Hi Charlotte. Like many others here, I got into it from an office job whereby I was dealing with some HR type issues. When the organisation I was working for as an office manager decided that it needed HR I told them that I was interested and got them to sponsor me to undertake my HR studies. Many many years later, I have had a variety of roles. You say that you have some good experience due to your Volunteer Co-ordinator role so you may want to think of specific examples to provide in interviews of your experience. Also consider doing a skills based CV rather than a CV which purely shows the roles you have been doing, this was invaluable to me in the early days when I did not necessarily have the experience of working in a HR role but had gained a lot of the skills needed. Keep going, you will get there eventually. You could ask your current HR team if you could shadow them which is a good way of letting them know you are interested. A friend of mine did this and as a result was approached by the department when a junior role opened up within the team.

I left school with no qualifications but was never out of a job, I started working with people and found that I preferred looking after them rather than managing them. I was lucky enough to have a period of time with a large employer in the HR team and decided that was the route I wanted (I was 40 at the time). I negotiated my redundancy package to include CIPD Level 3 and CIPD membership. I then took a low level role to concentrate on my studies and finally landed a role in HR as an assistant. I completed my Level 5 and am now a HR Consultant.

I still find that I need help with somethings as nobody can ever learn everything. I find on the job training a lot better than qualifications.

In reply to Abbie:

Hi Charlotte,

I had a level 3 in HRP, along with line management experience in an admin team which (eventually) landed me in a HR admin role. Good luck, but do persevere and be prepared to start at the bottom.

I was involved in HR back in South Africa and came across here in 2001. I completed my CIPD level 5 HR certificate last year - but have found it extremely difficult to even get past the application stage. I think my age and lack of experience has counted against me. I would love to get into HR and L%D but have found it to be impossible.