Navigating Challenges as an HR Assistant: Balancing Expectations and Career Growth

Dear All,

Please help me! I had joined a software company as an HR Assistant. I have worked there for the past 8 months, but I am not interested in continuing because they treat me like a receptionist. They have assigned me to sit at the front table, and now my colleagues keep mistaking me for a receptionist and asking me for pens and other things. I find this situation intolerable. Our admin, along with the project manager, sits inside the cabin, while I, with 2 years of experience, am stuck in this role that I cannot bear. Every day, I find myself crying due to the office politics and the treatment I receive. What should I do? What steps should I take? Please help me, as I am unable to find another job. As an HR professional, I shouldn't express these feelings, but I hope you can understand my situation. My current job involves attending calls and receiving visitors, and it makes me feel terrible.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Riya

Hi,

It seems the organization is not valuing your worth, or maybe they think you are too novice to be doing an HR's job. The suggested approach would be to speak to your immediate boss about the kind of work that you are doing and ask him for the responsibilities you were recruited for. Above all, whenever anybody asks you to do a task other than yours, please direct them to the appropriate person and do not take it upon yourself to execute the same. Ask for a change of place directly. You need to raise your voice on what you are encountering; otherwise, it will be presumed that you are content with your job.

Hi Riya,

I can understand your condition. It is something that happens to most of us, but may not be to that extent. But still, it is something that you need to get out of as soon as possible. I would suggest you to do two things:

1) Speak to the top person in your company who is supposed to take care of such issues. Even try to talk to the person who gave you the chance to work for the present company.

2) You have mentioned that you are not getting any other job, but still keep trying, and you will certainly get a better opportunity.

Hope this will help you. More importantly, you need to be self-confident to come out of such a thing; only then can you handle the situation properly.

Regards,
Amith R.

Riya, don't be a fool first. You know very well that you're an HR professional, and you have to be in touch with each and every person to understand the mentality of your colleagues in the organization. Now, you are very well aware of your colleagues' mindset. Start behaving in a way that aligns with their expectations, and you will see a drastic change in their behavior. It's a learning opportunity for you. If you are still not satisfied, I work as a recruiter in Delhi. Just send me your resume, and I will help you find a good job in or near your location. Don't get disheartened.

Frankly speaking, I have also been sitting at the receptionist table and attending to visitors for the last month. I know how awkward it feels when someone asks for a person, but I have come to appreciate the experience as I have learned a lot from it. You can send your resume to anurag@grassik.com.

Thank you,
Anurag Sharma

Hi Anurag,

I am Jyoti working at MNC Co. in Gurgaon as a Senior Executive HR. I would like to change my current company. Can you help me with this?

Thank you.

Hi Riya,

Keep patience; everything will be alright. As rightly said by the other members, talk to your immediate supervisor and try to solve the issue. Also, meanwhile, keep looking for other job opportunities (as an HR job is not that of a receptionist). I am sure you will come out of this situation.

I'm just wondering why organizations recruit people if they do not want them to do what they are meant to be doing. Is there any reasoning behind this?

The warning bells are sounding already. Please consider changing your job. When the employers recruited you for the position of HR Assistant, they should have given the right kind of responsibilities, which has not happened. I feel talking to them again would not make a sea change. Look out for opportunities on Monster, Naukri, and other job search engines. I am sure you will find something better.

You can handle pressure but not politics!

Dear Riya,

First of all, in this situation, take patience and continue the job with the mentality of a receptionist, as if you are conducting a training session for receptionists. However, don't give up the job until you secure a new job that aligns with your dreams; it will bring you happiness. When you do land another HR job, instead of wasting a day, start the new job from the second day. After receiving the offer letter from the new company, disregard both the experience letter and the current month's salary. At that point, you can confront the person responsible for this situation and hand over those documents.

Okay. Take care.

Regards,
Deepak Yadav

Hi all,

Thank you very much for your immediate response. I think my boss is also not responding to this. He only wants talented and experienced employees. If I say anything to him, he will just tell me not to care about his words and that our admin handles these tasks like making calls to the bank and scheduling appointments.

Can I secure a job in Coimbatore?

Regards,
Riya

Hi Riya,

It's very painful to be in such a situation. I would suggest that you have to be assertive; you are an HR person, so it should be in your nature.

Secondly, if you feel that you are not doing anything productive or not learning much, you must consider looking for another job. It's better to leave rather than to absorb negative energies from your current environment because sometimes we start losing our confidence, and it's a very worst situation. The rest is up to you.

All the best.

Regards.