No practical advice other than to say if you go into consultancy make sure you have professional indemnity insurance to cover you just in case any of the advice you give lands your client in court and they subsequently sue you.

Good luck if you choose to take it forward.

Hi Emma,

I do some interview coaching on the side.... having sat on both sides of the panel, I feel that the 'inside' knowledge we have can be particularly beneficial. I'm not currently looking to make any money from this (it's just an ad-hoc thing, and coachees tend to come from within my current network) but it's something I particularly enjoy.

I am finding that as people have success at their interviews, word is spreading and requests for help are increasing, so I'm sure there's money to be made..... but having said that, there are A LOT of coaches around!

Rachel

In reply to Rachel:

Hi Emma

If you haven't done so already, you may need to check your existing terms and conditions of your employment for any 'sole occupation' clause, which may prohibit you from doing any other paid work unless it's with the express prior permission of your main employer.

Hi Emma, if you have another language to an good level, freelance translation work is not hard to find, particularly if it's in a speciality field like HR. In my younger days I did quite a bit of this to make ends meet.

I only found out a couple of weeks ago that this is called a side hustle. Here's just one example:

www.amazon.co.uk/.../ref=sr_1_3

In reply to Elizabeth Divver:

I thought that was something else ;)

I'm an author (in a very niche field that has nothing to do with HR) and can often be found, in my lunch hours, beavering away on my current manuscript. I earn a few hundred pounds extra in royalties every year. For the hours it involves, it has to be said that it's a pursuit done more for the love than the money.

I'd be cautious of consulting as it can easily bring you into conflict with your principal employer, but career counselling is a field worth exploring. If I weren't doing the writing, this is probably the direction I would pursue.

This could be anything from advising people on effective CV writing and job-hunting strategies to how to find satisfaction in employment and achieve a healthy work/life balance. Building up a client base will be time-consuming and probably cost you more money than you make to start with, but through referrals, networking and relentless self-promotion, I think there's a strong market to be tapped into, these days.

Hi Emma,

I am in the same boat as you, I'd love to know where to start advertising myself for this type of work. There are websites such as Work Up (I think it's called), but you are basically bidding for the roles alongside others who may have more experience than you which can be quite disheartening. I had a friend who just completely gave up on the idea after trying one of those sites.

I have a good 14+ hours free a week (usually evenings and weekends) that could be used to help out a Company with HR related queries or admin if needed, but just not sure how to put myself out there.

I'd suggest using your strengths within HR, for example, mine is Employment Law, policy writing, and employee wellbeing. However, because I am a generalist I wouldn't mind doing a bit of recruitment or training for a Company if I asked to do so.

If you find out, let me know! Hopefully, we'll both get something soon!

Nicole