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Making the move from teaching to HR- seemingly impossible

Alana

Hi everyone. 

I have been in secondary education/teaching internationally for over 6 years and have some retail/customer service experience prior to that. Having decided to leave teaching, I am really keen to start a career in HR but I am finding it impossible. I have applied for 20+ HR admin positions with no response. I know I need experience, but how do I go about this without being given a chance? 

Through teaching I was able to get some experience with recruitment/interviewing and I have taken some (free) online courses in HR which I have put on my CV. I have been teaching myself about UK employment law and I am very heavily considering embarking on a MSc in International Human Resource Management. I have looked for volunteering opportunities but there aren't many. 

My questions are: 

1. What's the best way to get experience? Keep applying for HR admin roles or is that a waste of time? Contact the HR departments of large companies directly? 

2. Will employers take more notice of me if I embark on the Masters? Although I am 95% sure that this is what I want to do, I really would like some experience before I jump into this

3. I am in talks with a few recruitment agencies for work. Is this a common route into HR for career changers? I really am not keen on the sales aspect of recruitment, but I will do it for a year if it helps me land a HR admin role. 

4. L & D is also highly appealing to me. Should I be focussing more on that as a route into HR? Is it easier to get an entry L & D role as a former teacher? 

Thank you! 

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  • in reply to Alana
    Fairly easily, yes, but I think a lot of that was probably luck! The company I'm working for as an L&D Manager hadn't had a dedicated L&D person before so it was a brand new role, and they were really looking for someone to develop the apprenticeship programme, so I emphasised my ability to work with young people and my understanding of the education system as benefits in terms of apprenticeships. I also do a lot of CSR work in the community in local schools through the Careers & Enterprise Company as part of my role, and my education background definitely helps with all of that.