Any HR/recruitment types about?

[NotSayingImBatman]

Reposting from Chat.

I've seen a great job advertised. Local, with a well known employer in the area, good pay and decent benefits. I really, really want the job.

The role is advertised as an HR Advisor. I'm a law graduate with undergrad and postgrad degrees (undergrad is Law, postgrad is Criminal Law). I studied Employment Law in my undergrad and wrote my dissertation on an area of Employment Law however all of my PQE is in Immigration/Asylum/EU law.

I also don't have a CIPD qualification, although the application states they would consider applicants with demonstrable relevant experience. How can I put a spin on my current experience? I KNOW I could do this job, and do it well.

Any pointers would be gratefully received, thanks!

Well, what is your current experience? Good employment law knowledge is part of HR, but only part. You don't say how much PQE you have, or how recent your employment law knowledge actually is.

Do you have management experience? Good commercial understanding? Understanding of how a business is actual run? Do you have knowledge or experience of whatever sector this role is in?

On the CIPD thing, when they say they'd consider relevant experience instead, that's normally aimed at people who have an equivalent level of experience in HR acquired on the job and just haven't actually taken exams/been assessed. That's not to say you don't have a chance, but you'll need to put a really good spin on what you are offering as you have no CIPD and no HR experience.

I'm currently a practising solicitor, with about six years PQE.

The role advertised is entry level, they ideally would like Level 3 or someone "working towards it". Salary is also a pretty standard entry graduate level.

The organisation is the NHS, I do have a good understanding of it as I worked for this particular Trust for four years in the past.

Ok. Well good operational knowledge of the NHS should help you, although it sounds like it was probably quite some time ago.

I wouldn't expect an HR advisor role to be entry level into HR, tbh, although i don't have any experience of HR in the NHS. I would be looking for operational HR experience from someone applying for what my understanding is of that role.

Is there a person specification for the role? If there is that should enable you to go through each requirement and consider what skills/experience you have that meet that requirement, or can be spun that way.

If one hasn't been provided it is probably worth asking, and probably also worth googling as there is bound to be an NHS HR advisor person spec lurking on the Internet somewhere.

Having read the job description you say you are confident you can do the job, and presumably you have reason to believe that. What is it about your experience, skills and attributes that makes you so confident? Those may be the things you need to emphasise in your application.

I'm a HR advisor, and the job to me is really about problem solving - solving managers' people problems. The most common issues I deal with are things like - long term sickness, performance problems, redundancies/restructures, conduct issues, and grievances. The law background is really useful but only half the story. Often you are balancing the legal risk against the operational risk. For example today I had a manager on the phone whose employee was refusing to work a scheduled day claiming it would be religious discrimination to not give them time off as they wanted to partake in a religious activity on that day. So you have to help decide what to do, and justify the actions taken. That sort of thing.

You really need a sound understanding of what it is like to be a manager, and you need to be able to establish credibility quickly. You need good relationship building/consultancy/coaching skills. I find it an endlessly fascinating job but I would say it's not a job you can learn easily. It takes a while to become proficient, you can learn the theory fairly easily but applying it in real life situations is harder. I'm still learning new things ten years on.

I'm surprised the NHS would take an advisor as entry level with no prior HR experience. Most HR advisors would have worked as HR administrators first, unless it is specifically a trainee position. It can be a hard field to break in to.

I'm not too sure from your post what your 'demonstrable relevant experience' is if you have not worked in this field before. Can you say a little more about what experience you have that you think will meet this criterion?
Above all good luck with your application.