Jess’ drive to help others inspired her move into HR. Following experience as a disability support worker, she became an HR Administrator within the disability sector. Jess’ relocation from Melbourne to Perth timed with Employii’s need for an HRO, which is where their story began.

What is working at Employii like?

"Employii has a very supportive learning environment that allows for career progression. I started as a HR officer and have now moved through being a junior consultant towards just a consultant.

Duties and tasks is dependent on what the client is after, but I feel like Ella balances everyone's client list so the consultants have variety whilst playing to people's strengths. I've got a range of clients in different portfolios and different industries.

A lot of the duties when I started was focusing on the IR side - such as contracts, pay, job descriptions, policies - and now has moved into managing people and portfolios myself.

It is a very autonomous role because we all have our own portfolios, so we can manage our clients as we see fit. You have the freedom to manage your calendar and your workloads as needed."

How has your role changed since being at Employii?

"I began as an HR Officer in January 2024 before transitioning into a Junior HRC role. Since then, I’ve been on a structured progression plan towards becoming a Consultant. As part of that development, I meet with Ella twice a week to review progress, discuss questions, and build capability. The progression has been structured in stages, and I’m currently in Stage 3. I continue to take on more tasks as I gain confidence and experience, allowing my knowledge to grow steadily.

As an HR Officer, my main focus was supporting the consultants. I worked closely with Hollie, Ella, and Cass, particularly early on. The role involved preparing contracts, job descriptions, policies, and employee handbooks; foundational work that helped me build a strong base.

As I transitioned to Junior HRC, the responsibilities didn’t drastically change, but I began to take more ownership. Since then, I've become more involved in performance management, wage assessments, and small-scale projects. While IR-related work still forms part of my role, I’ve expanded into more complex and varied tasks.

In the HRO role, I had limited direct client interaction—mainly handling straightforward matters like employee handbooks or basic contract queries. Over time, I began to sit in on client meetings with consultants, then gradually took the lead myself. Now, I manage my own meetings and only involve a Consultant if needed. I’ve also attended client sites alongside HRCs, which has helped deepen my practical understanding. My exposure to more complex areas - like awards and compliance - has grown as I’ve progressed. These topics come with their own challenges and nuances that I’ve learned to navigate.

Initially, the biggest challenge was learning industrial relations, as university tends to focus more on theory than application. Contracts, policies, and wage assessments were all new to me in practice. As I’ve progressed, the challenge has shifted to managing a client portfolio, keeping on top of billable hours, and ensuring everything runs efficiently and smoothly.

When I was an HRO, I loved how much I was learning - I got exposure to a wide variety of tasks and could get involved across the board. Now, as a consultant, I really enjoy the autonomy. It’s rewarding to manage my own time, clients, and workload. Compared to the Officer role, where work was often dependent on what HRCs needed, I now have more control and ownership."

What was the most surprising thing about working at Employii?

"The surprising thing about working at an HR consultancy, rather than in house, was how different each day is and how quickly things change.

I only had an idea of how internal HR looked, so having such a diverse range of clients that you are with the full way through was something I didn't consider."

What are your future goals? 

In the next few years I want to develop as a consultant and continue to get more exposure to more complex situations and opportunities to work with different people.

Community wise, I would definitely like to do something more voluntary. I think having done support work for so long, I do miss that element of working alongside people in a disability support space.

What is a piece of advice you’d give to people wanting to start a career in HR?

To anyone wanting to get started in HR, or transition to working in HR in Australia, Jess suggests: 

• “Learn the HR basics, especially around pay, contracts, policies and performance management 

• Understand the Fair Work and state IR systems  
• Develop your people skills 
• Have the interpersonal skills that AI can’t replicate” 
• Don't be stressed about what type of HR you want to get into. It's so broad and there's so many different avenues you could go down. A great way to test out different areas and how they work for you would be an internship, especially at a consultancy." 

What is a piece of advice you’d give to new grads?

“Try and get a job somewhere where they do a bit of everything. If you find the first area of HR you work in isn’t for you, don’t discount HR fully; there’s so many other areas that may suit you better.  

As a grad – ask lots of questions and be open minded. Challenge your way of thinking and, if you can, find a mentor or somebody who is willing to take you under their wing.” 

What’s a day in the life like? 

Jess manages a portfolio of national clients which means that no two days are the same. From interpreting Fair Work Awards and checking pay rates for compliance and competitiveness, to engaging in professional development opportunities, Jess thrives on the diversity that each day at Employii brings. 

What is the worklife balance like?

Employii’s flexible work policy also means Jess can shape her schedule to suit her life and working style. A self-proclaimed morning person, she works 8am to 4:30pm, with a slightly earlier finish on Wednesdays to meet other commitments. She takes advantage of the weekly work-from-home day and knows she has the trust and flexibility to work remotely for longer periods when needed — especially handy when heading back to Melbourne to visit family. 

Does Employii have any benefits? Which do you find most value in?

"The training opportunities that we have, both internally and externally, are amazing. For example with my career progression plan, I know this is something a lot of companies wouldn't take the time to do. We also have external training sessions for a range of topics, like recently we've had people come in for legal training.

There is also an Employee Assistance Program which allows us to see a counsellor that has sessions covered by Employii, she's great. 

Throughout the year there are also other little things, we had a team brekkie the other week and when Ella was nominated for the Young Achievers Awards we all went together."

Do you feel you are listened to as an employee? Does your voice matter?

"We have like fortnightly team meetings and I have my check in with Ella and other consultants, so there is always an opportunity to share any ideas I have or raise any concerns - it's very open forum for that and that's encouraged which is great. Being the youngest like I feel like a lot of organisations, if everyone was older like it could be a bit intimidating, whereas here that's just not the vibe. 

Everyone has a voice."

What’s something about Employii that you’re proud to be apart of as a team/company?

"I would say just like the whole motto of being apart or and working towards psychologically safe workplaces and the modern sort of take on HR. It's very like people centric and I feel so many other places can be very by the book."

How does ‘feedback’ work at Employii amongst the team?

"In our fortnightly team meetings, there is a dedicated part of the meeting to feedback where everyone chips in. There's also an online board where people can write feedback or even just a thank you note.

Because our team is split over the Philippines, Perth and Sydney that's really helpful to bring everyone together. There's also always the opportunity just to ask eachother for feedback, whether verbally or via email.

I have my catch ups with Ella as well, which she just gives me verbal feedback then and we also all have our quarterly meetings with her where she goes into quite in depth feedback then."

In regards to businesses... who needs HR advice and why?

"I think any business needs HR advice, especially from the start just to get the house in order and make sure that you're doing things as per Fair Work from the get go. Whether that's wanting to make sure your contracts right or that you've got good policies in place, I personally think that if you've got HR from the start then you can set expectations with your team from the get go and it builds a nice culture moving forward. I think a lot of businesses think that HR just comes in when something goes wrong, but I think you need to be there along the way."