Darcy is an HR Advisor for a law firm with offices near London Bridge station. She reports directly to the Head of HR and we asked her to share with us some of the nitty-gritty about her role as an HR Advisor. While we often, as an office support recruitment agency in London, have HR Advisor roles available, it is useful for candidates to learn more about the role from someone doing the job.
A career in HR
I came to the position of HR Advisor after previously being a senior HR Administrator for a similarly sized law firm. It’s quite useful to have industry-specific knowledge in HR and I enjoy working within the recruitment sector. I am part of a 12 person HR department, providing HR support across the business. I am CIPD accredited and within my role I am working on my development to become fully qualified.
Day to day, what are your responsibilities?
In HR, the responsibilities are broad. In general, my role is to provide all internal and external parties with HR support as needed. In reality, most of my time is spent supporting senior partners with the HR functioning of their business. My role is generalist and this means that I offer support across all areas of HR including recruitment, learning and development, employment law, employee engagement, payroll and benefits and more.
Can you tell us what you do on an average day?
In HR, there’s rarely such a thing as an average day! At the moment, I am working to create the company’s working parent policy and this is completely new. As such, this involves quite a lot of research and also discussion with partners about what they hope to achieve and offer. Alongside this, I have been dipping in and out of interviews for new graduates who will be joining us in the next few months. I coordinate the graduate recruitment scheme, so this is a busy time of year for me.
What do you enjoy most about your role as an HR Advisor?
I really enjoy the variety involved in working within HR and knowing that I can help to shape the organisation from the inside. I enjoy being involved with many different people in many different ways.
What do you not enjoy about your role?
Generally, I really love what I do. I find assessment days for graduate recruitment quite fraught. I feel for every candidate and want them to do their best so it’s hard having to say “no” to young candidates who don’t quite make the cut. The nerves in the room are always palpable. However, it’s part of my role to put everyone at ease and ensure that people show their best selves.
What skills are essential in your role?
Being a strong administrator with exceptional organisational skills is important. In addition, discretion is an absolute must in HR. For example, I get to read everyone’s appraisals, or can easily view pay data. Knowing how to manage highly confidential information professionally is a must. Being amenable but having strong boundaries is also important for being successful in this role.
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