• Replies 17 replies
  • Subscribers 19 subscribers
  • Views 13106 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related

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! 

  • in reply to Alana
    I did my through my college as i thought having a tutor would be really beneficial having only just started working in HR. I did find it hard to think of examples to use in my assignments so the 1-2-1s from my tutor really helped.
  • 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?

    Yes, keep applying, although your agent is probably right and you should look at re-framing your CV if possible by making a big emphasis on how enthusiastic you are about taking the career step into HR. Keep your CV short and focus only on what's relevant.

    That said, dealing with a rowdy bunch of children is a pretty good preparation for a career in HR...

    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

    Oh, heavens, no. This forum has seen so many people posting on to say "I have an MA in HRM, why can't I even get an HR admin job??" that it's practically a meme. By all means, set your sights on a Level 7 qualification, but these are largely useless without the actual experience of HR (unless you want to be an academic in the field, then it's practically compulsory to have no practical experience...).

    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.

    If you get into HR you will be dealing with recruitment agencies for the rest of your career, so get used to it now.

    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?

    Almost certainly, yes, assuming you have covered stuff like teaching strategies, learning styles and are au fait with learning processes outside the classroom. However, it is something of a box to fall into. A generalist HR practitioner can usually flex to cover a bit of L&D (albeit without the expertise of a specialist), but a specialist L&D practitioner can only rarely escape the box into generalist HR.
  • Just as a matter of caution (my personal opinion here) I would advise against going for the recruitment agency route. This is the easiest job to get into, and the hardest one to get out of. And certainly won't win you any points with the HR peeps hiring. Like my colleagues said - keep applying and don't feel put off by silence and rejections. 20+ applications is probably something I'd expect to do in 1 day (every day) (in London anyway) and not hear back from 19 of them, so that's not to deter you in any way.

  • Hi Alana

    I would advise you to start looking for temporary/voluntary/apprenticeship administration work as this is what I did to get into HR (indirectly).

    You would be wasting your time and money without gaining any experience beforehand and going for a Masters in a profession you have no experience in whatsoever wouldn't complement your background. It doesn't make logical sense to 'break' into HR.

    Furthermore due to your lack of experience, the Masters would be extremely difficult for you to complete, so I'd suggest you to take a CIPD Level 3 Foundation route.

    Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear, but please understand and take this as constructive criticism as this will hopefully help you break your career into the industry.

    Kind Regards

    Helen

  • Hi Alana
    I spent over 10 years working in retail and a significant number of time trying to transition into HR. What worked for me in the end was networking. There is really huge choice of events to go to and meet people.
    Another way forward that was recommended to me at the time was to approach my own HR department.
    I am not sure whether you are teaching in state or independent education, but my current role is HR within independent education sector. Maybe try approaching big educational groups or trusts and see what they say.
    Hope this helps. Best of luck
    Aga
  • in reply to Alana
    Hi Alana, I'm currently hoping to do the same thing. Have you succeeded? If so what changes did you make to get in? If not, I'd be very interested to hear what you're doing now!

    Thanks,

    Sarah
  • in reply to Alana
    Hi Alana, I'm currently hoping to do the same thing. Have you succeeded? If so what changes did you make to get in? If not, I'd be very interested to hear what you're doing now!

    Thanks,

    Sarah