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November 22, 2021
If you’re keen to get started in an HR career quickly, there are a few steps you can take to speed up your search. Having a solid understanding of the role of the HR manager within the wider context of corporate culture will help you to impress hiring managers and make inroads.
Working in HR is a challenging and rewarding career choice. You’ll have the opportunity to work with people at all levels of a company and make a positive contribution towards creating a good working environment for everyone involved.
Another key benefit of working in HR is that no two days are the same. You might be onboarding new hires, interviewing potential recruits, handling disciplinary meetings or helping individuals get back to work. It’s a challenging and rewarding role that will always keep you on your toes. If you’re ready to start your search for a new role in HR, being efficient could help you to land a role soon. Here’s how to get started…
Taking a methodical approach to your job hunt will help to keep you focused and with your eyes on the prize. Planning your job hunt will allow you to focus on the tasks that are most likely to help you to achieve results.
If you don’t currently have the qualifications you need to work in HR, the first step should be to start working towards these. You could also focus your attention on entry-level roles that don’t require any experience. This approach would allow you to work your way up and gain experience on the job.
Whatever your approach, be methodical in your search to avoid wasting any time.
When you start your search, it can be overwhelming to see the number of roles available. Rather than wasting time applying for jobs that aren’t really suitable, it’s better to focus your attention on the roles that meet your requirements. Think about the following:
Once you have these aspects figured out, you can start to narrow down your search to the roles that best fit your requirements. When you first start looking for a role in HR, you might be tempted to take the spamming approach. While this will help to get your CV in front of more people, there is the risk your CV will be ignored if the approach isn’t targeted.
You’ll be surprised how many doors open for you once you have a few people on the inside. Attending HR networking events is one of the best ways to start building connections and making a name for yourself.
Networking is all about what you can bring to the table as much as it is about what you need in return. Be helpful to those around you, and then make it known that you are seeking a specific type of role. You might get to hear about internal roles before they are made public.
LinkedIn is a great place to start networking without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. You can connect with people in your industry, join groups, and share your thoughts on issues affecting the HR industry. Being present and visible on professional social media sites is a great place to start. You can also search for jobs and quickly apply using your LinkedIn profile.
Friends and family might work in HR or know of HR jobs with the employers. Let your friends, family and acquaintances know that you’re looking for an HR role and wait for the recommendations to start rolling in. Be vocal about your search and see what crops up.
The easiest way to capture the attention of hiring managers is with a strong CV. You should have a strong template CV at your disposal that you can then quickly customise to a specific role with ease. Customising the CV to specific jobs will help you to perfectly match the candidate profile and ensure nothing is left out.
If you’re struggling with your CV, working with a recruiter may help to improve it. They see thousands of CVs every day and they know what gets noticed. You could also ask friends and family to oversee your CV to see if you are selling yourself short.
Alongside your stellar CV should be a perfect cover letter. A cover letter is no more than one page long and outlines your motivation for applying for the role. If there is anything missing from your CV that you really want the hiring manager to know about, the cover letter can fill in the gaps.
Like your CV, you should have a strong template cover letter that you can quickly adapt to individual roles. It can be tempting to mass-apply for roles with an identical CV and cover letter. After all, this would allow you to cover a lot more ground and apply for more roles. However, sending 5 well-targeted applications is more likely to lead to an interview than sending 10 poorly-targeted applications.
A simple way to lose the attention of the hiring manager is to miss simple instructions. If there are specific instructions about what to include in your CV or cover letter, make sure you pay close attention.
This is another argument for customising applications to each role rather than sending a blanket application. Employers often include special instructions to weed out the blanket applications, so they can focus on the individuals who are applying for specific roles. It is a very simple and effective way to find out if a person has read and understood the job description.
If your job applications are successful, you should start to line up interviews for roles you really want. Don’t let the stress of job hunting get to you yet. It’s time to adjust your focus to delivering an excellent interview. The hiring manager already believes you can do the role, based on your CV and cover letter. Now it’s time to show that you are the perfect fit for the company.
Good interview technique doesn’t come easily. Those who are good in an interview setting achieve this through practice and the right mindset. You can practice your interview technique alone, with a friend, or with a recruiter. By anticipating the questions that might come up, you’ll be better prepared and less nervous about your responses.
A simple way to prepare for the interview is with the STAR method. For each skill, quality, task or responsibility in the job description, you need to think of 2-3 situations where you have shown you are capable. You then answer the question in the STAR method, which stands for situation, task, action, result. By preparing in this way, you’ll be able to anticipate most interview questions about your experience.
Not every interview will result in a job offer, and that’s ok. Sometimes, it is nothing to do with your ability, but simply that another candidate would be a better culture fit. Don’t take the rejections too bad, but make sure you do keep the conversation going. Use the opportunity to ask for feedback so you can improve your CV, cover letter and interview technique. You should also connect with the hiring manager on LinkedIn so that you can keep updated with any future roles that crop up.
Getting hired in HR isn’t easy, and landing a job quickly is always going to be tough. Remember that it’s often easier to find work when you’re working, so taking a part-time job, or a job that is a stepping stone to your ideal career might help to make you more tempting for hiring managers.
If you are targeted in your approach and only apply for roles you really want, you should eventually start to see the interview requests rolling in. If this doesn’t happen, return to the first step and see what is wrong.
And remember, taking a little more time to find the right role could be more beneficial than rushing to land a role that doesn’t give you the room to grow and develop your career.
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