HR Project Career: Iris Binder
It’s no coincidence that I ended up in HR. I was already interested in topics related to human resources during my studies in education and sociology, and I already knew then that I definitely wanted to gain professional experience in this field later on.
When I was able to find a working student position in Talent Management and Recruiting during the last third of my studies, it was quickly confirmed: I want to continue my career path in HR, preferably with a focus on recruiting. After graduating, I applied for jobs in recruiting at various staffing firms – including HR factory.
Well, and HR factory it has become. Today, two years later, I can say that I am very happy about my decision!
Project 1: Pharmaceutical Company
In my first project as a Junior HR Expert, I worked in a team with three other HR factorians at an international pharmaceutical company in the area of recruiting services (with a focus on applicant management). I was warmly welcomed by my colleagues right from the start and immediately felt at home in the team.
In this first project, I was able to apply and further develop a lot of my knowledge from my previous work-study activity. Our team was responsible for applicant communication, job advertisements and postings, maintenance of the HRM system, as well as organizing interviews and communicating with recruiters. In the process, we were always in contact with the HR business partners.
So the project was a great introduction to HR project work for me. My team was always open and helpful, I gained insight into the HR processes of an international group and was able to develop personally in the process.
Project 2: Dental Industry
But after the project, it was time for me to try something new! Fortunately, this is not a problem at HR factory, and is even desired. So now, instead of recruiting, I could focus more on administrative and generalist activities in HR work.
In my second project, I was responsible for the HR administration and support along the employee life cycle for about 140 employees in a medium-sized company in the dental industry. In this role, I had very versatile tasks. For example, I have been involved in onboarding and offboarding, various recruiting topics, reporting, internal trainings and internal communications, employer branding, and HR process optimization.
To be honest, the start of this project was a bit bumpy. After a few weeks of being “lost” however, I quickly grew into my new responsibilities. When many tasks, topics and processes are new to you (and the initial training in the project is sparse), you are inevitably thrown in at the deep end.
Ultimately, however, I was able to acquire a great deal of specialist HR expertise in a short space of time and also learn a lot on a personal level by working with a wide variety of personalities, so that at the end of the project I can look back on a challenging but also incredibly instructive time that has had a strong impact on my career to date.
Project 3: Public Institution
My third project was then a bit of a culture shock. I worked as an HR Specialist in a public corporation that provides various social services. Of course, I had to get used to the partly very outdated IT infrastructure, the long decision-making processes and an “old school” way of working with lots of paper.
In this project, my responsibilities included cross-functional personnel administration from A-Z. My last project had shown me that this subject area of HR suits me and is fun, so I wanted to gain more experience here. In addition to employee support and clerical work, I was assigned as a special project the processing of personnel and payroll-related issues such as (child) sick leave, the elimination of sick pay and the establishment of a process for querying eAUs. Because it took place completely in-house at the customer, I was also able to gain valuable insights into the topic of payroll.
In addition, I was able to contribute my previous experience from the “modern working world” and thus also support the team in an advisory capacity. In addition, I support the digitalization processes of the HR department and gained experience in collective bargaining law and in cooperation with the staff council. The extremely warm and appreciative team made me feel at home there very quickly. Ultimately, working in a social service agency in general has given me exciting insights into the industries of nursing, education, rescue, and other services.
Project 4: Chemical Company
My current and fourth project is in an international chemical company headquartered in my hometown Geretsried. In this role, I run the HR department for about 190 employees together with the HR manager. In addition to my daily to-dos in HR work, I have already been able to gain exciting insights into chemical collective bargaining law, the various company agreements and the handling of short-time work. What’s new for me in this role, by the way, is that I’m now responsible for the pre- and post-payroll myself – so we’ve come full circle.
In my fourth project I was once again very warmly received, have great pleasure in my work and am excited about the time ahead! For my future, I plan to continue working in a generalist capacity and to complete further training as a personnel officer in order to expand my knowledge in the areas of labor law, personnel development, personnel remuneration and controlling, and personnel management.
Summary
After two years at HR factory, I can say that I am absolutely happy and grateful to be a part of our project house. At HR factory, you have a secure job and, thanks to the project work, you still have the freedom and flexibility to shape your career according to your own wishes, to develop yourself and to try out different areas. It is not only the professional experience that is important to me, but also the cooperation with the different personalities in the companies.
I was able to draw a lot of positive professional and interpersonal benefits from each project. At the beginning, I would not have thought that after two years I would look back on so many great experiences and such a steep learning curve – all my expectations were exceeded! HR factory also has a very special corporate culture at eye level and each employee is seen as an individual. Besides that, there is a great network of other HR experts to exchange ideas. The regular exchange with my manager during my assignments is also absolutely valuable for me.
So there is never a dull moment in project work and I am looking forward to many more learnings!