So I'm in HR. I graduated in 2021 and worked for a small business as a coordinator, then a generalist. I was there for about 5 years but decided it was time to move on due to lack of growth opportunities. We only had around 20 employees.
I looked for a looooong time, to the point of desperation, for jobs at larger companies. I finally found one with a publicly traded company local to me with a total number of employees in the 5 figures. The salary wasn't great and the title was technically a step back, but I was desperate to get out and give myself a chance to move up somewhere bigger. I thought it would be my big break.
I currently make $52k in a MCOL area and became an HR Administrator despite my past Generalist title. I'm 4 months in and can't help but feel like I've set myself back by making this jump. I have no idea how to move up, have worked on my resume like crazy, and can barely get companies to respond to me if I throw in an application here or there. I've since learned that you can move up in my company in theory, but promotions take literal years for folks on my team historically. I love my boss and my coworkers, but the money is just sad.
I'm 30 years old and already feeling behind my peers, I have this overwhelming feeling I need to do better as soon as humanly possible. A big part of my job is onboarding new employees. I feel like I see 20-25 year olds clearing $75-100k being hired by my company on a regular basis. It's demoralizing.
Am I as behind as I think? Did I just fuck my career up by choosing something like HR instead of something in STEM? Idek what to do to get myself out of this other than keep applying and networking, but the HR job market is abysmal. My current plan is to try to specialize in HRIS, but again, no traction with applications there either despite my experience. Feeling very stuck and looking for advice/perspective.