HR is not Big Brother!

If you are unsatisfied with your current position or your career and therefore are looking to make a switch but maybe not very far, working with your company's HR department may be an effective strategy to uncover available opportunities in your current company itself. Recently I myself was looking for a change out of my technical position into an administrative position for example. Contacting with the jobs database manager at my organization's HR department allowed me to bypass the usual steps needed to apply for a job at my organization, and simply put in a transfer application along with my resume instead, which in turn greatly sped up my own job hunt. In this manner the HR department of your employer is there is to help retain existing employees first and foremost. For job seekers, working with HR is often the first step in the job hunt of course. It is advisable for the seeker to maintain good relations with whoever they contact with in HR. For the initial point of contact is often responsible for determining whether to recommend or pass on the application. And even if you are unable to get far with your first application, you may be able to get referrals to other positions in the firm from HR.