Feeling Stuck After a Year Without Work: Can I Still Build a Career in HR?

Hi All, I am Surabhi Pal Chaturvedi. I am a B.Sc. IT graduate and pursued my MBA in HR from IIPM. After relocating from Delhi to Hyderabad and finally to Bangalore, I wasn't able to secure a job. I have 1.4 years of experience mainly in technical recruitment, and now it has been 1 year since I have not been working.

Career Query

My query is, can I still work now? I am feeling hopeless and worried about my career. I am eagerly looking for a decent job, but not a ray of hope can be seen. I would like to build my career in HR Generalism. Please guide me and help me.

Thank you.

Thank you for your response, Sumitplaha. Currently, I am in Bangalore, so I am looking for openings in Bangalore itself, preferably in HR generalist. Thanks for your kind response.

Regards,
Surabhi

Hello Surabhi, In the situation you are in right now, getting any job itself is an issue—as you have experienced yourself. When Sumitplaha makes an offer to consider you for the available opening, I don't suggest you put conditions. Not that it's wrong or bad to make your preferences known, but you also need to keep in mind the situation and timing. In short, just be realistic.

If you had any prior HR generalist experience, then it's realistic to have such preferences. Otherwise, as Sumitplaha mentioned, your choices are very limited at this point in time. First, try to get into some job related to HR, and then you can think of moving later, maybe after a year or so.

There's another reason why I am suggesting this—the longer the gap between now and the time you join a job, the higher the chances of you getting disheartened and worried, which will affect any interview performance. Hope you get the point.

All the best.

Regards, TS

I am sailing in the same boat as Surabhi, but with different reasons. I was into C&B and performance management for over 4 years, and into recruitment, performance management, and training (database management & coordination only) for a year. Now, should I go ahead and consider myself a generalist or something else? I have not been working since July 2010 and wish to restart my career by March 2012 or so. I am interested in advancing with HRSS and curious to know about making it happen with my background. Thanks for helping me out.

Regards

Hi Tajsatheesh,

I completely appreciate your input but would like to mention that I have already worked as an HR generalist. Therefore, I find it more suitable for me. I am keen to make my career in this field as I personally find it more challenging and rewarding to work on, along with enhancing my knowledge.

Regards,
Surabhi

It's a surprise that you also have experience as an HR generalist—since you didn't mention this in your first posting. In fact, this is what you mentioned: "I have an experience of 1.4 years mainly in technical recruitment." If you want the most appropriate suggestions from this forum, please ensure you provide full and complete factual inputs—else, not only would you be wasting the members' time but also hurting yourself in the long run.

All the Best.

Regards,
TS

My apologies for not mentioning my 6 months of HR generalist experience and 10 months in recruitment. I completely understand the importance of posts here, and my intention was not to waste members' time but rather to seek some help.

Thanks and Regards,
Surabhi Pal Chaturvedi

I suggest that you DON'T LABEL yourself as 'this thing/skill/specialist' or 'that thing/skill/specialist'.

Let's say, after 5-6 years of experience from now (meaning adding to your already ~5 years of experience), what sort of profile would an HR person usually have—or to put it in another way, how would YOU like yourself to be known as 4-5 years from now? You would be having close to 9-10 years of experience then—right? At that level, would any company like to hire the HR person with just 1 or 2 of the core HR skills/areas: Core HR/HR Generalist/Recruitment Specialist/Payroll Specialist...? I guess you know the answer—the person would be expected to handle the COMPLETE HR Function—which comprises ALL the above-mentioned areas PLUS others too. So the key would be a BALANCED Profile—where you have exposure to all the HR areas WITH a core specialization in 1 or 2 areas.

Coming to the opportunities you can focus on now—it not only depends on what your interests are BUT ALSO on your current profile—which you mentioned. So look for opportunities where your current strengths/experience are counted—which decides your CTC when you reach that stage. If you focus on areas where you can't show meaningful/realistic/proven past experience, you will invariably have to compromise on the salary and/or position/designation when you join any new company—it's more of a personal choice rather than a 'right/wrong' issue.

In short, suggest focusing on openings where you ensure your past experience is taken into account (which decides your salary & position) AND where chances of getting involved in other HR areas are also available—which depends on YOUR priorities in career & life.

All the Best.

Regards,
TS