In reply to Claire:

I fully understand from being on both sides of the fence why it gets a bad rep, I was only at the lower level in an agency for 6 months, a lot of my skills are transferrable to an internal function also though I worked in call centre jobs beforehand as those were the only positions I could secure.

Do you know the name of article or where I could possibly find this? I’ll be at the CIPD student conference this weekend so that should give me an opportunity to network also

In reply to Busayo:

www.hs2.org.uk/.../

Type in HR and it will give you all levels from apprentice to Management :) Good Luck!

Hi Busayo,

I was in a similar situation a few years ago as I wanted to move from agency recruitment into an HR role. The avenue that I took was to get an internal recruitment role. This gave me exposure to the HR team and many HR activities. From there I was able to move into an HR Admin role in another company.

My advice would be to look at internal recruitment roles within sales environments such as call centres and use that as a foothold into HR.

Best of luck in your search!

In reply to Peter Stanway:

Hi Peter,

I work in recruitment myself for an agency as an Account Manager as opposed to hardcore calling and sales and "new business".

I work with two main accounts (one a large travel agency and another a global consultancy) resourcing candidates (IT Contractors) to fill vacancies for large IT projects. Despite having large success in this and have achieved a high number of successful placements over the years, I still wouldn't fully see this as a sales role as I don't necessarily do large amount of sales, I find them candidates and their profiles speak for themselves.

Would companies still tar me with the same brush, as it were?

Just finished my CIPD and waiting for the right opportunity come along for me to transition my skills.

Thanks
Amy

Hi Busayo - abit late to the feed but don't give up! I searched solidly for 6 months will no joy. All vacancies wanting at least Level 5 qualified plus experience. Try looking at smaller companies is my advice - also my college tutor recommended me for a position they knew of and a few months later and im here as a HR Manager only just finishing my level 3! I have a background in retail management so it can be done!

Hi Busayo,
I currently have an HR Assistant within my team who joined me having come from a recruitment background. She did agency for a few years, then joined a science org doing their in house talent acquisition. I wonder if it may be worth you getting an internal recruitment role for a year or two and then hopping over to HR?

The thing that stuck out for me most when I met her was that she was completely transparent about; wanting a career change, knowing she would be taking a drop in salary, being self aware that she 'knew nothing', and that she had handed in her notice in her previous role and taken the risk of being unemployed because transitioning into HR was so important to her.

My strong advice would be to target the SME's/family owned businesses around you as they tend to be the ones who are most open to giving people a shot on the first step of a new ladder, the HRA was represented by an HR agency and they briefed me on the exact circumstances. You could try direct applications and also ensure that the agencies you are working with are taking you seriously, briefing their clients about you properly and upselling the bits that are HR appropriate.

With regards the HRA (and it's worth mentioning she has not yet taken her CIPD), we initially spent the first few months with her not touching any recruitment at all and threw her into HR admin and filing, reading through documents as she went so she could get a feel for tone and style. She now handles 99% of our recruitment fantastically as well as being a generalist HR Assistant - I know it's easier said than done but it's critical that you find a Company that suits you. HR departments and styles vary dramatically. You will find one that is the right match for your personality and working style, and that wants to give you a shot and develop you into the role. Stick at it.

Late to the thread but I too would like to stress this can be done, as this time last year I was in the same position as you, and I am now a HR Administrator.

My key points would be:
Temping/voluntary work are great foots in the door
You need to emphasise passion and transferrable skills
Self educate yourself on HR

I think it's really about emphasising the fact that you are passionate about HR, passionate about the people side of things and the business aspect, as opposed to sales and making money, which unfortunately is what may recruitment consultants are pigeonholed as. For me, i've never been a sales person, I fell into recruitment as a desperate graduate looking for work like many, and ended up carrying this 'career choice' on in Australia, as it's one of few opps for brits out there. I stuck at it for just under a year and a half but my heart was never in it. I've always been interested in HR and it was through my career in recruitment I learned more about HR and how opposite it was to agency and how i'd much rather be doing that.

I found it easy to convince interviewers that i'm not a sales person and my passion lies in other areas because it was the truth, but if you are someone who enjoyed the sales side that's okay, but i'd definitely make sure you emphasise more the 'candidate' aspect in interviews. I used examples of interviewing and sourcing candidates, writing job adverts and as I was a temp consultant I was able to emphasise the fact I dealt with their payroll queries , holiday queries, sickness etc (All ER stuff), I talked about training for temp workers and inductions (L&D). I researched HR Admin Job Descriptions and tried to apply everything they required to my role in recruitment, all the while stressing my need to get away from sales and recruitment environment, and showing them my passion for HR by talking about employment law, L&D, employee relations and things I had researched and taught myself, and applying all my recruitment experience to the different areas of HR.

From that I was able to get a temporary contract for an international company as a recruitment administrator, which lasted for 6 months, doing things like writing job descriptions, org charts, compliance. Basic admin stuff but be prepared to start at the bottom. Now I had internal experience I was able to leverage off that and get a general HR admin role where I am now doing note taking at ER cases, coordinating L&D, looking at employee sickness amongst other things. This is also a temporary assignment, reason being I am only looking for temp roles atm due to possibly relocating soon, but I have found temp assignments a great way of building experience in different areas of HR and often easier to get. I am hoping now I have experience in internal recruitment, ER and L&D I will be set up nicely for a permanent position as a HR assistant. I couldn't recommend temping enough tbh if you are struggling, i've been lucky enough to work in 2 completely diff industries in a year and learn different areas of HR.

HR recruitment consultants can also help emphasise all those transferrable skills you need.

Best of luck! This time last year I was still in agency recruitment, now I am 2 months into my 2nd HR contract and loving it.

In reply to Melissa :

Hi Catherine and Melissa,

Thank you both for your advice as well as everybody else who has commented on this post. Only recently have I come back to this page 

I have now actually secured a HR Apprenticeship role with my local council which started last week and I’m enjoying thoroughly so far, did some note taking earlier in the week on an ER case will be getting the opportunity to coordinate assessment days, create the policy for the council’s apprenticeship scheme (the area I’m sitting in) amongst other duties to give me a flavour of entire spectrum of HR.

Definitely looking forward to what the future holds, feel I’m in an environment where I’m going to get the opportunity to learn as much as possible putting theory of my level 3 course into practice with a real opportunity to develop. 

Guess I got there in the end 

In reply to Busayo:

I'd propose you join your neighborhood CIPD branch and go to their gatherings on the off chance that you're not as of now