Career Change from Finance to HR - CIPD Advice - HR Qualifications and studying - Careers Clinic

5 Career Change from Finance to HR - CIPD Advice

23 Mar, 2017 00:05

I have just turned 37 and have realised that after 10 years doing finance it really isn't for me. I've never really known what I wanted to do and kind of fell into finance despite never really liking it or having a natural knack to it. My current role and previous jobs have always been accounts assistant type jobs where I raise invoices, do the purchase ledger, expenses, look after a few spreadsheets and that kind of thing - all very general. Balance sheets, P&L, reporting, Inter-company, accrued revenue, management accounts packs and more advance things scare the living daylights out of me.

I don't have any accounting qualifications and whenever I have tried to do the ACCA or AAT in the past have given up because I just wasn't interested enough and couldn't take it in plus failing the so-called easy computer based exams don't exactly help.

Recently my company have employed new CFO (I work in the media/tech industry for a agency) and it's made me very anxious that my job is under threat and I am constantly worried he will soon figure out that beyond the basics I don't know a lot about accountancy, plus if I were to leave it would be very hard to get a similar salary elsewhere - I'm in the mid 30k bracket now. There is also the realisation that I can't really go any higher or forge a happier career without any professional development. Plus the thought of spending the next 30 years in finance really isn't making me feel happy about my future.

I have always been interested in HR and working in my current company I do have a fair bit of exposure to the finance side of HR (i.e. I do parts of the payroll, pension onboarding/admin, deal with HMRC, cyclesheme & other salary sacrifice things, provide HR with basic analysis and spreadsheets on recruitment costs or wage increases and that kind of thing). I think that looking at the CIPD course it is something that I would be able to follow and have a good chance of completing as it interests me and I feel does come naturally to me. When I mentioned a career change to my friends, they all commented on how HR would be perfect for me.

My main worry is that I am at a point in life where making a career change by starting at the bottom and taking a salary cut in order to find a junior HR job is unrealistic - I have a mortgage and other commitments.

I would most likely be looking to jump straight into the CIPD Level 5 Diploma Human Resource Management from a career and cost perspective.

The advice I am really after is:

Is the CIPD course something I could do at home whilst maintaining my current finance role?
I'd be doing this off my own back so without guidance from any other HR professionals or employed in a HR role so is it even realistic?
How long might it take? I would commit to time after work and weekends.
How much would it cost at a rough guess and can anyone recommend any home learning course providers?
Would my HR type experience on the finance side as listed above be of any use if I were to apply for HR roles and help within the course?
If in 12-18 months time would it be realistic to move into a HR job without taking a big salary cut should I pass the CIPD course I am looking to take?

Thanks so much for any advise and apologies for the long post.

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Keith | 0 Posts

23 Mar, 2017 09:53

Welcome to the communities

I think you can probably complete a Level 5 program in your own time with minimal impact on your work if you are prepared to work at it. Lots of people appear to complete Level 3 & 5 without any experience and whilst its not ideal its certainly doable.

Your struggles with the accountancy exams would need to be factored in and you need to be honest with yourself if the reason for failure was the subject matter or something else.

Your big challenge however will come at end of program in trying to get a HR job without any direct HR experience and trying to maintain your salary level. I think its 80:20 with the 20 being the odds on achieving both in a reasonable timescale. I don't say that to put you off but to give you a realistic assessment of the challenge you will be facing. HR is an incredibly difficult profession to get into - you can do a search on these boards to see how many people are trying.

The two areas you "Might" want to look at are (1) Payroll and seeing if your skills more readily transfer to that arena (although might not personally appeal) or (2) C&B type roles/reward. Ideally your best chance of securing a HR job might be a sideways move in your current organisation.

Good luck
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Sarah | 0 Posts

23 Mar, 2017 10:28

Hi Richard,

Yes, it's certainly possible to study CIPD courses at home. I did both of my CIPD courses whilst also studying for a degree via distance learning as I didn't want to end up finishing my degree then having to take more time out on CIPD courses before getting a job.

I used ICS Learn as it gave me the flexibility to study when I wanted to (depending on your personality/motivation this could be a disadvantage though). ICS publish all of their courses and prices online.

I wasn't employed in an HR role at the time and I'd say there was a mixture of people at the weekend classroom sessions who were in HR/company funded or not in HR but wanted to be and self funding the course.

I struggled with getting a job after but this was more because my experiences of HR had come from being an employer. I think you have will have the advantage of your work history and Finance side of HR, but like Keith has mentioned its still a challenging profession to enter.

Good luck!
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Hannah | 0 Posts

23 Mar, 2017 10:32

Hi Richard,

It is certainly possible to complete either the level 3 or level 5 in your own time. I completed my level 3 last year whilst working a 40 hour week job which was completely unrelated to HR. So the fact that you have HR elements in your current role will help.
It wasn't always easy to be motivated to do the work. Especially when it is in the evenings/weekends. I was expected to complete an assignment pretty much every 4 - 8 weeks which I usually left until the deadline! but it is possible.

The level 3 was completed in 9 months, however the level 5 is usually closer to 11 months on average.

I did mine through the Home Learning College, which now have all of their courses completely online. So no need to do the 2 face to face assessments like I had to. There are plenty of other providers out there too though, so have a look and you will easily find a suitable one.

Costs tend to be roughly around 2.5K to 3.5K for a level 5 depending which provider you go for and if you choose a specialist course (eg: L&D or HR Management)

With regards to the roles, it would be quite difficult to transfer straight into a role at your current salary. I was going to suggest something along the lines of Keith's advice though - Payroll or Benefits roles.
From what I have seen lately a mid range benefits and reward role is fairly well paid in comparison to a generalist HR role. With your experience in these areas you should have a bit of an advantage as well.

Whatever path you choose to go down though, I wish you the best of luck.
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David | 0 Posts

23 Mar, 2017 12:46

In reply to Hannah:
Hi Richard

Perhaps it's worth sounding-out your current employers about your career aspirations and whether or not they can be turned into a 'win-win' scenario with their HR needs, present and future. Not without risk of course - needs to be put to them the right way otherwise they might start to regard you as an ill-fitting peg and all that, But you never know - they might warm to the idea - as you observe, you already have a head start as a known quantity to them and already knowledgeable and effective about some aspects of HR

If nothing doing, then potentially nothing lost, but tour employers aren't mind-readers either
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Richard | 0 Posts

23 Mar, 2017 15:26

Thanks all for the wonderful replies - I'd thank you all individually but it would make the post rather long :)

I have a Business Studies degree and have done plenty of courses in the past through various workplaces that I have had no problems with so I think I should be able to go straight in at level 5 especially as I am very committed. I just think that when it comes to the finance courses that they are so intense and require so much studying of a complex subject that doesn't appeal to me that it is easy to switch off.

I think there is definitely scope within my current employer however I know that they are fully staffed within the HR team and understaffed in finance so I haven't bought up wanting to actively quit finance, it is a startup though so there is quite a lot of crossover and things can change very quickly within a year.

I had my yearly performance review and I did mention to my manager and one of the co-founders that I do enjoy the HR side of finance and so they have essentially given me control and allowed me to take ownership of payroll, pensions, etc which is good. I think actually telling them I want to move into HR and away from finance is a conversation worth having when I actually have done the CIPD in a year to 18 months time though. They asked if I wanted to resume studying for the ACCA or start CIMA in the meeting and I was very vague in my answer mentioning how busy I was at this moment in my life at the moment but I guess it does show that they value me here.
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