So, if you haven’t heard, I just started a new HR job yesterday (woohoo!). I was reading this great post on MonsterThinking today during lunch and realized how true it was. In the video below I talk about some of the drivers of employee engagement and the stark contrast between my last job and my current one. Yes, I’m still in the “ooh la la!” stage with my new job, but I can’t see my attitude towards work dropping like a rock as I did previously. Continue Reading »
The two previous parts in this series dealt with HR careers and how to get a job in HR and human resource career opportunities. Today I will talk about my own move into a new human resources management job (yippee!). 
My time in my first HR job taught me a lot about what I do and don’t want to do in my career. I can still remember talking with Jennifer McClure back at SHRM10 this summer about moving into a job that was a good fit for me. Then, a few weeks ago, I was talking with Dawn Hrdlica about the exact same thing. Both of them gave me the same advice, and I was finally able to do what I really wanted. They said:
You have to know where you want to go with regard to your career. Otherwise the opportunity might pass you by before you realize you wanted it.
So I thought really, really hard about what I wanted to do next. Yeah, I could just leap at any open position that came up, but it wouldn’t really be what I wanted. I made a short list of things that were highly desired in my next job.
A few weeks ago I found out about an HR position with a small local startup company (there’s #1!). I applied, but it was over my head in that the person would wear many hats and assume multiple roles (#2). I didn’t expect too much, but it was a job I’d love to have. I contacted the hiring manager and learned more about the position. A big benefit of the job would be the opportunities (#3) it presented for growth and development. All I needed was the culture…
So, fast forward a few weeks, and I’m sitting there being interviewed by the president, vice president, and operations manager. We get down to the end of the interview, and I’m feeling really confident about the whole meeting. As a parting comment, I asked the president if there was one “must have” for the person who would take the position. He responded that the person had to fit into their culture well, because it was one of his highest priorities that they hire for culture fit (#4!). One of the coolest things about the interview was seeing the president scrolling through my blog while I spoke with the operations manager.
A few short days later, I had an offer letter in hand and my resignation turned in at work. This thing was going to happen. On Monday, November 22nd, I start a new chapter in my career. I’ll be going to Pinnacle Solutions here in Huntsville, AL, and I am so thrilled about the possibilities ahead. I’m thankful to those who have helped me along the way and I can’t wait to see how much I learn and grow in this new position!
Other posts in the HR Careers series:
In a recent post I talked about HR careers and how to get a job in HR. Today I’ll cover career opportunities for those in human resource jobs, specifically how to create career growth opportunities from within your job.
I’ll go ahead and admit it: my first HR job wasn’t super strenuous. Surprised? Probably not. Most people in their first HR roles usually end up filing papers (me), handling the dull/routine tasks that nobody else wants (me), and generally wasting their time and energy on things that an admin or temp could do (me again). I don’t want to sound ungrateful for the opportunity to move into the HR profession, but if you have someone with a degree in HR and some enthusiasm, but you’ve kept them in a filing/admin type job for over six months, you’re wasting their brains and hamstringing yourself. They won’t do it forever.
That lack of stress and responsibility left me feeling like my free time could be used in a better way. At that time I had already started blogging to share about my new job and what I was doing/learning, but I really threw myself into it. I started using Twitter and LinkedIn to build connections with other human resources professionals around the world.
I was able to grow a little in my day job, but it seemed like there weren’t many opportunities for growth/challenge. Without Allen (my mentor and best friend) guiding me, I’d have sunk into a slump months ago.
Even with a full time work schedule, I had time for a few activities in my spare time…
Yes, I have this whole world of stuff that I do outside my day job, but the full time gig is still what pays my bills and keeps my babies fed. And unless you’ve been briefed on my online (empire) activities, it just doesn’t sound very impressive to say, “I’m an HR blogger.” Eventually I came to the realization that the day job needed to keep up with the pace of the rest of my activities, and I started looking for another job.
Most of us have made some job changes in the past few years. You’ve heard my story. What prompted that change for you?
Other posts in the HR Careers series:
It might surprise you, but I’ve only been in HR for about a year and a half at this point. I kicked off my HR career back in April 2009, and I’m amazed to see how much things have changed since then. I now have a great network of people and a little better understanding of this whole “HR thing,” but I didn’t have that when I started.
I graduated from college in May of 2008 with a brand-spanking new degree in human resources management. But I was stuck. See, my employer paid for my last semester of college, so I had to stick with them for a year of (indentured servitude) work to fulfill my obligation to the company. My supervisor knew that I was itching to move into HR, so she reached out to our own HR person in-house to see if I could do anything at all to start preparing myself. The HR person’s response? Nope.
So I had to grind out 12 months of work as I waited for the career to end all HR careers to start. In November 2008, I started to get nervous. See, I could start looking for jobs in January, but I was afraid I had lost much of what I’d learned thus far in college. So, like any normal human being, I signed up for the PHR exam. I was slated to take the exam in late January, so I started studying right away.
My exam day came, and I passed with flying colors. I was so excited and just knew that a job would be right around the corner. And then I sat and waited for the next two months, applying for jobs but getting no serious interviews. It was disheartening.
Then in March I applied for this HR assistant job with a local nonprofit organization. To really help me get an edge over the competition, I looked up the HR staff that were in my local SHRM chapter’s email directory and sent them my resume directly. Then, nothing…
A few weeks passed, and I was feeling rough. I’d put a lot into the application process with the only job I was really qualified for, and it was a bust. Then I received a phone call from the VP of HR to come in for an interview. Score!
I was back in the game.
I bet I spent three hours preparing for that interview, and I think I really did well. I was able to turn her every need into an opportunity I could fulfill, and my enthusiasm was a big factor in the process as well. A few days went by and I had to come in for a second interview with another HR staff member, but it was mostly the same questions, so I knocked it out of the park as well.
Finally, a month after my first phone call with the VP of HR, I got my first job in human resources. It was an amazing feeling to know that I was finally jumping into the field that I had always wanted to be in.
What about you? What was your job search like when you looked for your first “professional” career?
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Other posts in the HR Careers series:
I have been working alongside Alison Green on her new project for job seekers, and today she is giving away a free guide on how job seekers can do a job interview well. The guide has some great tips in there that I’ve never even considered, and I’ve already told her it will be going in my job search toolbox for the next time I have a job interview. If reading’s not your thing, she has also created a twenty minute video (also free!) to give you the information you’re looking for.
Click here to get the free guide on how to prepare for a job interview
I can’t guarantee that you’ll get a job if you use this guide, but I darn well know that you can do better in the interview than you ever have before! Continue Reading »
I’ve been watching the results come in from a survey that Alison Green is working on, and I’m kind of ashamed to see the final result. What are job seekers frustrated about?
The biggie (49%!) is lack of communication. The second most common (11%) is having standards that are unreasonably exact, which keeps candidates and hiring managers frustrated.
I frequented the multitude of career blogs when I was job hunting, and while I could find dozens of posts on how to get a job, I really didn’t see anything that helped with how to leave a job. What’s okay and what’s not? Is it a problem if I email some people and not others? Should we have a going-away party or celebration? And that’s just what I can pull from the top of my head. I’m willing to bet that many of you have experienced the same questions when you want to leave your job and don’t know the “how” that is involved. Don’t worry, though, I’ve found something that is going to help. It’s “The Exit Guide” from Jobacle.
Before I created UpstartHR, I wrote for a career site called Jobacle. I developed a great relationship with Andrew, the owner, and we still chat pretty often. When I found out that he was releasing a guide on how to leave your job, I knew it was something I needed to share.
Jobacle is a blog written by the worker, for the worker, and it’s just one part of the Jobacle brand. In addition to the 5+ years of articles and posts on the blog, Andrew has also build a library of dozens of career podcasts that are completely free for the taking. In other words, he has proven himself to be a trustworthy source for thousands of job seekers over the years. Now he has developed his first guide, and I couldn’t be happier for him.
If you’d like to get your own copy of “The Exit Guide,” just click the link and see for yourself what he has put together to help you with how to leave your job. I think you’ll be thrilled with the result!
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