Is Joining an Auto Service Company as an HR Executive a Good Career Move? Seeking Advice!

Dear Seniors, I have secured a job at a leading car servicing company (Automobile) as an HR Executive. I am wondering if this opportunity is valuable for my career growth and learning in the HR field. I am in a dilemma, so please guide me as soon as possible through your valuable insights.

Thanks and Regards,

The first thing is that you need to ask this question yourself.

Second, how do we know about this opportunity that you have been offered by a company until you share your qualifications, experience, and company details? Think about it, and if you would like, please share and enable us to respond appropriately.

However, one thing I certainly would like to say is that you must understand the demands of your career and related opportunities yourself first because you are the one who knows about your career goals, targets, and achievements so far.

If you are a beginner and do not have much experience (less than 1 year), you need to focus on your learning. What a beginner needs to do at this stage of their career is to learn as much as possible. Learning is important to set a good base that helps to move forward in a career in the right way, and that requires stability too, which means a good and continuous working period. The more you learn, the more experience you will gain and the better understanding of your functions, which will boost your confidence and give you more good opportunities in your career.

Dear Anil, Thank you very much for your quick and valuable reply. They provide automobile services for multi-brand cars and have 18 service stations in South India, most of which are in Andhra Pradesh (AP).

Job Description (JD)

1. They selected me as an HR Executive. I have only 7 months of experience in HR with an MBA in HR.

2. Coordinating the recruitment of service managers, CREs, and workstation staff for each workstation. This is not an organized structure as they outsourced recruitment. My job is to coordinate recruitment.

3. Follow-up on documents of workers from workstations for filing.

4. Follow-up on leaves of workers from workstations on a monthly basis.

5. Updating all leaves and employee details in their automated software.

6. My work timings are from 9 am to 7 pm, with 6 working days a week.

These are all my responsibilities there.

Please guide me on the extent to which I can learn there. At this stage, I am not worrying about extrinsic benefits; I am expecting intrinsic benefits (learning HR processes) from them.

Is it possible with this company? Guide me as soon as possible.

Thanks and Regards, Anil

The job description sums up most of the areas of an HR Generalist. You may face limitations in terms of the working environment. However, this is a good experience to start with. Even if you are aiming to work in a different sector, generalist experience will give you a holistic view and prepare you better for both sectors, including Service and Manufacturing.

Stay focused on managing HR and improving your people skills. You will be managing a heterogeneous group of talent, including the Marketing team handling business accounts and workers too. This experience should be interesting; the greater the difference in talent groups, the greater the challenge in synergizing them.

Legal and statutory areas are another area for opportunity.

What is the next sector that you are looking forward to working in?

Best regards

Dear Cite Contribution,

Thank you for your valuable inputs. Earlier, I worked in an MNC (Engineering company) in the Oil & Gas Sector on a 7-month contract basis. The contract ended, and I joined this automobile servicing company. Would you recommend me to work here as an HR executive? The HR processes here are not standardized. I have observed that my superiors lack relevant experience in the HR field; they seem to be running the HR show in a poor work environment. As a beginner, I don't have specific field choices, but I am looking for a good environment where I can learn and grow, which is lacking in my current company. Kindly guide me.

Thanks and Regards,
Anil

You had a considerably good experience. Even a contractual employment with such an engineering firm adds great value to your profile. What are the other options that you can explore? Please consider a role in the automobile sector as an alternative, unless you find a job where you would like to work for a longer duration. This role might not add much value; however, try to avoid creating a gap in your employment history. Utilize your experience from the engineering firm to secure a new position. I am certain that you have already found mentors there. Even if they can't assist you in extending your contract, their recommendations will help you establish a credible work history.

Wishing you all the best!