Has GDPR put an end to unpaid Work Experience?

ltdslipdiff

So the OH has been on a CE scheme whilst completing a HR course. She needs work experience to have any chance of getting in to HR but this is proving impossible. She can't even get any unpaid work! I'm wondering if it's fears of GDPR infringements? She has 20 years of retail management experience and went back to education to try get in to HR. As the kids are all of school age she was hoping to get out of late night and weekend work associated with the retail roles. Any suggestions or tips greatly appreciated.

OMM 0000

It has nothing to do with GDPR.

Your wife is experiencing ageism.

If she removes her age and previous experience from her CV, she'll get called to interviews.

ltdslipdiff

Is a blank CV with no work experience or age going to set off alarm bells? I've suggested removing the HR course as it seems knowing too much about HR workers rights etc is a bad thing in employers eyes? Also she's not exactly an old woman,she's in her early 40's.
She doesn't have her age on the CV as it turns out.....

JustJoe7240

ltdslipdiff wrote: »

I've suggested removing the HR course as it seems knowing too much about HR workers rights etc is a bad thing in employers eyes? Also she's not exactly an old woman,she's in her early 40's.

It's not at all the case, if she wants to have any hope of getting a job in a HR dept, she'll need to show she has a qualification. What a lot of people don't realise, is HR workers are working in the interest of the employer and not the employee

OMM 0000

If she doesn't have her age on her CV, but she has 20+ years working in a shop, she's basically telling them her age.

40s is considered old by employers.

Is her HR course a degree?

Squatman

ltdslipdiff wrote: »

Is a blank CV with no work experience or age going to set off alarm bells? I've suggested removing the HR course as it seems knowing too much about HR workers rights etc is a bad thing in employers eyes? Also she's not exactly an old woman,she's in her early 40's.
She doesn't have her age on the CV as it turns out.....

she wants to work in HR and you told her to remove HR from her CV? is that correct?

ltdslipdiff

Squatman wrote: »

she wants to work in HR and you told her to remove HR from her CV? is that correct?

No apologies, of course not. She has applied for other jobs,in particularly high staff turnover centres and I felt the HR might go against her.

ltdslipdiff

And no not a degree, a Diploma, she does have a lot of HR experience with her previous Retail roles, but no qualifications as such. The HR Roles she's applied for have been HR Assistant/Admin Roles.

Diziet

If she is not getting interviews, she needs to really work on her CV, get it reviewed, get advice, read up about it, etc. Also look carefully at the job description and make sure the keywords absolutely jump out from her CV. It's nothing to do with GDPR, most likely a combination of the jobs she is going for and the current CV. Keep working at it and good luck.

ltdslipdiff

Diziet wrote: »

If she is not getting interviews, she needs to really work on her CV, get it reviewed, get advice, read up about it, etc. Also look carefully at the job description and make sure the keywords absolutely jump out from her CV. It's nothing to do wit GDPR, most likely a combination of the jobs she is going for and the current CV. Keep working at it and good luck.

Just to clarify, its the unpaid work experience within a HR role she's looking for. I think she's accepted that she's not going to get any kind of a HR job without having some sort of recent experience in it.

Thank you for the help and heres hoping for success soon !

Diziet

Paid or unpaid, she should treat them with the same seriousness. Work on your CV is never wasted. And actually there is no harm in going for paid positions either. If you don't apply you don't get anywhere :-)

skallywag

I am not sure how you may think that there could be any GDPR relationship to this.

Anyway, if I understand correctly then your OH is now trying to move into a HR role, while her previous 20 years of work experience have little or nothing to do with this. Is this correct?

If it is, then I would imagine that she may find it very difficult. Entry level positions will typically be taken by employees who are much younger (I do not mean to say in any way that someone in their early 40s is old, but from a perspective of someone in their early 20s it will appear so).

Is there any way that some of the previous 20 years experience can be possibly sold as HR relevant?

ltdslipdiff

Yes absolutely, her previous retail managerial roles involved hiring and interviewing of staff, training, ongoing appraisals/annual reviews, disciplinary's and departing interviews. Unfortunately no paperwork/qualifications to back this up at that time though.

Squatman

ltdslipdiff wrote: »

Yes absolutely, her previous retail managerial roles involved hiring and interviewing of staff, training, ongoing appraisals/annual reviews, disciplinary's and departing interviews. Unfortunately no paperwork/qualifications to back this up at that time though.

presumably her CV reflects this?

Just to echo what the others have said, tailor the CV for each particular role. HAve an executive summary of sorts as the intro to her CV, highlighting what youve said above, and add in, "keen to learn new skills, broaden knowledge base, quick learner, people management skills, Disciplinary process experience, good practical and hands on experience etc"

Keep CV to 2 pages, make references available on request, then play the waiting game,!

angel eyes 2012

Ironically, she should add to her skillset by undertaking a course on Data Protection and the GDPR. HR units require significant knowledge and expertise in this area. Certainly wouldn't hurt to have some basic level course done. It will massively enhance her CV and will stand out to potential employers.

R.D. aka MR.D

If you're in Dublin has she tried getting a clerical role in the civil service. Very few people want to go into HR in the C.S so if she expressed her interest once she got through all the tests etc and got placed, she would have a really really good chance. Excellent opportunities then for further educational development.

I'm not sure which competitions are live at the moment but she could keep her eye on publicjobs.ie

TheShow

I cant see what GDPR would have to do with this?

angel eyes 2012

TheShow wrote: »

I cant see what GDPR would have to do with this?

It has nothing to do with it.

I suspect the OP cited the GDPR as he considered that staff were no longer being offered work experience due to enhanced security obligations of businesses around personal data. Employers can still provide work experience opportunities by ensuring that work experience staff sign an agreement stating they are aware of their data protection responsibilities.

Jim2007

OMM 0000 wrote: »

It has nothing to do with GDPR.

Your wife is experiencing ageism.

If she removes her age and previous experience from her CV, she'll get called to interviews.

And then she will waist her time going through the process only to get rejected in any case. If any employer does not want to employ someone over a certain age they will not do it. The only one you fool in this game is yourself.

OMM 0000

Jim2007 wrote: »

And then she will waist her time going through the process only to get rejected in any case. If any employer does not want to employ someone over a certain age they will not do it. The only one you fool in this game is yourself.

I agree. I never said she'd get the job.

On a related note, some job websites used to advise employers to put "mature person" when they don't want to hire young people, or "heavy lifting required" when they don't want to hire women.