Laura S.
About me
| Laura S. | |
| Psychology | |
| Psychology | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Halifax | |
| 2007 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| HR Talent Lead | |
| Shell International | |
| Environment and energy | |
| 2007 | |
| £32500~7500 | |
| £65000~15000 |
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A day in the life of a HR Talent Lead in
Where I hope to be in 5 years
I am on a 5 year graduate development programme and I will progress to another role at the end of this year. Once I finish my 5 year programme, I will have the opportunity to apply with Shell and start my career in an area that has captured my interest.
My advice to students considering work
Do your research, tap into what interests you and prepare yourself to speak about yourself; think of things you have done as part of your course and socially to use as examples, an interview is a selling process - of you! Most importantly start planning in advance; many of the graduate schemes have applications and interviews throughout the final year and waiting until you graduate is too late. If you don't find a job immediately, don't give up; go and get some temporary work to pay the bills and see if you can make it in a related industry so that you have something to share with your prospective employers!
What I do
So far I have experienced 3 different types of HR Role so it is hard to generalise (I have been an HR Adviser for IT, an internal recruiter for Finance and now working on a Kazakhstan Joint Venture as a Talent Adviser).
However, to try and summarise; my HR roles have involved ensuring that the part of the business that I am supporting has the right people, in the right place, at the right time and that those people are given the opportunity to develop and grow and feel respected in their profession. This can vary from dealing with a disciplinary or redundancy case to proposing people for a leadership development programme, writing policies to support expansion in a new country joint venture and maintain awareness on issues such as diversity and inclusion.
Skills I use and how I developed them
Degree skills:
I am not directly using psychology and its concepts, however I learnt to work in teams, to communicate, to summarise effectively, work with data, read and consume large amounts of text with a purpose.
What I like most
I like that Shell has a very good relationship with its employees; I am treated as an adult and work-life balance really is valued. I like the scope of work that I am entrusted to perform and enjoy working on real issues that impact the employees within the company, ultimately boosting their productivity and the company's bottom line. I also get the chance to travel to new and exciting locations!
What I like least
Human Resources work can often be very data driven so much time can be spent in Excel! Although I am proficient at this having spent time using SPSS at University, for those who don't like data, it's not all about talking to people!
What would I change? I really am very happy with the scheme and the path so far. I got a job just out of University, I currently live and work in the Netherlands and am learning more every day!