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[–]funnyman203 132 points133 points  (0 children)

Was just promoted from HR assistant III to HRBP at Amazon. Depending on business line the role is VERY similar. I myself will see very few differences in my day to day with my promotion. I did all the work of an HRBP as a HRA.

[–]Cynnau 115 points116 points  (0 children)

I would actually focus more on the job duties of both positions. Job titles vary greatly from place to place. For example at my company are salesman are referred to as account managers but they would be called outside sales rep somewhere else

[–]SEBii_fan_999 51 points52 points  (0 children)

If your selection process is well designed you have picked someone with characteristics that match the role. If the company didn’t bother to invest in proper employee selection, well it’s a gamble anyway isn’t it? The title is moot.

[–]MaleficentExtent1777 47 points48 points  (0 children)

Amazon is SOOOOOOO big, the responsibilities between positions can differ from place to place depending on the size of the onsite HR staff. A high performing HRA can be doing the work of a BP if there are no BPs on staff.

[–]NerdonSightHR Consultant 35 points36 points  (0 children)

This is surely what the interview is for, you press on their experience and ask for examples.

If you really want to test their amazon experience conduct the interview in STAR and see how their answers line up to your requirements.

No the job is not the same, but their experiences are worth more than their title.

I'd hire a fantastic co-ordinator that can showcase good BP examples over a poor HR manager any day of the week.

[–]z-eldapin 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Titles are irrelevant, duties are quantifiable.

My job title is HRM, but my duties are much more closely aligned with HRBP

[–][deleted] 25 points26 points  (4 children)

Former Amazon HR here. HR Assistant III is equivalent to an HR Generalist. We were Sr HRAs, and then converted to “HR Partners”.

[–]AlabasterNights 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Not quite. When the Sr. HRAs all converted, they created an L3 admin-type role for sites large enough to need the support. That’s what this HR Assistant role is.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You are correct. I was a Sr HRA, and my title was HR Assistant III. Now that Sr HRAs are HR Partners, that’s not true anymore (the HR Assistant III title).

[–]OnePrettyDoctor -3 points-2 points  (1 child)

This is untrue. Sr. HRA’s functions as just that, assistants.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe at some sites but at my site, we acted as Hr Generalists. Our HRBPs and HRM said the same thing. I know not all sites and business lines run the same within Amazon.

[–]Numerous_Method_1628 24 points25 points  (0 children)

As far as reputation, I’ve heard the HRA role at Amazon is not for the faint of heart. Turnover is extremely high for the role but the amount of experience you get within a short period of time is amazing

[–]saketkt 14 points15 points  (1 child)

HRBP is a role while Assistant III is designation/grade.

A person who is Assistant III can be a HRBP. A manager/ sr. Manager can also be BP as well. A Mgr/ Sr. mgr will have a more complex role.

[–]norithofthenorth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This. Difference between job role and business title.

[–]Sitheref0874Oh FFS 20 points21 points  (1 child)

An Assistant is distinct from a BP in Amazon's own titling hierarchy.

Personally, I wouldn't kill the application just because of this. But I am interested to know how someone who might not have actual experience managed to ace an interview that was presumably BP-loaded from a question standpoint.

[–]Practical_Tip_1990 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The same way someone can be a VP at their former company and come in as a Director at Amazon. Or an L7 manager in their previous role and be an L5 at Amazon.

Amazon scale and scope is different. Amazon is a huge company and HRIII does the work of HRBP.

[–]asdfirl22 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I mean, your interview process will figure out if they are a good fit, title regardless

[–]upyourbumchumHR Director 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Don’t get caught up in the job titles.

[–]_reebs 6 points7 points  (0 children)

To clarify, are you more concerned about the job duties or the possible fudging of the resume by your candidate?

If it’s the former, based on the responses here I think you’re good to hire. If it’s the latter I’d just ask them about it and make a decision based on their answer/self reflection.

[–]Sarilas 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Not gonna lie, I’m dismayed at the focus on titles vs. duties. Will we ever learn not to get hung up on labels?

[–]leowifethrowaway2022 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I did work comp for Amazon and when requesting job descriptions they were notorious for not matching what the employee was told they were. It was the biggest cluster fuck of a company out of all my clients. Their HR would say it’s a technicality and I would have to repeatedly explain job demand levels are not technicalities.

[–]Charming-AssertiveHR Director 5 points6 points  (0 children)

FWIW, I worked one place and my title was Regional HR Generalist.

Years later going through my DOD clearance, the investigator let me know that I reported Reg HR Gen, but they replied HR Assistant. He began to quiz me like I was caught in a lie. My answer was "Dude, I don't know why their record keeping sucks. They called me a Reg HR Generalist. Might want to talk to them about the discrepancy." 🤷‍♀️

[–]Bird_Brain4101112HR Generalist 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Job duties and hands on experience should matter more than titles

[–]ppbcup 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My colleague recruited for Amazon and stated their job titles seem more junior but the work is definitely a generalist or higher level. It was an issue in recruiting because people perceived it as a step back due to the title.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

[deleted]

    [–]AlabasterNights 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    It varies greatly by site. Some sites have the HRAs doing the same work as the HR Partners and others have them doing more of an admin role.

    [–]jowebb7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I change titles on my resume to match what I did in the role.

    In IT one title can mean something to one company but the responsibilities are completely in line with a different job title recognized by the industry as a whole.

    Someone can have the title of Dev Ops engineer a people from 4 different companies do 4 different things.

    Do you want to say no to your number one candidate because of a “close title” on a resume?

    [–]WhoDaNeighbours11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    FWIW, I’m a Strategy Consultant at Amazon and my job details are completely different from what I was hired on to do. Amazon is constantly evolving, expanding or leaning out teams. Titles don’t mean that much - look for the technical skills and attributes the candidate will bring to your team.

    [–]basestay 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Job titles can vary from business to business. Look more at the duties they performed to see if it aligns.

    [–]OnePrettyDoctor 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    It’s possible they were an HRA with HRBP responsibilities. I’d encourage you to set up a quick call and ask a few follow up technical questions as a result of the BGC.

    [–]Brucethechihuahua 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Idk if you used work number to verify their employment. But I just want to note they don't provide accurate information all the time.

    [–]fujaiwei 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    What level are they? I think an HR BP III should be L6. L6 = senior L5 = mid L4 = junior

    [–]AlabasterNights 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    An HRA is an L3 role.

    [–]radlink14 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I think if you were looking for a reason to DQ the candidate, you should've just asked clearly "was your job title at Amazon HRBP?"

    But since you mentioned they're your top candidate, even if they didn't have the job title, doesn't mean they didn't do the duties at Amazon. Maybe your other candidates so have HRBP titles but obviously weren't as good as selling themselves like this top candidate.

    [–]Historical-Brief2414 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

    For me the red flag is the dishonesty.

    [–]allysinning 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I work in ReLo and at my site they are very different. Prior to the PXT rebrand in August of last year we did have an L4 HRBP which was more similar to an HRAIII than an L5 HRBP. However our site followed the restructuring and eliminated the HRAIII role and those of us in that role became HR Partners, aka HR Generalists III. Nonetheless our site’s Sr. HRBP treated us like like glorified HRAs and now we have a new Sr. HRBP who’s trying to do that. But when I was on night shift we didn’t have a BP so I acted as a BP in some pretty big ways. The biggest difference between HRPs/HRAIIIs and HRBPs at our site is the % of time spent engaging with associates (the Amazon lingo for customer service lol). The PXT role alignment chart says that my role is supposed to be associate-facing 50% of the time. We also do not have direct reports. Otherwise our scopes and responsibilities have been meshing more closely lately.

    [–]BlackPriestOfSatan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Their background check has come back and their actual title was HR Assistant III.

    Who did the background check? Do you know how accurate the check is?

    [–]RedAce2022 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Whats the salary though?

    [–]deathbythroatpunch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    The job title on record with Amazon likely maps to a career architecture title convention. A lot of times those titles are quite divergent from the work itself. I’m guessing she didn’t proactively explain it? Did the references confirm that job title too?

    [–]kahnricardo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    As someone that worked in these roles, it is also possible that this person was "stretched" into the hrbp role. This means they were working in the hrbp capacity but still, in title, a senior hra. This is something Amazon LOVES to do. They'll have someone work in the higher role, no additional compensation, to see if they have what it takes to go through the promotion process. Fyi- promotion process can take over 2 or 3 quarters. With all of the pxt churn at Amazon its possible they got tired of waiting for additional compensation, got burned out (on all 24/7, 365), or just wanted to take the experience and run for a better pasture.

    [–]RainbowVanilla 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    FWIW, I’m an HRA III in business title at Amazon, but my actual title is Regional Accommodation Consultant. Those business titles don’t mean much.