10 thoughts on “How to break into HR (or anything else)”

  1. I can see how this is feasible, but honestly the best way to get into any field is to have an inside person. If you know someone you will get in.

  2. evilhrlady on your article it says you have only 9 years HR experience. Your pic looks like you are in your 50's. Did you switch careers or did you just graduate late?

  4. How rude for someone to say that Evil HR Lady looks like she is in her 50's. It isn't true.

    I like the advice about starting out with something other than your dream job. I did just that, and I was able to work my way into my dream job. I accepted a job that was so hard to fill that my supervisor even came out and told me that he didn't think he would have been able to fill the job. I didn't necessarily love the job, but it wasn't terrible. I learned so much to help me move in the right direction with my career.

    The only down side was that I felt bad about leaving. I knew that it would be difficult for my supervisor to find someone qualified to take the job. Since it wasn't what I really wanted to do for the rest of my life, I had to move on when my opportunity came along.

  5. So someone unemployed can just walk into a fortune 500 company and into the recruiter's office and say "I'll take a job no one wants' and expect to get hired. Sure buddy.

  6. I've hired several people who started out working for me in a capacity that was hard to fill/not that desirable, proved themselves in that role, and then got promoted into something a lot more enjoyable. I agree that it's a good strategy, especially given how hard it is to get a desirable job right now. It's smart to look for areas with less competition.

    And speaking of your age, when I first saw your photo, I was shocked at how young you are. Your troll is at least creative.

  7. For me, that hard to fill job was in my career field. It was just a job that most people don't want to do, so I already knew it was hard to fill. I didn't answer a job ad on the company's website that said that it was hard to fill. I just knew that type of job was difficult to fill based on research I had done and comments from my peers about it.

    I took the job because I was having a hard time finding employment doing what I wanted to do. The employment gap was growing wider, and interviewers were looking suspicious as that widening employment gap. This was the right way to go for me.

    I don't think anyone is suggesting for someone to walk into a Fortune 500 company and simply say that you'll take any hard to fill job they have available. Even for the hard to fill jobs, you still need to be qualified, which is why they're hard to fill.

  8. Good advice. So many people aren't willing to "do their time" in order to get the rewards. It may not be your dream job to start, but if your resume is empty, you need to fill it with relevant experience.

  9. Very true. I am an HR manager for a fortune 100 retailer — but I applied for an assistant manager position right out of school, to get my foot in the door and get experience. I had HR assistant experience, and my degree is in psychology.

    In my interviews, they referred to my HR (…assistant) experience, but said that they usually want a few years of other experience before hiring someone as an HR manager.

    Lo and behold, I put my HR dream on the proverbial back-burner, apparently do quite well on my interview(s), and they hire me as the HR manager. It's possible!

  10. Hi,

    Thanks for writing such a good article.

    Today many successful companies, irrespective of size, have been smartly becoming a PEO. What does PEO mean? It means Professional Employer Organization. It is an integrated and cost effective approach to the management and administration of the Human Resources of the Organization.

    Regards,
    Sibley

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