Dear Seniors
I m a B.com Graduate and MBA in HR, I started my career with Mafoi in ITes Volume Hiring for BPO clients, this was my first HR job. I worked for 6 months and with the nature of recruitment and unprofessionalism showed by the candidates I found this job thankless and grilling for no fault of mine. At point when I just could not go on with the unprofessional attitudes of this candidates and having faced stress, brickbats and embarrassments from client’s HRs for no shows, offer declined, no shows at joining date, absconding after joining the company by the candidates. I decided to resign without having another job in hand, I was getting many offers but in the same line of business, which I dint want, I was already working with one of the most reputed Recruitment firm and I was facing so many difficulties which were not in my hand or power to resolve. There was no point taking up similar job offers. I was searching jobs for 10 uncertain months, and finally I got an offer from an Audit firm in middleast, they offered me a generalist profile, with designation as HR Coordinator, On reading the job description I liked the nature of work and found it to be a very good learning experience to grow and excel in HR industry.
Its been one year I have joined this firm, and over the period of time I have realized, that this is a very disorganized setup, run under a single owner’s directions. There are functional departments, so is HR, a support department to facilitate HR functions, This firm can be considered a mid size Audit firm with staff strength of 200+ employees. There are HR policies and Procedures in place, relevant forms and Electronic systems for HR functions. However majority of the time none of them are followed as per the guidelines, everyone in the company does not have an attitude nor the will to follow the process. So when I joined this company with excitement and hope that I will be able to use my HR knowledge which I have acquired in my studies. But As I try to seek cooperation from the staff I m facing reluctance and I m not taken seriously for the tasks. There are rules but some individuals who are in favourite books or having authority find it against their ego to follow the line, the rules are for their own benefit, still they don’t follow.
Recruitment : Any manager can hire anyone they want, and just dump it on HR to finish the process of joining, even sometime that is not followed properly.
Appraisal : Inspite of having proper forms and policies in place, the promotion and increments are as per manager’s wishes and favorites.
And many other bottlenecks in following the written down rules. Major ones are :
Lack of communication is so great that my work is affected, I m asked to make reports and without having being informed How can I present accurate reports. Also when I m proactive and seek information to complete my tasks, I m made confused to get the right information. Sometime I m confused if I shall take the initiative or not.
I m just working like a clerk following instructions, making reports. I m not involved in any meetings, decision makings, or discussion related to HR. Sometime I get to know information from others in the company which are of HR nature.
I m confused if working here is building up my HR skills or not ?? I m feeling left behind and lagging behind in acquiring skills and knowledge in HR field for a promising career in HR. Currently I m 27 years old, with only 1.5 years experience in HR field. I m afraid If I don’t add any skills or specialization to my profile I will end up like a clerk and not be marketable in the Job market.
Please advise me on any certification, course or change I can bring to my life in order to grow and have a job which is challenging and rewarding.
I would really appreciate the wisdom and advise shared by Experts here.
Thanks & Best Wishes
From Kuwait, Salmiya
27I m a B.com Graduate and MBA in HR, I started my career with Mafoi in ITes Volume Hiring for BPO clients, this was my first HR job. I worked for 6 months and with the nature of recruitment and unprofessionalism showed by the candidates I found this job thankless and grilling for no fault of mine. At point when I just could not go on with the unprofessional attitudes of this candidates and having faced stress, brickbats and embarrassments from client’s HRs for no shows, offer declined, no shows at joining date, absconding after joining the company by the candidates. I decided to resign without having another job in hand, I was getting many offers but in the same line of business, which I dint want, I was already working with one of the most reputed Recruitment firm and I was facing so many difficulties which were not in my hand or power to resolve. There was no point taking up similar job offers. I was searching jobs for 10 uncertain months, and finally I got an offer from an Audit firm in middleast, they offered me a generalist profile, with designation as HR Coordinator, On reading the job description I liked the nature of work and found it to be a very good learning experience to grow and excel in HR industry.
Its been one year I have joined this firm, and over the period of time I have realized, that this is a very disorganized setup, run under a single owner’s directions. There are functional departments, so is HR, a support department to facilitate HR functions, This firm can be considered a mid size Audit firm with staff strength of 200+ employees. There are HR policies and Procedures in place, relevant forms and Electronic systems for HR functions. However majority of the time none of them are followed as per the guidelines, everyone in the company does not have an attitude nor the will to follow the process. So when I joined this company with excitement and hope that I will be able to use my HR knowledge which I have acquired in my studies. But As I try to seek cooperation from the staff I m facing reluctance and I m not taken seriously for the tasks. There are rules but some individuals who are in favourite books or having authority find it against their ego to follow the line, the rules are for their own benefit, still they don’t follow.
Recruitment : Any manager can hire anyone they want, and just dump it on HR to finish the process of joining, even sometime that is not followed properly.
Appraisal : Inspite of having proper forms and policies in place, the promotion and increments are as per manager’s wishes and favorites.
And many other bottlenecks in following the written down rules. Major ones are :
Lack of communication is so great that my work is affected, I m asked to make reports and without having being informed How can I present accurate reports. Also when I m proactive and seek information to complete my tasks, I m made confused to get the right information. Sometime I m confused if I shall take the initiative or not.
I m just working like a clerk following instructions, making reports. I m not involved in any meetings, decision makings, or discussion related to HR. Sometime I get to know information from others in the company which are of HR nature.
I m confused if working here is building up my HR skills or not ?? I m feeling left behind and lagging behind in acquiring skills and knowledge in HR field for a promising career in HR. Currently I m 27 years old, with only 1.5 years experience in HR field. I m afraid If I don’t add any skills or specialization to my profile I will end up like a clerk and not be marketable in the Job market.
Please advise me on any certification, course or change I can bring to my life in order to grow and have a job which is challenging and rewarding.
I would really appreciate the wisdom and advise shared by Experts here.
Thanks & Best Wishes
From Kuwait, Salmiya
Greetings,
Your experience reminded me of an assignment had worked on. Here's my case facts:
Hope this helps you to decide on your own path.
Regards,
(Cite Contribution)
From India, Mumbai
Your experience reminded me of an assignment had worked on. Here's my case facts:
- I was hired by a company to design and implement HR. It seemed a dream role when I started it.
- I did my research and establish the systems with processes.
- Then I noticed a marked duality. Even though my implementation was a high priority project for the organization, no one actually took it seriously.
- The organization had multi-location offices. Hence people from different states worked there. There was a huge disparity , almost every office ran like an independent organization that too with an hairball structure and communicated primarily with the owner. This was shared with me and I analysed a lot of reasons contributing to it. The first was there were regional languages used. This added on to the anti feeling. Though I spent a lot of time understanding them, learning their languages, backgrounds , interests and created a lot of programs. Yet nothing really worked.
- Worst was, though my implementation was signed off, I had a feeling it was limited to the papers. It disheartened me a lot. So I tried reviewing why was there, such a resistance in the organization.
- Here came my 'Aha' moment. One of the biggest client to the organization had asked for an HR implementation, as it was missing. This is how I was hired and my assignment was signed off. The employee and the management , did not see any merit in the HR System . Which is why when I tried to understand them , they were not receptive towards me and barely gave an ear to every program which was run.
- This was a bad experience , specially after the kind of effort I put in the project. But then I decided stand for myself.
- I benchmarked my work to the industry standards to ensure my learning is at par.
- I gave myself a deadline within the job to move out.
- During the phase , in which I was counting my days at the organization, I gained few of my best survival strategies.
- When I moved away , I was lot more smarter intellectually and professionally.
Hope this helps you to decide on your own path.
Regards,
(Cite Contribution)
From India, Mumbai
Dear Hussain,
Please do consider reading this thread posted earlier. I want you to receive the fruits of your effort in office. I wouldn't want to see you moving away without being benefited and enriched by learning from this experience.
Best out of your worst job
Regards,
(Cite Contribution)
From India, Mumbai
Please do consider reading this thread posted earlier. I want you to receive the fruits of your effort in office. I wouldn't want to see you moving away without being benefited and enriched by learning from this experience.
Best out of your worst job
Regards,
(Cite Contribution)
From India, Mumbai
Hello Hussain Zulfikar,
(Cite Contribution) is right.
There's something that I have believed in--nothing happens without a reason. Maybe this situation is for YOU TO LEARN--the focus being on YOUR LEARNING--not for the Company you work in. If they take your effort seriously, fine--they will gain from it. But if they don't, that's their problem. PL DON'T ALLOW SUCH A SITUATION TO STOP YOUR LEARNING PROCESS. Whether we look @ this practically/realistically/materialistically or spiritually, YOU DECIDE YOUR LEARNING PROCESS & GROWTH--NOT THE EXTERNAL situation/world.
I am saying this from my personal experience--have had quite a few of the situations you are going thru right now--and in the initial phases, every time while going thru those phases, I was often bewildered & confused.
Expand your contacts & begin to compare your learning with the outside world's knowledge-base.
Rgds,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
(Cite Contribution) is right.
There's something that I have believed in--nothing happens without a reason. Maybe this situation is for YOU TO LEARN--the focus being on YOUR LEARNING--not for the Company you work in. If they take your effort seriously, fine--they will gain from it. But if they don't, that's their problem. PL DON'T ALLOW SUCH A SITUATION TO STOP YOUR LEARNING PROCESS. Whether we look @ this practically/realistically/materialistically or spiritually, YOU DECIDE YOUR LEARNING PROCESS & GROWTH--NOT THE EXTERNAL situation/world.
I am saying this from my personal experience--have had quite a few of the situations you are going thru right now--and in the initial phases, every time while going thru those phases, I was often bewildered & confused.
Expand your contacts & begin to compare your learning with the outside world's knowledge-base.
Rgds,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
Dear Hussain
(Cite Contribution) & Tajsateesh both are very right. How much we can grow & learn in an organisation is in our hand. if they are not taking your efforts seriously its not ur problem. U just keep on learning & grow as much as u can & when u feel now u can move further in your career, just go ahead.
you just keep in ur mind 1 thing that you are here to learn.........thats it & one day u will get ur kind of job & could be able to work independently & achieve ur satisfaction.
take care
Annu
From India, Delhi
(Cite Contribution) & Tajsateesh both are very right. How much we can grow & learn in an organisation is in our hand. if they are not taking your efforts seriously its not ur problem. U just keep on learning & grow as much as u can & when u feel now u can move further in your career, just go ahead.
you just keep in ur mind 1 thing that you are here to learn.........thats it & one day u will get ur kind of job & could be able to work independently & achieve ur satisfaction.
take care
Annu
From India, Delhi
Hi
It was a delight to read your experience in the assignment you mentioned. I could relate to lot of issues which you listed there.
And the HBR article link which you provided was also refreshing. I m trying to find humor in my work. Actually it’s a good idea. I do face humorous instances in my job, as this is a multicultural office with many nationalities working together.
I will tell you actually what I feel. My work here is not so stressful, it’s all fine. I can handle the nature of work; I have handled grilling and uncertain recruitment of BPO sector in India. The recruitment here is better and candidate are more experienced, qualified and professionals. Sometimes the nature of my work is so much of MIS, Documentation, paperwork that I wonder if I m doing HR tasks.
Also I aspire to be a trainer, but I don’t get training opportunity in this company, most of the training programs are very technical. So please advise me how I can gain training experience. Apart from this can I pursue some course, certification, program by which I can enhance and develop my skills in Human Resource field? I don’t want to sit Idle and wait till my skills and knowledge get obsolete and I feel redundant. How can I add real value to my work?
The country I m working in is a closed conservative country, where HR is hardly developed or recognized. Here the attitude of employer is to make employee work and pay the salaries, not much thinking or initiatives go into developing workforce, as such. Therefore I hardly find any institutions, offering variety of HR certifications or courses other than basic HR subjects. Unlike India, which offers so many types and nature or HR specialization?
I wanted to enquire as HR can I pursue HR related course which can make me Strategic contributor to the company.
My concern and queries are:
1) How long shall I continue working in one job, in order to have stable work experience profile on my CV.?
2) Does Certifications, courses or Programs add value to my credentials in eyes of prospective employers?
3) If yes! Which Certifications, courses or Programs I can pursue to enhance career.
Thanks once again for the experience and article you shared, I greatly appreciate the advice and suggestions provided by experts, seniors and reader on this forum.
Best Wishes
Hussain
From Kuwait, Salmiya
It was a delight to read your experience in the assignment you mentioned. I could relate to lot of issues which you listed there.
And the HBR article link which you provided was also refreshing. I m trying to find humor in my work. Actually it’s a good idea. I do face humorous instances in my job, as this is a multicultural office with many nationalities working together.
I will tell you actually what I feel. My work here is not so stressful, it’s all fine. I can handle the nature of work; I have handled grilling and uncertain recruitment of BPO sector in India. The recruitment here is better and candidate are more experienced, qualified and professionals. Sometimes the nature of my work is so much of MIS, Documentation, paperwork that I wonder if I m doing HR tasks.
Also I aspire to be a trainer, but I don’t get training opportunity in this company, most of the training programs are very technical. So please advise me how I can gain training experience. Apart from this can I pursue some course, certification, program by which I can enhance and develop my skills in Human Resource field? I don’t want to sit Idle and wait till my skills and knowledge get obsolete and I feel redundant. How can I add real value to my work?
The country I m working in is a closed conservative country, where HR is hardly developed or recognized. Here the attitude of employer is to make employee work and pay the salaries, not much thinking or initiatives go into developing workforce, as such. Therefore I hardly find any institutions, offering variety of HR certifications or courses other than basic HR subjects. Unlike India, which offers so many types and nature or HR specialization?
I wanted to enquire as HR can I pursue HR related course which can make me Strategic contributor to the company.
My concern and queries are:
1) How long shall I continue working in one job, in order to have stable work experience profile on my CV.?
2) Does Certifications, courses or Programs add value to my credentials in eyes of prospective employers?
3) If yes! Which Certifications, courses or Programs I can pursue to enhance career.
Thanks once again for the experience and article you shared, I greatly appreciate the advice and suggestions provided by experts, seniors and reader on this forum.
Best Wishes
Hussain
From Kuwait, Salmiya
Hello Hussain Zulfikar,
Glad to note that you are getting the point.
Coming to elaborate on what I said earlier--Maybe this situation is for YOU TO LEARN--and co-relating with what you just posted, you mentioned: "so much of MIS, Documentation, paperwork". Don't you see the message?
Many HR persons usually neglect this aspect--MIS--of the HR function during the early phases of their career. Paper-work may be boring, etc, but without the paper-work [or in these days MIS] how would others within the Organisation & outside know what you are doing or what you are capable of doing? Someone who can handle the MIS well are usually capable of good Presentation Skills [which also can go into making a good resume when you search for a job again--but this isn't the main aspect of this skill].
Begin to study the existing MIS formats more seriously--the format, content, etc. And if you find anything you can improve upon [I am sure you can--since nothing is perfect however perfect it is--not my quote], discuss this with your boss. And since, based on what you mentioned, MIS seems to be having a high place within the company procedural structure, your efforts will be appreciated--whether it's well-placed or mis-placed shouldn't worry you. And don't hesitate to point out a better way--even if the original format/practice was formulated/designed by the CEO.
Once you begin to make your mark BY TALKING ABOUT WHAT THEY CAN UNDERSTAND, THEN YOU WILL SURELY BE HEARD FOR WHAT YOU WANT TO ACTUALLY TELL THEM. Take my word for it--basic human psychology.
Rgds,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
Glad to note that you are getting the point.
Coming to elaborate on what I said earlier--Maybe this situation is for YOU TO LEARN--and co-relating with what you just posted, you mentioned: "so much of MIS, Documentation, paperwork". Don't you see the message?
Many HR persons usually neglect this aspect--MIS--of the HR function during the early phases of their career. Paper-work may be boring, etc, but without the paper-work [or in these days MIS] how would others within the Organisation & outside know what you are doing or what you are capable of doing? Someone who can handle the MIS well are usually capable of good Presentation Skills [which also can go into making a good resume when you search for a job again--but this isn't the main aspect of this skill].
Begin to study the existing MIS formats more seriously--the format, content, etc. And if you find anything you can improve upon [I am sure you can--since nothing is perfect however perfect it is--not my quote], discuss this with your boss. And since, based on what you mentioned, MIS seems to be having a high place within the company procedural structure, your efforts will be appreciated--whether it's well-placed or mis-placed shouldn't worry you. And don't hesitate to point out a better way--even if the original format/practice was formulated/designed by the CEO.
Once you begin to make your mark BY TALKING ABOUT WHAT THEY CAN UNDERSTAND, THEN YOU WILL SURELY BE HEARD FOR WHAT YOU WANT TO ACTUALLY TELL THEM. Take my word for it--basic human psychology.
Rgds,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
Dear Mr Tajsateesh
I agree with you, that I m getting a lot of opportunity to enhance my skills at making reports and with this I m able to learn what is happening in the company, I m getting to learn lot of HR aspects, but I m not heavily into conducting interviews, training and development, retention programs, compensation & benefits. Just having lot of report making experience. What my fear is – are this experience of lot of MIS reports relevant in HR industry ? If Yes ! Im relieved that I m working in right direction.
I don’t have any chronic problem with my work here (God’s Grace), But management does not involve me in decision making process, I may b young as per their thinking to make decisions, but as I m directly interacting with candidates, Hiring managers and other staff of the company, I have suggestions which would benefit the management or atleast give me a chance to explain them, I do my homework and present my suggestions backed with formats, numbers, and structures, yet there is no response, follow up, criticism or implementation of the same. If I enquire, I m told not to volunteer so much, other than asked what to do. This way I feel curbed and confined.
I have lot of professionals working in our company, the certification they have are amazing, and they are truly talented bunch of guys.
I m not trying to copy them or so, but I also would like to be a master in my field, so I want to know is there any certification, course, program I can pursue which will enhance my knowledge and I can add more value to the company and people around me.
Seniors and readers here are the best in Business, so I feel I shud seek some advise and then make a choice.
Thanks so much for all the inputs I have received. I really appreciate the advise coming from respected seniors and readers
From Kuwait, Salmiya
I agree with you, that I m getting a lot of opportunity to enhance my skills at making reports and with this I m able to learn what is happening in the company, I m getting to learn lot of HR aspects, but I m not heavily into conducting interviews, training and development, retention programs, compensation & benefits. Just having lot of report making experience. What my fear is – are this experience of lot of MIS reports relevant in HR industry ? If Yes ! Im relieved that I m working in right direction.
I don’t have any chronic problem with my work here (God’s Grace), But management does not involve me in decision making process, I may b young as per their thinking to make decisions, but as I m directly interacting with candidates, Hiring managers and other staff of the company, I have suggestions which would benefit the management or atleast give me a chance to explain them, I do my homework and present my suggestions backed with formats, numbers, and structures, yet there is no response, follow up, criticism or implementation of the same. If I enquire, I m told not to volunteer so much, other than asked what to do. This way I feel curbed and confined.
I have lot of professionals working in our company, the certification they have are amazing, and they are truly talented bunch of guys.
I m not trying to copy them or so, but I also would like to be a master in my field, so I want to know is there any certification, course, program I can pursue which will enhance my knowledge and I can add more value to the company and people around me.
Seniors and readers here are the best in Business, so I feel I shud seek some advise and then make a choice.
Thanks so much for all the inputs I have received. I really appreciate the advise coming from respected seniors and readers
From Kuwait, Salmiya
Dear Seniors and Readers
My concern and queries are:
1) How long shall I continue working in one job, in order to have stable work experience profile on my CV.?
2) Does Certifications, courses or Programs add value to my credentials in eyes of prospective employers?
3) If yes! Which Certifications, courses or Programs I can pursue to enhance career.
From Kuwait, Salmiya
My concern and queries are:
1) How long shall I continue working in one job, in order to have stable work experience profile on my CV.?
2) Does Certifications, courses or Programs add value to my credentials in eyes of prospective employers?
3) If yes! Which Certifications, courses or Programs I can pursue to enhance career.
From Kuwait, Salmiya
@ Annu - Thanks very much, I m quiet motivated to learn from current state of things, as the experience by (Cite Contribution) was shared I realised its part of work experience in life, I was thinking I m kinda stuck.
But still .. my queries remain unsolved :-( I need some direction in HR field.
From Kuwait, Salmiya
But still .. my queries remain unsolved :-( I need some direction in HR field.
From Kuwait, Salmiya
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