

Doing CFA level 1 in a fortnight, wanted to know if you think it would be worth pursuing an MBA or M Applied Finance to back this up as well? My undergrad GPA may not be good enough on its own to make a lateral transfer and I don't want to have to wait 4 years just to move to a mid office role.

[Marcnyk]

Firstly, I think it's amazing that you're taking time out of your day to help out fellow miscers with their career aspirations, you sir can have my measly reps.

I'm atleast 2 years away from even starting my career so I'm really trying to do everything possible to give me every possible advantage between now and then. I'm currently 24 and although thats not necessarily old I feel like this is my last big swing at education and I need to nail it. I'm currently a business student but will be doing Finance, Investment and Risk next year for the last 2 years of education and then hopefully I'll get accepted onto a graduate scheme in some kind of Investment orientated role (I've tried to narrow down just which role I would like to do relating to Investment but I'm struggling because there are so many positions that sound similar).

Anyway, at this stage I'm working part-time in the Insurance industry, its a call centre though so its fairly horrendous haha. I intend on doing an Internship this time next year (we can only do them between 3rd and 4th year of University, which for me is next year).

My questions are:
1 - Do you think working in a heavily regulated industry like Insurance will stand me in good stead for the Internship as that is regulated as much if not more? Alternatively, do you know of any other jobs that can be done along aside education that would give me a better chance?

2 - I've only recently realised the power of networking and have since expanded on my Linkedin profile and spoke to a few people in good positions but the whole idea of getting a mentor seems quite complicated - at this stage I have no experience in that industry and I imagine that people in these positions are already crazy busy and don't have time to deal with an inexperienced student who keeps asking questions? Any advice on how to best approach people to hopefully end up finding a mentor?

Thanks in advance

[KMadigan777]

If I quit and try to start my own business and fail does that 'career gap' look bad? I can't stand my job, and really want to take a go of it myself.

[redraider86]

I'm sorry if you've already answered this...I currently have my PHR and SHRM-CP, sitting for the SPHR at the end of July. You mentioned you have a few certs, any chance you have the SPHR? Any recommendations for studying? Right now Labor Relations are making me want to get stabby.

[Bassackwards]

I'm sorry if you've already answered this...I currently have my PHR and SHRM-CP, sitting for the SPHR at the end of July. You mentioned you have a few certs, any chance you have the SPHR? Any recommendations for studying? Right now Labor Relations are making me want to get stabby.

I'm studying off and on for my PHR. how hard is it? I don't have a strong HR background as most of my experience is with military manpower and manpower/supply chain management. should I take some HR related college courses to better prepare myself?

[WhyNotTry]

OP i think i sent you a PM with a link to my resume, any chance youve had a look at it? 😊

[DBallerz]

Does anyone have any outstanding letters geared towards accounting or finance?

[NickM205]

Curious to your opinion.

Total professional finance experience < 1 year. Work at a tier 1 IB's Corp/Asset Finance division in analyst role.

Looking to transfer to IBD role, obviously junior position within the next year. Long term goal is HF work after some AM/Managed fund stuff.

Doing CFA level 1 in a fortnight, wanted to know if you think it would be worth pursuing an MBA or M Applied Finance to back this up as well? My undergrad GPA may not be good enough on its own to make a lateral transfer and I don't want to have to wait 4 years just to move to a mid office role.

I wouldn't be too concerned with your undergrad GPA wrecking your life forever. Yes of course a 4.0 from a great school can make getting into a good MBA program etc that much easier, but a solid work history & references can help get you into grad school. I think you might have your answer already, if you're ambitious and want to move up, and are willing to do whatever it takes to work up the ladder, then do your best to get more education. If you're comfortable waiting a few years, then do so. Thats your call. Personally, you might want to have a couple informal discussions with potential schools to discuss your GPA, goals, their application process, and so forth. My undergrad was pretty middle of the pack because I was on another planet when I was 18-22yo, but I was able to get the GRE waived, with a compelling personal essay, references, work product samples, and work history.

[NickM205]

Firstly, I think it's amazing that you're taking time out of your day to help out fellow miscers with their career aspirations, you sir can have my measly reps.

I'm atleast 2 years away from even starting my career so I'm really trying to do everything possible to give me every possible advantage between now and then. I'm currently 24 and although thats not necessarily old I feel like this is my last big swing at education and I need to nail it. I'm currently a business student but will be doing Finance, Investment and Risk next year for the last 2 years of education and then hopefully I'll get accepted onto a graduate scheme in some kind of Investment orientated role (I've tried to narrow down just which role I would like to do relating to Investment but I'm struggling because there are so many positions that sound similar).

Anyway, at this stage I'm working part-time in the Insurance industry, its a call centre though so its fairly horrendous haha. I intend on doing an Internship this time next year (we can only do them between 3rd and 4th year of University, which for me is next year).

My questions are:
1 - Do you think working in a heavily regulated industry like Insurance will stand me in good stead for the Internship as that is regulated as much if not more? Alternatively, do you know of any other jobs that can be done along aside education that would give me a better chance?

2 - I've only recently realised the power of networking and have since expanded on my Linkedin profile and spoke to a few people in good positions but the whole idea of getting a mentor seems quite complicated - at this stage I have no experience in that industry and I imagine that people in these positions are already crazy busy and don't have time to deal with an inexperienced student who keeps asking questions? Any advice on how to best approach people to hopefully end up finding a mentor?

Thanks in advance

1) I admittedly do no know too much about the Insurance industry. But yes, experience in highly regulated industries helps translate into other industries that have a lot of compliance pieces and regulation. For sure.

2) Yes, 'everyone' is busy, but most people are willing to help others. I would be candid about who you are, where you want to go, and how the person you are contacting can help. You're basically stroking their ego by asking for a chat about how they got where they are. And at the conclusion of the conversation, whether its in person, email, or phone, you should always ask the person if there is anyone else they suggest you speak with who may be helpful. Networking is just that, work. Build a pipeline and keep after it and it will be a fruitful effort.

[NickM205]

If I quit and try to start my own business and fail does that 'career gap' look bad? I can't stand my job, and really want to take a go of it myself.

I would try (if possible) to do your thing on the side, of full-time work. That way you get a sense of if you can make it work full-time or not. You might be putting in 18 hour days for a while, but its a safer move than pulling the plug entirely on a job if you're concerned about re-entering the workforce after your own business.

[NickM205]

OP i think i sent you a PM with a link to my resume, any chance youve had a look at it? ��

Replied

[NZDB]

Replied

Can I send you mine with personal info redacted?

[WhyNotTry]

Replied

PM not showing up in my inbox, could you resend please?