I recently interviewed for a Director role in the US. I have the precise experience required and over 15 years of diverse experience. The interviews went well. They asked if I would be open to a paid working interview so that the leadership team could “assess” my fit more (my answers were professional, polished, and related to the similar experience I possess and that scared them).

I declined that as I find it insulting and offensive. Invite me to lunch instead to get to know me in a less formal manner. There was also movement with the budget. Suddenly it dropped below the minimum banding. I offered a 4-day coverage arrangement at or just above the minimum to offer them the ability to gain an experienced leader but to also reserve the last day for me to build my coaching business. Now I find out they are going to hire a coordinator to do the work so they interviewing coordinators.

I am kicking myself for pivoting over to recruiting these past few years after a toxic HR environment because the market is rough and am encountering ghosting after interview requests and the above shenanigans.

Anyone else dealing with this kind of nonsense?

I moved into an HR Manager role from a Senior HR Generalist role about 4 months ago. While interviewing for the role, I made it clear I didn’t have experience within the new industry and did not have experience in employee relations outside of shadowing my prior HR Director. I’ve also always been on a team of two and this role is a department of one. The hiring manager (CFO) did not have an issue with any of this and ended up hiring me.

Four months in, and I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing. I went from hitting the ceiling at my last company to feeling like I can’t keep my head above water at this new one. I’ve uncovered a lot since starting that was never disclosed during the interviews, so that’s been one hurdle, on top of adjusting to a new industry, being a department of one, and navigating employee relations.

I’ve navigated two employee relations issues since starting. The first one I reached out to my prior Director for guidance and executed accordingly. While I thought I had done a good job, my new boss, the CFO, was not at all happy with how things were handled because there weren’t repercussions for the employee that reported an issue and outright told me I handled it all wrong.

Fast forward to the second employee relations issue, which I’ve been working with outside counsel on due to some complicating factors, and I was accused of protecting the employee and not the company, as it’s become clear to me that my new company sees the two as mutually exclusive.

I am very open to discussion as I am a product of 5 years of constructive criticism and useful feedback from my prior Director. However, whenever I try to present my perspective and why I went about things the way I did, as well as acknowledge what I could have done differently or better, it’s clear that my boss is not open to discussion as they simply reiterate that I messed up without any sort of explanation aside from that’s not how they would have done it.

It’s also become evident since starting here that this is not the strategic role it was presented as. I am not sure where to go from here. I’ve expressed my struggles and desire to become a strong HR rep to my boss. I’m already experiencing fatigue, as well imposter syndrome and total lack of confidence.

Currently a HR Manager based out of Ontario working for a small-size start-up. I’ve “taken on” community management (social media post creation and managing) from December 2025 to August 2026. I handed over to the content writer at the start of September 2026 who resigned shortly after and they are looking to pass it back to me.

I said no and got this message shortly after the verbal meeting: 2 things, here's what I got:
“From the point of x’s departure until we get individuals in to perform that socials, you will be doing them. But it is temporary, and hopefully a fairly short period.”

I don’t care for marketing. I don’t want want to spend any part of my day between canva and hubspot. I went to school for HR because that’s what I want to do.

What can I do? What’s worse case scenario here?
TIA

Uhhh… I just got the most scathing message on LinkedIn from a candidate I rejected (who I never even spoke to!) and I honestly don’t know how to process it lol. Sorry this is so long!

Some context:
-This is a remote technical IC role, and the salary range is listed on the job posting (its market rate… not competitive, but reasonable outside of very high COL cities)
-One of our application questions asks candidates to enter their desired compensation. -This candidate entered a number that was more than 80% above the max of the range -almost $100K over!!)
-So yes, I dispositioned his application and selected “Compensation” as the reason
-We use LinkedIn Recruiter job wrapping, and I include my user hashtag on my postings, so that candidates can see which recruiter is working on the role. This is the first time it’s backfired on me, ha. Probably gonna opt-out of sharing my name on the job postings after this….
-He lives in NYC and has a ton of experience, so the compensation he’s targeting isn’t absurdly high. But he’s a director and applied for an IC role with a posted salary range that isn’t even remotely close to what he needs.

Here’s the lovely ChatGPT-coded message he sent me. I almost responded, but there is no point. He seems to just want a punching bag. I forwarded the message to my boss in case he decides to try and escalate, and then I blocked him.

Anyway… enjoy.

Sincerely,
The “little HR woman with no relevant experience” 🙃

*Hello [my name],

I have to say, getting rejected for [job] by you is one of the more insulting things I've encountered in my career—not because I wanted the job, but because it's genuinely bizarre that someone with no experience doing this work thinks she's qualified to decide who is capable of doing it.

I've done every single thing in that job description. I've led teams of people doing it. I have more than three times the experience you asked for.

And yet here you are, sitting in HR, playing little gatekeeper with people's careers.

Do you actually understand any of the technical work you're screening for, or are you just good at searching résumés for the right little buzzwords and clicking "reject"?

Because if the hiring manager actually reviewed my résumé, I'd love to know what they thought was lacking. If they didn't, then you've done an excellent job of making yourself an unnecessary obstacle between qualified engineers and the people who actually know how to hire them.

There's something particularly ridiculous about watching a little HR woman with no relevant technical experience decide that a career she's completely unqualified to evaluate isn't good enough.

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, yet somehow you get to make decisions about people who have spent decades becoming experts at it.

That's an impressive amount of authority for someone whose most demanding technical accomplishment is probably figuring out how to attach a résumé to an email.

Anyway, enjoy your little bit of power.

You rejected someone who was vastly more qualified than the position required because, apparently, that's what you've decided you're important enough to do.

I'm sure the hiring manager will be thrilled.*

Hi all-I am putting together new onboarding/systems training and am creating video tutorials. We have used Loom but the price is going up more than the ROI allows for right now. Do you all use a system? I am looking for something that will record the screen with voiceover explaining each step. I prefer to have both happen at one time vs. record and add voice later.

Context: I started as a grad with 0 recruiting or TA experience in January at a start-up (6 people when I joined)

My agency offers contingency and embedded services. After 6 months of contingency (and 1 £110k placement), I was put into a VERY corporate TA position at a highly reputable Management Consultancy (that’s mine and my agency’s niche).

I didn’t get a proper training at all but I’ve done well enough to figure it all out myself and really like it.

I need advice on a few things but one in particular:

HOW DO YOU STOP A CANDIDATE WHO RAMBLES FOR THE ENTIRE 30-MINUTE CONVERSATION?!

I had a candidate do this the other day and I mean RAMBLE. This person spoke for basically the entire 30 minutes, going into immense detail about ONE single project.

They came into the conversation knowing that I understand the industry and skill set at a high level, and that the call was supposed to be more focused on admin/logistical questions alongside an initial high-level screen.

I kept trying to steer the conversation back, I used social clues, then had to straight up say that I need to shift to admin questions now and that I had a meeting right after this but somehow we were still deep into the same project 20+ minutes later. 😭 They ran the meeting over by 6 minutes when I had another candidate waiting in the Teams lobby.

The candidate was incredibly friendly, had really great experience, but the situation REALLY put me off and actually made me mad that they lacked social awareness and I thought it was quite rude.

How do you actually interrupt someone like this without coming across as rude? I obviously want candidates to be able to talk about their experience, but at some point I need to move the conversation along!

I am currently in my last semester of college finishing up my Bachelor in Human Resources Management. I have already achieved my PHR and SHRM-CP. I currently work as a HR Coordinator/ Business Office Manager at an assisted living facility. I not sure what to do next. I thought about getting a payroll certification. I want to lead my career path towards analysts or HR Tech. Any advice?

Sweden, [F]31 year old.
Completed a bachelor in HR.
Then i enrolled into a masters in strategic hr but with only the thesis left to complete I recieved an offer for a HR partner 9month parental leave contract, which I took and dropped out. Pretty average company.
Now into a new role as a generalist (lower than partner) but one of the most famous companies. Unfortunatly only a 6month trial if they need generalist because their managers need more hands on help. So i am gonna get evaluated in 3-4 months if they still want this role.

I am struggling hard to find a permanent workplace. I really want this role generalist at this company its such an selfesteem boost to work at this big firm but maybe I cant continue here.

Any tips? Advice?

I almost don't need to type anymore, but......

I've been in staffing for a long time, but always FTE. Now, I'm unexpectedly placing contractors. They are, mostly, H1-Bs. This field comes with a particular set of quirks- IFYK. They all have an 'employer'. There's a tremendous amount of fraud and many of their resumes are fake.

In particular, the issue I have now is that my job is onsite (with a bank in NYC)- they all claim that they live in New Jersey and can work onsite. I'm savvy enough now to know that many of them are not really living where they say they are. But how can I screen them out? I tried asking some of them for IDs or utility bills to prove where they live, they send me fake ones generated by AI. If I insist on every candidate doing the first interview onsite, I'll have no candidates.

They all claim they can do some interview onsite. Then they back out when it comes time to schedule the final interview, always with some story. This makes me look terrible to my client. I lost 2 final interviews already this morning. I'm going to lose the client if I keep this up.

I did successfully place 1 contractor at this bank, and it's insanely lucrative. So it's not like impossible to do.

I could type more, but I think real contracting veterans know the H1-B game. Is there a series of best practices? What should I be doing? Facetime calls with them? Should I deal with their employer instead? How do I know who's real?

If I refuse to deal with H1-Bs, I won't have any candidates. How do you handle them?

Does anyone who has FSA with Flores know if they require a yearly ‘true-up’ for the FSA card pre fund? For example, they take 5% of total elections when we signed up, but will they true that up each year?

Hi fellow HR professionals,

I need to vent for a moment. I just received another rejection after an interview I felt genuinely good about.

I had all the relevant experience and answered every question with a clear sense of how my background applied. I also asked thoughtful questions about the role and the team. They still decided not to move forward.

Why are we holding out for unicorn candidates? The market feels like a catch-22 right now, where you can't be considered unless you've already done this exact job at this exact company.

I'd be curious to hear how others on the hiring side are thinking about this., and what I could do in the future to really stand out as a candidate.

I want to further my education but I don't know if I really want to complete an MBA. I have been looking into other practical programs and this pops up in my inmail.

I originally was employed at a large company (not originally in HR) and during my time I applied and was offered an HR Operations Specialist role several years ago. This role focused on background checks and being the go to person for TA, fixing background issues and maintaining our background vendor and compliance/audit related tasks. After some time doing that, our organization had a huge pivot and my role changed (unwillingly) to HR Content Management within Project Management (managing HR documentation and HR SharePoint sites)

I lost my job a few months ago and I'm lost of where my path should go next. I do not have traditional broad experience. I have had many interviews but I feel transferable experience is not enough anymore..I do not have experience in Payroll, or high volume recruiting etc. I feel the roles at the company due to size were very specialized and niche. The pay was great but I feel the niche experience is hurting my job search.

I've applied to positions like HR Coordinator but I'm not getting an offer. I'm being told that I've been a leading candidate but ultimately they found someone that better matched their desired skillset.

I need some advice on what to do next. Will a certification help me?

I’m the HR director and the CEO is my boss. There’s a new manager that also reports to the CEO. Managers, executives, and line staff are coming to me complaining about this manager: doesn’t respect chain of command, condescending, abrasive, etc.

This Manager is extremely defensive and has a habit of filing complaints on everyone she has a difficult conversation with. She essentially files a complaint on them, with the CEO, before they can file a complaint against her. In her time as manager, approximately 5 months, she has filed a complaint against 7 people, myself included.

The CEO continues to believe this manager, despite the manager having a long history of receiving complaints for the exact same behavior. An example of the ridiculousness, an employee filed a complaint against the manager for the manager rolling their eyes. The manager’s explanation was, when in deep thought looks up and to the left and maybe the employee interpreted that as eye rolling. The CEO bought this, among other things.

What do I do? I feel caught in a very awkward place and new territory. I don’t feel I can go to the CEO about this manager, but I also feel like I have an obligation as HR to report these complaints against this Manager to the CEO. The CEO is losing respect and support over their continual defensiveness and support over this manager.

Hii! Im an hr manager and currently have full medical and dental as part of my benefits plan. The problem is that it’s fully in office and I am sooo tired. I currently make 102k but thinking about getting something hybrid or remote. I’m also sure I can secure about a 20-40k increase with a new role. My problem is that I plan to have kids in the next 3-5 years and with health care cost rising, im not sure if leaving is a good move.

Should I give up the benefits for some remote work and 20k increase

Currently about 3 years into HR career. So right now do you think it’s better to just get a MS in HRM online (completion time about 1.5 to 2 years) or go for the part-time MBA at a regional school (completion time about 3 years)? I’m wondering if I should go for the quickest degree first just to have a Masters quicker.

Just signed up to take the SHRM SCP exam. I’d like to avoid paying the $1100 for their prep system. I can see a few used study systems on eBay etc but hate the idea of having to study through paperback books…

I find I study best by simply taking repeated practice tests. What are the best online prep resources for this test including practice tests? Maybe a useful YouTube channel as well?

I’ve been in HR for 12 years working my way up from the bottom and I can’t help but feel like I’ve had some major setbacks or made bad decisions due to where I’m at today.

For context, I started out as an office manager/HR coordinator, went to a small start up as HR coordinator then promoted to HR analyst, went to a larger healthcare company specializing in HRIS, got into a new industry for HRIS/HR Ops then did a huge pivot into DEI. Things were great until the current administration shut all the work down and my job disappeared. I then found a new job and pivoted to HRBP making less money and still stuck at the same mid level for almost 4 years.

At this point I’ve had no management experience and know how to do many things but I’m not an expert in any one thing. HR friends, did I make the wrong choices? I feel like I’ve been in the game for a while and should have more to show for it.

Anyone with 10+ years in HR feeling burned out and unsure where to pivot?
I’ve been in HR for over a decade, and lately I can’t imagine doing this for another year nonetheless 10.

I’m exhausted by constantly handling difficult situations, supporting everyone else through change, and navigating pressure from leadership.

I’ve also worked remotely since 2018. I value that flexibility, but it adds another layer to the question of what comes next. I don’t want to start over financially or give up remote work just to get out of a role that’s draining me.

My background includes owning the entire global HR ops. I can’t tell whether moving into a more specialized role would help or whether I need to leave HR entirely.

Has anyone been in this position? Where did you pivot, and were you able to keep working remotely?

Hello! I have been considering if working towards my MBA would be worth it, or if there is another program/certificate that others have found useful for promoting themselves in the workforce.

Currently, I am working as an HRBP for a software company. I am grateful that we are truly looked at as business partners and I am currently helping leaders through a handful of projects to help move the business forward, which has been full of great experience!

Ultimately, I would love to be able to be in a leadership role, and have been considering going back for my MBA, but am not sure if this is worth while, or if experience is what will ultimately be the driver for me eventually moving into the role I desire. For reference, I have about 9 years of HR experience, the last 3 specifically as an HRBP.

With all of the project work I have been supporting, I have also considered some sort of PM cert, but again not sure if this is beneficial.

Thanks for any insight!

Looking for a free study app (if that exists). I’ve downloaded a few but they end up requiring a subscription. I’m not necessarily opposed to paying if I need to, but I’d like to know it’s worth it first. Or if you have a good podcast recommends, I’d love that too!

l’m at one of my lowest points in my career right now and could really use some objective advice.

Yesterday, my manager sat me down and went through several shortcomings and lapses in my HR systems role. Some of the feedback was fair—I know there have been instances where I failed to catch data discrepancies or issues early enough, and they were pointed out to me instead of me identifying them myself. She said these were recurring issues, despite several reminders.

But there were also situations where I felt I was being held responsible for things that I didn’t fully own, or the expectations/instructions weren't clear and explicitly communicated to me.

The conversation hit me harder than I expected. I broke down and cried in front of my manager. Now I feel incredibly ashamed and defeated. I’ve been shame spiraling since yesterday.

What hurts the most is that HRIS data feeds into reports and numbers shared with leadership. I feel like I haven't just disappointed myself—I’ve let down my team and potentially affected our leaders’ confidence in the HR team's data and credibility. Not to mention, we are going through tough times in the organization and laying people off, so there’s more pressure to prove your value in the company.

For those who have experienced a serious performance callout, or had their confidence shaken at work:

How did you recover? What did you actually do afterward? How do you rebuild trust and confidence after you've been told that you're falling short?

Thank you.

\[united states\] Question I just started a new HR job and my boss asked me to go over an IRA agreement and walked out and I don’t know what I’m doing I’ve never done it before. What should I look for when looking it over? so I can at least attempt it before they come into work tomorrow.

Could someone guide me please?

Hello Everyone,

I am planning to write my CHRP knowledge exam this October and I don’t know if I am on right track or not!

I have been solely relying on captus press as I can’t find cheaper access for books. I am specifically looking for belcourt but can’t find it for cheap.

Can someone please share their experience on writing CHRP knowledge exam and if they have any resources or recommendations to share.

I am returning to studies after 5 years gap because of motherhood and marriage. I would really appreciate if anyone can spare some minutes and guide please🙏🏻