Over the past year, I found myself finishing a 3-year
Bachelor of Business at UTS, working part-time in a medical practice as well as
at the concierge desk of my local Westfield, all while frantically looking for
a graduate job. I knew the best way to kick start my career was to get ahead of
the pack and land my first role within an HR team. A plan, that at times seemed easier than initially thought!
"Hi, I’m Simone… probably should have started with that! I
recently completed my Bachelor of Business, majoring in HR and celebrated my 21st
birthday last month. Many of my friends would describe me as happy, loud… in fact very loud, sometimes funny, talkative and the mother of the group. I think it’s
the loud and talkative qualities that have always drawn me to customer service type roles. So, when deciding where to focus my studies, Human Resources seemed to be
a natural choice; a career path where I could build relationships and foster
positive cultures.
 |
| My 21st Birthday & beautiful desk decorations |
In the first semester of my last year at UTS, I thought it
was time to get serious about my job search. I applied to multiple graduate
programs that involved centralised numerical testing as the first hurdle of the
application. It was weeks of endless cover letters, tests and rejections that
pushed me to look beyond.
After all, applying to job ads, isn’t the only way to job
search. I asked my friends and families to put the word out that I was looking for a
job in HR, and sure enough I got a bite! Through an elaborate array of
connections, I found SFG and well, I haven’t really looked back.
I was contacted by, my now close colleague, Courtney, to talk
about my experience and then invited for an interview. It was a breath of fresh
air to be given a chance to talk and actually connect with a person. Before my
interview I prepared by learning about the company inside out; I read about
SFG’s history and their SHIRT values.
Despite it being an interview, I experienced the relaxed and
friendly culture I have come to know at SFG as soon as I entered the room. We
spoke about many different aspects of my experience, both on and off my resume. I may have gotten slightly sidetracked on
a horse riding story from 2009, but luckily they didn’t seem to mind! Although, I think
my winning line was “I feel like I have only learnt 5% of the HR profession from my degree and
the rest I will learn in a job like this”.
Skip ahead to my first day as the new Recruitment Administrator and everyone was lovely; I was
introduced to over 30 people in a bustling HR team and managed to remember only one name… my
manager says it’s a New Year’s resolution I should work on! The rest of the day
consisted of me getting to know my team through 1:1 chats about how recruitment
works and what my role would entail.
It took a little while but soon I started to feel confident in my
role; i was willing to be thrown in the deep end and my team had no problem with
that. I definitely made some mistakes, but I had not only my team but others in
my office to teach and guide me, which if you ask me is the best way to learn.
I remember at about the three-month mark my colleague Lucy
realised I didn’t delete or file emails… it was clear I hadn’t worked for a big
company before, I had over 2,000 emails sitting in my inbox. Although, I was
quickly reassured by some other colleagues that they had over 3,000 i knew being organised was a key requirement for me to stay on top in my bust role. Rest assured, all
of you organised, detail oriented types, I am proud to
announce I currently have 3 emails in my inbox… progress!
 |
| My stint on reception! |
I have enjoyed every new experience and challenge thrown my
way at SFG, even the day I was asked by my manager to cover for the receptionist
who had called in sick. Naturally, everyone thought being a receptionist at a
medical practice would be the same as a 450 employee support office. Despite my
state of terror, it was a great test of those transferable skills we talk about
on our resume. If not just to help me learn some of the hundreds names at SFG.
Although I won’t lie, I was definitely happy to return to my
comfy chair in the HR office. Right now I am immersing myself in everything I
can, becoming more confident in what I know and taking in all that is new. I
feel so lucky to be a part of a team that invests in my learning and growth. I
can’t wait to expand my understanding of HR in 2017."
