Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some mentor advice and would really appreciate perspectives from people who have moved across sectors, or who have supported others to do so.
I’m currently working in HR in a small/medium non-profit organisation with 80 people, where I have broad standalone ownership across the employee lifecycle. Although I have around one year of direct HR experience by job title, I feel my overall experience is broader than that might suggest, both because I have completed my CIPD Level 5 and because my current role requires me to operate across a wide HR remit with a high level of responsibility.
For example, I have been independently leading such as recruitment and onboarding, employee relations, disciplinary processes, sickness absence, probation management, policy and process development, manager coaching, redundancy/consultation preparation, TUPE-related considerations, and supporting senior leaders with people risk and operational decision-making.
My main career goal is to move from the non-profit sector into industry or professional services, particularly into an HR Advisor / HRBP role. I’m trying to understand how best to position my experience when I may not yet have the “sector experience” employers often ask for, but I do have hands-on exposure to a wide range of HR matters and a lot of ownership.
I’d be very grateful for advice on:
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How to present transferable HR experience when moving from non-profit into industry or professional services
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How to communicate that my experience is broader than my formal time in an HR-titled role
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What skills or knowledge gaps I should focus on closing to make the move more realistic
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Whether anyone has made a similar transition and would be open to sharing their experience
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Whether pursuing CIPD Level 7 would be beneficial for making this transition
Thank you in advance - I’d really appreciate any guidance, mentor advice, or suggestions on how to approach this transition.
