Three years after your master’s, you are an HR officer. You have your files under control, managers come to you, and you are starting to wonder what comes next. Should you wait for a promotion, change company, specialise, aim for a manager role? There is no universal timetable, but there are typical trajectories, signals that tell you it is time to move, and ways of telling this progression that reassure recruiters. This article covers the first years after the master’s, moving up within the same company, changing employer, moving into management and how to make your progression readable on your CV.
The first years after the master’s
Time to learn
The first two or three years are used to acquire the techniques: applied employment law, personnel administration, recruitment, training, preparing meetings with employee representatives. It is also the period when you discover what you enjoy in the function, and what you enjoy less.
Generalist or specialist
Many first roles are generalist (HR officer, HR assistant, HR development officer), others are specialised (recruitment, payroll, training, compensation). Both lead to the HR manager role, but by different paths. Our article on the choice between HR generalist and specialist helps you decide.
What you need to build during this period
- autonomy over a scope (a site, a population, a process);
- a relationship of trust with managers;
- a first experience of employee relations, even in a support role;
- one or two projects you have led from start to finish: an onboarding process, a review campaign, a change of tool.
A useful marker
If you are doing exactly the same thing as when you arrived, after two years, with no new project or wider scope, that is a first signal.
Moving up within the same company
The advantages
Progressing internally has real advantages: you know the organisation, the managers know you, and your credibility is already built. An internal promotion often lets you take on responsibility earlier than outside, because the company has been able to observe your work.
How to prepare for it
- Ask for topics that widen your scope: a new site, an additional population, a cross-functional project.
- Make your work visible: present your projects yourself, suggest indicators, prepare summaries for your line manager.
- Talk about your plan at your annual review and career path review: a manager cannot support a move they do not know about.
- Prepare for the target role: take on, in a support capacity, tasks from the level above (preparing the CSE works council, supporting a reorganisation).
The limits
In a small organisation, there is sometimes only one HR manager role, already filled. In a large group, moves can be slow or conditional on geographic mobility. If several annual reviews go by with no concrete prospect, it is reasonable to look elsewhere.
Changing employer to change level
When it is the right time
Several signals indicate that changing company could speed up your trajectory:
- you have acquired the techniques and are no longer progressing;
- the role at the next level up is filled for the long term;
- you want to discover another environment (sector, size, culture);
- your pay is drifting away from what comparable roles offer.
Changing company size
Moving from a large group to a smaller company often lets you take on a manager role earlier, with a wider scope and fewer experts around you. Moving from a smaller company to a group brings methods, tools and specialisation. Both moves are defensible, and many HR managers have made at least one of them.
Changing sector
HR skills transfer well from one sector to another, but some knowledge counts: a complex collective agreement, intense social dialogue, jobs in short supply. Be ready to explain what you bring and what you will need to learn.
The consulting option
Some HR professionals spend a few years in HR consulting or transformation consulting before returning to a company at a higher level. This detour develops method, project management and the relationship with leadership teams; the CV of a management consultant 🔗 shows what these firms expect. Conversely, too long a stay in consulting can take you away from day-to-day operations.
Time in a role
There is no rule, but repeated very short stints worry recruiters. A role held long enough to lead projects and see their effects remains the best argument.
Becoming manager of an HR team
What changes
Becoming an HR manager with a team (assistants, officers, payroll administrators) means moving from “doing” to “getting things done”. You allocate files, set priorities, support and assess. You also have to arbitrate between requests from managers, leadership and employees.
The skills to develop
- organising a team’s work and priorities;
- delegating without losing control of sensitive matters;
- supporting your team members’ development;
- carrying leadership’s decisions to your team, even when you have debated them;
- managing a budget (training, recruitment, tools).
Preparing before you have the title
Mentoring a work-study student, supervising an intern, coordinating a project with several people, standing in for your manager during absences: these experiences prove you can manage, even before you have the title.
HRBP or HR manager
At this stage, two paths often open up: the HR manager, who runs a function and a team over a scope, and the HRBP, who supports a leadership team without necessarily managing a team. Our article HRBP or HR manager compares the two, and the one on how to become an HR director describes the rest of the path.
Making your progression readable on your CV
Showing progression within one company
If you have progressed internally, present each role separately, with its dates, under the company name. The recruiter immediately sees the progression.
Specialist retail group (1,500 people) HR manager, western network, since 2025 HR officer, then senior HR officer, 2021 to 2025
Showing a wider scope
For each role, state the scope: population, sites, managers, team. It is the best indicator of your growing responsibility.
Before
HR officer: recruitment, training, personnel administration.
After
HR officer for one logistics site, then for three sites in the region: recruitment, training plan and relations with local employee representatives; mentored a work-study student.
Explaining changes of employer
Your summary can sum up the logic of your career: “HR manager with experience in a large group and then a smaller company, who moved from recruitment to a generalist role.” The recruiter understands your choices without having to guess them.
Models
The HR officer CV example and the HR manager CV example illustrate two stages of this trajectory. When your CV is up to date, create it for free: the tool lays out your successive roles clearly, and the document stays readable by ATS, which split careers presented as timelines or charts badly.
Frequently asked questions
How long should you stay an HR officer before aiming for a manager role?
There is no typical length of time. The right moment depends on your autonomy, the projects you have led and your experience of employee relations. Many HR managers in smaller companies first worked for a few years as generalists.
Do you need a specialised master’s to become an HR manager?
A master’s in human resources or employment law is common, but experience is what counts most. Further training can help on a specific point, such as employment law or management.
Can you become an HR manager coming from recruitment?
Yes, provided you broaden your experience to personnel administration, training and employee relations. A generalist HR officer role can serve as a transition.
How do you negotiate an internal move?
Prepare facts: projects led, a wider scope, results, tasks from the level above already taken on. Present them at your annual review or career path review, with a precise proposal.