Last week, a final year MBA student wanted me to coach him, as he was keen to move into HR, in itself a little unusual as a career choice. In talking to his university career manager, he was an excellent student with a passion for HR. Now HR is not always seen as the preferred choice for ambitious, talented and commercially orientated graduates, which is his profile.
At times, I am still amazed and also a little disappointed, when I read the criticism by HR people of HR and it’s value to the business. The ability of HR professionals to denigrate their own profession is simply a mystery, and a classical case of being your own worst enemy.
Choice of Industries
HR is one of the few career disciplines, where you can move from one industry to another, with little difficulty, using your HR toolbox to make a company a great place to work.
During my HR career of 30 years, I have been privileged to work in a multiplicity of industries:
- institutional sector (Air Force, a scientific research company, an university) – using the intricacies of precedents to develop policies;
- services sector (two IT companies) – trying to understand the complexities of frame relay systems;
- the tough world of manufacturing (a secondary steelmaking operation – explaining the shaking of the office building during interviews after the pouring of each heat; and a carpet manufacturer – getting used to the smells of making rubber underlay);
- the dangerous mining sector (drilling, shaft sinking and tunneling group – going 2 miles underground in a new gold mine shaft); with
- a major stint in FMCG (two dairy companies and an international brewer – hearing 30,000 bottles filling per hour on the packaging line and developing an incredible thirst).
Choice of Roles
Though the career path of HR has changed with various specialization fields, such as Employee Relations, Learning and OD, a generalist role really shapes the bread and butter operational skills, such as recruiting.
Working my way up from an entry position as a Personnel Officer with a Psychology degree, it didn’t take too long before manager was added to my title. As Industrial Relations was the fast track in the early eighties, I decided to do a post graduate degree, and soon after, got my first CHRO role at the age of 26, and the youngest executive in the company (who says you can’t be ambitious in HR!). Functional specialist roles in Talent Management and OD contributed to further studies, before moving again into CHRO roles in NZ and Australia.
Choice of Countries
Despite different employment legislation, it has been great to live and work in different countries, including South Africa, New Zealand and currently Australia. One major benefit with a change in government is a major review of employment legislation, which is presently the case with the Fair Work legislation in Australia. A similar situation occurred in NZ when Labour came into power in 1999.
Choice of Careers
Being in HR and wearing many hats, made the transition into a line management role with P&L responsibility possible. It is only when you have 500 real (external) customers, that you understand the various priorities our internal HR customers are facing on a daily basis. Due to specialization in OD, there has also been the bridge to external consulting, working with some great companies and clients.
A Final Observation
There are great opportunities to develop a long and rewarding career in HR, where you can play a significant role in developing capability within organizations, by attracting and developing people.
HR offers great choices, and if I could have my career over, I wouldn’t hesitate to again work and achieve success in HR. My oldest daughter is also working in HR. Would you recommend HR to your son or daughter or to a keen student?
Showing posts with label "job hunting" "job search" "small companies". Show all posts
Showing posts with label "job hunting" "job search" "small companies". Show all posts
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Jumping the hurdle to win the job
Finding the right person for a vacant position is not always a rational process, despite the procedures that companies may use for recruitment. This is a lesson I have learnt many years ago when I was responsible for developing recruitment systems for client companies.
There are many stages to the recruitment process, before a company decides to fill a vacancy.
Why is there a vacancy?
Logically, it starts with the exit interview to find out why the previous incumbent decided to move on to greener pastures. Some companies are now doing these interviews only after an employee has left the company.
Why was the new job created?
Sometimes, a new job is created as result of increased business and there is usually some reallocation of tasks to define the new job description.
The Multiple Hurdle Process
The bigger the company, the more likely that they will follow a more formal process, usually through job advertising, interviews, psychometric tests and reference checking. This process is often referred to as the multiple hurdle process. The idea is that with each hurdle a few more people will drop out, until you are finally able to identify the most suitable candidate.
Recruitment is critical for smaller companies
Smaller companies may not follow the same rigorous process, but in fact recruitment is even more important. When you employ only fifteen staff, every person is vital to the whole team – just see what happens to a sports team if one player is having a bad day, or has been sin binned.
Why you should not target big companies?
It is natural for candidates to try and target the big companies. The majority of job seekers tend to approach the bigger companies, the Top 100. Having worked for some of these companies, I have seen how people limit their search to the familiar names and brands.
Did you know that your best chance of success is with a smaller company?
There is nowadays an international trend for MBA’s to join smaller companies, as these companies offer them more opportunities for understanding the whole business, rather than just a division or business unit.
Why am I suggesting smaller companies?
Right in the beginning I have suggested that often a non-rational process is adopted in recruiting people. We tend to appoint people we know. As 80% of jobs are filled through the hidden job market, then your job search strategy should determine that only 20% of your time should go into scanning and responding to advertisements.
Have a good job search strategy!
The key part of your strategy is to get an interview. This is done by effective networking, a good CV and a proper job search strategy.
The first phase is doing all you can, not to be screened out – to get an interview.
The final phase is not about screening people out but deciding who best fits the profile. The key skills here are all about selling yourself and asking the right questions, to get a great job.
There are many stages to the recruitment process, before a company decides to fill a vacancy.
Why is there a vacancy?
Logically, it starts with the exit interview to find out why the previous incumbent decided to move on to greener pastures. Some companies are now doing these interviews only after an employee has left the company.
Why was the new job created?
Sometimes, a new job is created as result of increased business and there is usually some reallocation of tasks to define the new job description.
The Multiple Hurdle Process
The bigger the company, the more likely that they will follow a more formal process, usually through job advertising, interviews, psychometric tests and reference checking. This process is often referred to as the multiple hurdle process. The idea is that with each hurdle a few more people will drop out, until you are finally able to identify the most suitable candidate.
Recruitment is critical for smaller companies
Smaller companies may not follow the same rigorous process, but in fact recruitment is even more important. When you employ only fifteen staff, every person is vital to the whole team – just see what happens to a sports team if one player is having a bad day, or has been sin binned.
Why you should not target big companies?
It is natural for candidates to try and target the big companies. The majority of job seekers tend to approach the bigger companies, the Top 100. Having worked for some of these companies, I have seen how people limit their search to the familiar names and brands.
Did you know that your best chance of success is with a smaller company?
There is nowadays an international trend for MBA’s to join smaller companies, as these companies offer them more opportunities for understanding the whole business, rather than just a division or business unit.
Why am I suggesting smaller companies?
Right in the beginning I have suggested that often a non-rational process is adopted in recruiting people. We tend to appoint people we know. As 80% of jobs are filled through the hidden job market, then your job search strategy should determine that only 20% of your time should go into scanning and responding to advertisements.
Have a good job search strategy!
The key part of your strategy is to get an interview. This is done by effective networking, a good CV and a proper job search strategy.
The first phase is doing all you can, not to be screened out – to get an interview.
The final phase is not about screening people out but deciding who best fits the profile. The key skills here are all about selling yourself and asking the right questions, to get a great job.
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