Career Story
What do you do?
My role is as a generalist HR Officer. However, I predominantly oversee the recruitment process for Edinburgh & Lothians, Dundee, and Scottish Borders. This part of my role is to ensure we adhere to Safer Recruitment, which means making sure that the staff we hire are suitable to work with children and young people whilst providing high standards of support.
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What surprised you about working here?
I was very surprised by the office culture. On my first day in the office, I bumped into the chief executive in the kitchen and we chatted away for 15 minutes. It was only after that someone told me who I had been speaking to.
I instantly felt that I didn’t need to walk on eggshells and that anyone and everyone was up for a conversation. This really helped me settle into my role and get over that anxiety when starting a new job.
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What’s the work/life balance like?
The work/life balance is great. As a team, we regularly check in with each other to make sure we are all doing okay and managing workloads. This really helps to make sure that 9 am till 5 pm are the work hours. After that, I can switch off knowing I’m on top of my work.
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Do you have any top tips for someone considering a career in HR?
As this was my first role in HR after studying at university, I would tell people not to get too overwhelmed with all the policies and procedures. By far, this was the most daunting part for me. But, like everything, after a couple of weeks, it was totally normal.
To find out more about the responsibilities of the role, read the job description.
