Navigating Your HR Career: Should You Specialize or Stay General in a Startup?

Dear Seniors,

I would like to know what should be the career path of an HR executive who has been working as an HR generalist with a startup IT firm for the past 2+ years. Since it is really difficult to obtain this kind of role, should this person diversify into specific roles like employee relations or recruitment, etc.? What should be his/her aim? Where should they see themselves after 5 years? What should be their monetary expectations according to market standards?

Looking forward to a reply. I believe responses on this post from experienced individuals will genuinely help those with less experience in planning their careers well.

Thanks and regards,
Seema

Hi Seema,

I am also in the same field as you. I started my career as an HR generalist in a newly established investment firm. Sometimes, I also have the same questions. Let's see what answers we get from our seniors.

Regards,
Ankit

Hi Seema and Ankit,

You have raised a very common question that must be ringing in every fresher's mind - what is the scope of getting into this field? Well, the entry level remains the same for almost everybody, but the number of individuals who reach a satisfactory position within a short time is very low. In the present scenario, Darwin's theory of "survival of the fittest" fits very accurately. Out of the crowd of HR people, only those who have adapted themselves to the required situations reach the top level.

The hierarchy of HR personnel in most organizations typically progresses as follows:
1. Trainee HR (Fresher)
2. Executive HR (1 Yr. Exp.)
3. Sr. Executive HR (2 Yr. Exp.)
4. Asst Manager HR
5. Deputy Manager HR
6. Manager HR
and so on up to the level of General Manager HR.

However, it entirely depends on personal performance how quickly one reaches the next position. I hope this information has been somewhat helpful in addressing your query.

Regards,
Amit Seth.

Hi Seema,

How are you? Coming to the point, I too agree with Mr. Amit. But to enter into this field, one should be very creative and generative. Also, because he/she should be in a position to understand employees' requirements and resources and have to fulfill it. Based on their satisfaction, we can get more output from them, which may directly help the organization.

We treat employees as an asset to the organization.

Hope you got the point.

Regards,
Ramu
HR

Hi Amit,

Thanks for the inputs about the hierarchy. However, a few points still remain unanswered. Kindly address those as well.

1) Is it advisable to deviate from an HR generalist profile to specific roles like employee relations, recruitment, payroll, training, etc.?

2) What should be the monetary expectations? I understand that the monetary aspect directly depends on one's capabilities to some extent, but we cannot ignore market standards. Large companies and MNCs follow market trends, and individuals should be aware of the same. Kindly provide insights on the points mentioned above as well.

Thanks and Regards,
Seema

Hi Amit,

I have been observing and reading your replies in this community and find them crisp and informative. Based on this thread, I too would like to ask you one question. Referring to your post mentioning, it depends upon the person how soon he climbs up the ladder. I would like to seek help as I have 1.5 years of experience and I am working as an Assistant Manager HR in a small aviation setup of about 100 people. We are no doubt a dynamic and professional organization. But sometimes I feel, should I have been an assistant manager so early? Is it early? Because I was an HR Executive in my previous organization and here I was offered AM HR, so I grabbed it, though the package is somewhat like that of a senior executive. Please tell me, am I going right? What package does an AM HR normally get in the service industry? Or an HR person like me with 1.5 years of experience in generalist HR role would fall in what compensation category?

A professional HR help is really required to show me the correct path.

Regards,
Parul

Hi Seema,

You are most welcome.

In my opinion, one should not diversify from their mainstream, i.e., if someone is working in a generalist profile, then they should definitely stick with it. Otherwise, the growth rate of that person would be low because to get promoted, one must have in-depth knowledge of their field. Changing domains may interrupt their career growth graph.

Regarding monetary terms, you are very correct that one must follow the prevailing rate in the market. Every big organization now makes offers keeping in view the market standard rate.

I hope it is clearer to you now. Feel free to ask for any further information.

Regards,
Amit Seth

Hi Parul,

First of all, congratulations.

It's not compulsory that you must climb all the ladders. It is impressive that you have reached such a height in a very short span of time. I clearly mentioned in my post that it is entirely performance-based. If you do well, you can reach a high level even in a short time.

I think it's right that you have accepted the offer because designation counts more than monetary terms. By the way, the job profiles of HR-Executive and Sr. HR-Executive remain almost the same. So, it's a good decision.

Don't think of it in monetary terms. In just a span of 1.5 years, you have traveled a long distance.

Well, I hope you have found your answer.

Regards,
Amit Seth.

Hi Amit,

Could you please inform me about the monetary package in terms of figures for an individual with 2+ years of experience as an HR generalist?

I am looking forward to your reply.

Thanks in advance.

Regards, Sivaranjani Sriram

Hello Sriram,

There is no fixed emolument for a person with 2+ years of experience. It depends on the package you entered the industry with; if it is high, then you would definitely get a better jump. But if it's low, it will always take time to achieve a high emolument. Moreover, it depends on your performance as well.

Regards,

Amit Seth.

Hi Amit,

Thanks for the inputs given. Kindly suggest what activities HR can do to keep the employees motivated in a small-size organization where money is a constraint.

Regards,
Seema

Hi Amith,

From your suggestions, I understand that it is not really appreciable for someone to diversify their mainstream. But in my case, one year back, I joined as an HR Executive with a recruitment firm, even though I am very much interested in working in HR areas like competency mapping, assessment and development center, and other core HR practices. I would like you to suggest what my standpoint should be at this moment. Should I look for an opportunity in my area of interest or should I continue my career in recruitment itself? Kindly respond.

Regards,
Sumir

Hi Seema,

Even I am sailing in the same boat as you and have some queries about it. I hope our seniors will help us out.

I have been in a generalist profile for the last 10 months, but I still feel there is a lot more to learn when I compare myself with the theoretical knowledge I gained in my MBA classes. Many of my classmates, who are working as recruiters, are earning a very handsome salary. However, they seem to be stuck in the same monotonous job of hiring and hiring.

They are not familiar with other areas of HR like grievance handling, time office management, maintaining employee databases, performance appraisals, etc.

My confusion lies in where people working in a generalist profile see themselves after 5-10 years.

In the previous discussion hierarchy of HR, there was mention of different roles within an HR department: recruiters, statutory compliance officers (handling ESI, PF, and other legal matters), payroll administrators, welfare officers (canteen, time office, etc.), and other roles as required.

Generally, we see HR managers or those in higher positions as individuals who have expertise in all these areas, so we may refer to an HR manager as someone in a generalist profile. The key difference lies in experience. Individuals working in smaller organizations and handling generalist roles can manage all these responsibilities.

So, what should be the next step for these individuals? Should they continue in the same field, or would switching to another field be more beneficial?

Ruchika :)

Dear all
I'm working in a small organization but in the mode of expansion. I got this placement through campus and as a fresher my package is high enough. I got the highest package in my college and I know as a fresher in HR I'm getting more than the industry norms. I'm looking for a change after 1year or may be before, this is because of the work culture. Though I'm the only HR in this organization and my profile is HR generalist. I'm concerned about my growth and will it be easy for me to switch easily with this kind of package?
Regards
Himani

Dear Ruchika,

Though I am not very old enough in the trade, still would like to give my opinion on your query.

You asked: where do we see ourselves down the line in 5-10 years?

My opinion is: Based on the general industry trends, any employee in any field is expected to gain some sort of working experience with time. Now, this 'time period' of your work experience is the buzz word here. The more experience you have, the greater chances you have to be on the top list of the career progression chain.

I feel you should NOT change your field/area of expertise. Rather, try to be the jack of all trades, which again, can only be acquired with time. So the older the wine, the better it is. It would not necessarily mean that you have to touch all the areas from the top only, rather take up one thing at a time and try to explore that, if not mastering that topic for that matter.

Even the CEO/GM/MD of any successful venture is a jack of all trades. Thus, if you want to be on the top, try to learn everything decently. Let the time period of your job play the role. And yes, NOT TO FORGET, performance in all your key areas definitely gonna catapult you up in the hierarchy.

I hope I have contributed a little in clearing your doubt.

Regards,

Parul

Hi Ruchika,

Today is the era of specialization. The more you know about a subject, the less it is. We are in highly competitive times, and only the best will survive and climb up the corporate ladder. Hence, it is essential to stick to one's field and not keep changing. It does not help to be a jack of all and master of none.

In larger organizations, there are separate departments for Recruitment and Human Resources. The general hierarchy followed is:

Trainee - HR
Executive - HR
Senior Executive - HR
Assistant Manager - HR
Manager - HR
Senior Manager - HR
Head - HR
AVP - HR
VP - HR
Senior VP - HR

Thanks and Regards,
Karan Gandhi

Hi,

Can anyone differentiate the roles of an HR Generalist and an HR Representative? Also, I have one more question regarding the BPO, ICO, and IDO industries. These are the abbreviations that are confusing me as I am only clear about the BPO sector. Please reply.

Prativa

I think there is no difference. The terminology differs from industry to industry. It all depends on the profile one is handling.

Hi Amit, I have a few questions to ask too. I initially started in technical recruitment, and now I am getting an offer for BPO recruitment. Although I am okay with the profile or the kind of work that I am doing currently, I neither want to stick to recruitment nor BPO. I am planning for SAP HR. Can you suggest, please?