#JobSearch #EntryLevel #CareerAdvice 🌟
Hey everyone!
I’ve been on the hunt for an entry-level position as an HR assistant for the past 4 months, and it’s been tough out there. I’m starting to wonder if it’s my resume or if the job market is just super competitive right now. I’ve even thought about furthering my education with a degree in I/O psychology or Human Resources because I’m feeling pretty lost.
Do any of you have any tips or suggestions that could help me out? I’d really appreciate any insight you can offer!
Here are a few possible solutions that might help not only me but others in a similar situation:
– Networking is key; try attending industry events or reaching out to connections
– Tailor your resume and cover letter to each job application
– Consider gaining relevant experience through internships or volunteer work
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Let’s support each other in navigating this challenging job market. 💪🏼
Thanks so much and have an awesome day!
entry levels have a low barrier to enter due to qualifications thus increasing the talent pool.
Job market for HR is in a sorry state at the moment. Lots of well-qualified people competing for a small number of positions.
It’s hard because of the competition for those roles. Every person trying to break into HR, or just graduated or is over qualified and can’t find a higher paying job is applying and competing for these roles.
Breaking into hr I think is always hard, plus the HR job market is brutal now. Fifteen years ago I snaked in through recruitment. Started at a staffing agency, hopped to internal Corp recruitment, then was able to transition to generalist/coordinator.
The competition is fierce. Regardless of it being entry-level, people with experience will still apply and will often be the ones someone chooses in the end given the experience factor.
Breaking into any industry is very much luck based.
More education can actually put you even further back. A lot of folks won’t bother calling back someone with a masters degree for a role that doesn’t need one, the degree comes with implied expectations. That’s both salary and promotional tracking, which isn’t always something a company is going to be geared towards. Lots of times they want someone who is going to be happy with the entry level job for a considerable amount of time, since often a company doesn’t want to have a job constantly vacant while they funnel people through it to higher positions.
This is one of life’s Catch 22s.
Keep applying. Four months in the scheme of things is not that long to be sending out resumes, you may still hear back from places you already applied to given how interview processes can be sluggish as well.
Do you know what people do in HR and are you absolutely sure thats what you want to do? HR is pretty much a thankless job, and if you don’t enjoy it, not only will others dislike you (that’s the default feeling towards HR folks), you’re going to hate yourself too.
Are you applying for the unappealing jobs as well? You may need to settle for a company that offers low pay/benefits compared to the others, maybe one that has a longer commute, etc. It’s how I got my first job in HR. I stayed for 2 years, got a cert, then left for a higher paying position with better benefits.
I was on the same boat, ended up finding a temporary HR Assistant position through an employment agency. They often have HR Assistant jobs.
I think it’s worth pointing out that there are, depending on your location, only so many companies that have HR or have enough HR to have an entry level position.
For example any company with less than 50ish employees probably doesn’t have a dedicated HR person period. Up to 150-200 probably has an HR of one, which is very much NOT an entry level position.
It’s only once a company gets bigger than that that entry level HR positions even might exist.
Do you have any experience?
Do you think PEO companies are being used more with companies?
It’s a sucky state of affair but what’s helped me cause I don’t mind moving is looking in remote places. If you get it and some experience it helps cause sometimes there’s huge companies in remote spaces so when you want a role with a larger scope they’re willing to move you out there cause most people won’t want to move there.
I looked for almost a year before getting a job, I was working as a manager in a different sector before I got an interview and landed my current job. My last job at the time knew I was looking for a permanent career in HR and they were great about it if not encouraging, still worked there a year before landing an HR job. This was three years ago, I hear it’s much worse now.
If you cannot find HR i would look into Admin or Exec assistant roles. A lot of them can have similar transferrable skills in the meantime while you look for an HR specific position
The one of the easiest ways to get a job is being open to working from the office. There’s so many people trying to work from home quite a lot of the office jobs are sitting open with a low application rate.
I’ve gotten multiple job offers when I was looking for a change in April.
I looked for entry HR positions for about 9 months (UK). I finally got an offer as a recruitment officer through an agency working scheme. I have since become an HR advisor at that firm. Don’t discredit temp/agency work. It is good exposure and experience. Best of luck out there! It’ll come eventually.
Those jobs go to friends and family members. If they can’t find anyone interested, people who are overqualified normally scoop them up.
I looked for about 6-7 months before getting a HR assistant role and worked with a professional to change and transition my resume. I was working in social work previously.
My first HR job was at a hotel and they took a chance on me with no experience. If that helps
You need to identify the companies that will find your profile attractive.
Which city / state are you in? What kind of industries are most prevalent? What kind of companies are you applying to? Big brand companies get their entry level talent through campus so it’s a no go.
I would suggest look for small companies or start ups under 100 employee where they are looking for multi-faceted talent (office admin, HR, EA)
What is in your resume? I understand you may have limited experience but I would suggest remove jobs that are too far removed from HR.. waitress, bartending, Grubhub/ insta delivery, Uber driver etc (these are low involvement service jobs.. just suggesting)
If you have work experience in retain sales, or pet sitting, car detailing, lawn moving, event planning etc (high involvement service jobs) you can post these and highlight what skills you learned.. like customer centricity, scoping and planning the work, time management, eye for details etc.
If you don’t have experience you can talk about how you contribute in your home.. (are you the best assistant for your parents) do you research and plan vacation or birthday plans to make people feel special, do you anticipate needs proactive and go get groceries or organize pantry or closet or help out with pets at home or grandparents etc. do you do things for neighbors..
Basically you need to show you are a proactive, contributing and responsible member of the Society who loves to learn new things and perform tasks with intention and integrity.
Agreed, I see alot of folks with mbas or years of experience applying for junior positions. Makes it challenging to source.
Entry level positions are over saturated because the younger generation is willing to accept lower pay and gain the working experience. The competition is substantially higher than it was because most people see HR as an easy job and trying to do the same thing that you are.
I started with (and have always worked for) smaller companies. If you have the right attitude about doing anything to get the job done, you are exposed to a variety of roles and responsibilities: payroll, AP/AR, office managing, etc. and you can build on that. Also, in my experience, being the sole HR person sort of makes me the ‘authority’ on personnel matters, if you are one who wants to make final decisions and have the last word. I have also only worked in the office, no remote work.
Thinking outside of the box: would it be impossible for OP to acquire a job doing something else at a company that already has an HR dept., then gradually gravitate management to consider entry level HR as the OP’s side task?
Like a rreeaaalll slow foot in the door?
Took me 3 years to get an entry level role. I lucked out in a remote hr role. I had to work my way up as from a cashier however. Yes I had a bachelors in HR while as a cashier.