So I made my way down to Bristol yesterday all hyped up and ready to dazzle the exhibitors at the Bristol Expo with my HR Administration brilliance only to find when I got there that it was predominantly aimed at the IT/Engineering mob!
Disappointed and downhearted I trudged to the refreshments area to devise Plan B...After a couple of cups of coffee confidence I decided to soldier on, implement newly formed Plan B and any impress them anyway, whether they liked it or not!
I approached a few Companies who were clearly not interested and fobbed me off with some literature and a 'refer to our website' but I also approached a few who were in the market for some Security Cleared HR people and were genuinely curious about my Military Service and were keen to learn more. After some good networking I dished out a few copies of my CV and left.
Once back in Leeds I emailed each Company individually and thanked them for their time ensuring I named the Company representative I'd spoken to.
Although I didn't gain what I expected from the Expo it has shown me that I am not always going to get what I want in this new Civilian life and if I want to be successful in HR I am going to have to be robust, have a Plan B and work my socks off to get there!
Comments
Wonderful to see you enter the world of blogging Lucy and great to hear you were inspired by Janet's first blog. There are loads of reasons to blog but primarily for me it's about sharing experiences or knowledge and in the process of doing this you can reflect on what you've done and learn from it.
It's great to see you stuck with it although a shame the obvious enthusiasm couldn't get the recognition it deserved on the day, still, being able to think through situations and create a plan b is something that is a skill in itself and important for HR professionals as you've identified.
I think this can also work both ways though as whilst you went there expecting something else you did have some good conversations and you've done the right thing by following up and in my experience you never know where meeting new people will go or what could be round the corner as a result from an impromptu and unplanned meeting. Sometimes opportunities arise from the most unusual places. You never know just be yourself and see what happens.
Keep pulling those socks up and look forward to your next installment :-)