Struggling with Night Shifts and Career Choices: Should I Transition to Payroll?

Dear Seniors, I hope you all are doing well. I have posted my queries many times, but I couldn't get any clear suggestions. First, let me introduce myself. I am Karthick, and I completed my MBA in HR (2010 pass out). For the past 5 months, I have been working as a US IT recruiter in a private company. I am not interested in my current job due to the night shifts. Initially, I thought I could manage, but now I find it too challenging to continue. Moreover, I am not keen on recruitment and am considering transitioning to the payroll process. I am uncertain if my decision is correct. I am also looking to pursue value-added courses in payroll processing. Seniors, please advise me on these matters.

Thank you.

Hey Karthick, no one can judge your actions. You are your own best judge. What is it that excites you in HR? Have you spoken to some seniors and asked about the different fields within HR they work in? Have you tried to explore other options? If you want to do a course in payroll, first take relevant information about the job prospects after doing this course. See if a job in a payroll process will excite you. And don't worry, you can take calculated risks in life. Hope this helps.

Hi Karthick, With reference to your posting, you mentioned your qualification as an MBA in HR, passed out in 2010. MBA stands for Master of Business Administration, and you have specialized in Human Resources. You might be wondering why I'm providing such trivial information. My concern is that, having educated yourself as an MBA in HR, you seem lost about the fields of HR and the scope of its functions. As an MBA, it is assumed that you have immense subject knowledge and are capable of leading a team or becoming a "manager."

At the MBA level, you should show maturity in making decisions in life, especially related to choosing your career. What sort of advice are you seeking here? You mentioned wanting to be in payroll processing or any other function of HR that excites you. There is a sea of information, feedback, and reviews regarding payroll processing, its scope, and the nature of growth, etc.

As an MBA, you may have been taught how to research, right?

We hold high value to this course called MBA and flaunt it on our CVs as MBAs in a specific field. But do we really show that professionalism and caliber that a Master of Business Administration should present?

Dear Karthick, I don't intend to offend you. I hope you read this post in good spirits and realize the value and responsibility of being an MBA and project yourself as a leader of tomorrow.

Wish you all the best in your endeavors!

Regards, Hussain

The Reality of Corporate Work

Theory is far different when it comes to corporate working. Here, practicality is more honored and valued. Keep your textbook knowledge aside when you walk into your office. Moreover, five months down the line, and you are thinking of changing the job (whatever the reason may be), you knew all the conditions before joining the job.

Understanding Recruitment

What exactly do you do in recruitments? Is it just telecalling, or is there more to it? And why do you want to move to payroll? I would suggest giving more time to learning things at this age; otherwise, you would keep hopping jobs with the hope of liking one. Trust me, you would never find it.

Advice for Management Graduates

As a management graduate, I would advise you to give it some more time so that your CV also looks sensible. The rest is on you, how you take it. Also, I would appreciate it if you do more research on various functions of HR. I hope you must have studied and remembered the same. All you need to do is find where your interests lie.

Regards

Hussain,

Thank you for your concern. I will take your suggestion in a positive way. Additionally, I would like to share more information with you about why I am not interested in my present job:

• Being in the recruitment field, it's very target-oriented. I know my value. I don't appreciate being praised when I complete my daily tasks, nor do I like being criticized when I don't. Every day is different. If I am unable to complete my tasks on any given day, my value and work are criticized. I dislike recruitment because conclusions about candidates are drawn based on daily performance. I am not afraid of completing tasks; I have been recognized as the best performer of the week twice and have maintained a good reputation among all the superiors in my company. Despite these achievements, I still dislike recruitment and the current environment.

• Working night shifts is challenging. I have completed 5 months with the present company. I worry that if I continue in night shifts for 2-3 years and then wish to switch to a day shift job, I might not be able to do so. Many of my seniors are facing this problem; they have missed out on opportunities from good companies because of their night shift experience. Top MNCs do not consider night shift experience and are hesitant to hire candidates with this background.

These two reasons have left me feeling confused.

Regards

Tabassum,

Thank you for your suggestion. I do agree with your point. Being in this present job and gaining years of experience is not at all a matter for me. But what I am saying is gaining work experience in the night shift is totally going to be a waste. Top companies hesitate to take night shift experienced candidates. Also, recruitment is a target-oriented job. "I believe that it works under the concept of luck." Hope you got my point. So, these are the reasons I'm looking for a change. Please let me know if my point is wrong.

Regards,

I fail to believe the fact that companies do not pay heed to talents and high performers from the night shift. I have several cases wherein candidates have changed their jobs from night to day shift. Guess work is work, be it night or day, and moreover, who is giving you all the gyan that night shift experience is going to be a waste? Every work is target-oriented, be it HR, IT, sales, or anything. It seems you don't want to work, that is the reason you are putting all your effort on luck.

Karthik, luck doesn't work if you don't want to work at all. Luck is a coined word for hard work. From your talks, it seems that you have not understood the entire concept of recruitment. I believe you must have gone through the mandate and job description thoroughly. If you did an MBA just to gain a degree, then I would suggest taking some company which doesn't give you work but gives you the money. And if you really want to work in corporates, just tighten up a bit.

I have been working with a result-oriented organization for the past many years. Being a business HR, I do not think any company would want an employee with this thinking that you currently hold. If at all you are going to give this reason to HR in any interview, I don't think companies would want to take the risk. See, all organizations run on performance and achievement of key result areas be it any department. If an employee doesn't justify KRAs and responsibilities, believe me, they are not going to tolerate it at all.

Kartik, I would suggest you clear all the negative air from your head and think positive. I am not suggesting you stay with the current company or recruitment. What I am saying is: if you continue with this attitude, the problem would be universal wherever you work.

Regards.