My first foray into the world of HR (or Personnel as it was then) literally fell out of a window and into my lap...I was an Office Manager for a government funded training organisation and little did I know I had signed up to a fixed term contract (so naive in those days).  The time came for the renewal of my contract and the company decided to combine my role with that of a secretary.  I was not secretarially trained so was not suitable for the newly created role (ho hum).  One of my colleagues was walking across the car park of the local hospital on her way to work and noticed a piece of paper blow out of the window.  Thinking it might be something important (medical notes or some such) she chased after it and caught it.  It was in fact their vacancy bulletin.  On the front, heralded as "job of the week" was the post of Personnel Officer.  She read it through and decided that she thought I might be interested so brought it in with her...I was interested and I applied and the rest, as they say, is history.  That was 20 years ago...I did my CIPD and worked my way up through the Personnel / HR heirarchy in many different environments gaining a wealth of experience along the way...some good and some I'd rather forget but nothing I regret.

I kind of planned it...

I knew I wanted to work with people from a young age. My mum was a Psychologist managing a recruitment team in a private company in France (in those days you had to be a Psychologist to do that job - not sure if it's changed) and her job always interested me. Social work also interested me but I was worried that I would struggle to detach myself from it all and decided HR was the next best thing at the time!

I was advised not to go straight to Uni to study Psychology as one is still quite young at 18 to really benefit from it all and that a HND/HNC (or BTS as they are known in France) might give me more practical skills to start with (should I fail at Uni or decided it wasn't for me I could always fall back on that qualification). I chose a BTS Trilingual PA. As part of the course, I had to do a workplacement abroad and chose the UK.

Once my BTS was finished I came to the UK to work (planning to improve my English further and then go to Spain to do the same). I'd only been there a year or so and met my now husband so never got to Spain.

After a year of doing temping admin work, I got a chance to work in admin for a multilingual recruitment agency which I thought was a good way to get some HR/people experience as it was to do with recruitment. They were a small set-up with no HR and I saw a chance to do it for them. I studied for my CPP, created basic policies/procedures etc.

I then moved away to follow my partner's work and after a few temping assignments (HR and others) for 6 months got my real break as an HR assistant in a small Manufacturing company (I knew I wanted manufacturing because I felt it was more hands-on and I wanted to have exposure to Trade Unions). My then manager was selfless in teaching me everything he knew and more (he also encouraged me to start my CIPD), to the point where he left as I could do all his work! I then moved on to a bigger organisation (still manufacturing) to learn different ways of doing HR and I'm due to complete my CIPD in May.

I love every bit of HR from the very operational stuff to the more strategic work. I also get a buzz from working in manufacturing, making things and the straight talking of the shopfloor. Because people are your business, HR really allows you to be involved at all levels and all deparments in the business.

Sorry long post - I guess we all enjoy talking about ourselves!

Marie

 

wow - what variety!

I guess I aimed in a slightly different direction but got a little derailed. I wanted to qualify in law but decided this in my last year of my business degree, so opted to major in employment and company law in my last year, with a view to doing conversion and full legal qualifications afterwards. However funds were non existent, and I was sick of studying so got an HR job to save for future study... and I haven't been back (that was 9 years ago). Did a Diploma in HR to get CIPD qualifications.

I still really want to focus on the law, one day, its just too expensive and I don't have the time right now!

 

 

 

I fell into it. I had a 7 year career in Recrutiment Agency management and got fed up with chasing sales all day - applied for an HR Advisor post one day and through charm, wit and luck got the job - here I am 8 years later..wondering some days whether I would be better as a chicken farmer - mind you they have issues too don't they.. and they just don't get the organisational development concept at all.HR KPI would become the Kentucky Performance Indicators...... pub?- yep I'm, comin - it's Friday after all.

I fell into HR too.

Left school at 17 and took admin job within an HR Department.  The HR Manager at the time must have spotted some potential in me as I got quite bit of exposure to a number of aspects of HR, including employee relations and HR strategy.  Anyway, completed an SVQ and Certificate in Personnel Practice and then progressed to a Trainee HR Officer before leaving to become the HR Officer with another company.

I did do a 3 year stint outside of HR when I spent time as a manager in an operational role, which came about due to a restructure at my last company.  My intention was to get 12 months operational experience but I found it hard to get back into HR without the CIPD qualification which I duly did and moved back to HR!

It does seem quite refreshing to me that some of the "younger" contirbutors have planned their career in HR - maybe that shows that it is more of a career choice these days than when some of us "older" ones (apologies if I'm generalising here!) seem to have fallen into HR somewhat!  Not that i regret at all my time in operational management roles or even in the bank - they all add up to a lot of good life experience.  But in the "older" days maybe HR / personnel wasn't seen as strategically important and something people were almost sidelined into!

hopefully we live in more enlightened times!

Really good also to get some background on other peoples experience - a lot more info here than on the profiles!

Have a good weekend,

Peter

 

I also fell into HR! Throughout school I was convinced I wanted to something with psychology, viewing it as a niche market, and one potentially to be a huge earner! I went to the University of Liverpool and got a combined honours degree in Psychology and Sociology (in 2003). Like many university leavers I was unable to find a permanent role initally, and took various placements through a recruitment agency. One of the more enjoyable placements was working for the Trafford Centre as a Customer Service assistant, and whilst there I got the opportunity to apply for a role as a HR assistant. Unfortunately I did not get that role, however after having filled in for a couple of weeks in that department it did whet my appetite for HR.

The next placement via the recruitment agency was a property management company and I hated it, even though it materialised into a permanent role. Therefore I was desperate to get into anything else, luckily my Dad knew this and kept bringing home the vacancy bulletins from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) where he was an Officer.

A vacancy became available at GMP for admin assistant -personnel and training. I applied and was interviewed and was successful for the role, commencing September 2004. This proved to be a very exciting time to join the Police as they were looking to devolve a lot of HR activities, and within 6 months I had secured a promotion to Senior HR Assistant, doing all sorts of general HR duties, with a heavy bias towards recruitment.

Whilst at GMP I was encouraged and supported to complete my CIPD studies, which I completed the diploma in July 2007, and I continued with the studies in order to gain my MSc. After 3 years I was looking for a further promotion to a HR Officer level role - none were forthcoming at GMP, and because I was tied into the Further Education Funding Scheme I was unable to leave without paying back my fees - unless I secured employment with another Police Force.

 In April 2008 I began working for Cheshire Constabulary as the HR Officer for Recruitment, and completed my MSc in HR in July 2009.

Although I "fell" into HR, it is a career that I have really enjoyed so far, and it is something I can see doing for the rest of my career - however I don't anticipate being in the Public Sector or particularly Policing for the whole of my career, and so I must admit I check the job boards on a regular basis - but having said that I really enjoy my current role, and after being in a job that I have despised previously, I will not just jump ship for more money - it has to be a rewarding opportunity whereever I may go!

Hi Victoria,

Thanks for posing the questions, it's been really interesting reading everyone's routes into our profession.

As for me, I think I would fall into one of the "semi-planned" category.  I always had an interest in HR and when at school I was the "HR Manager" for my Youth Enterprise company and even did a couple of week's work in a local hospital's HR department. At the time I studied, HR degrees were in their infancy and so I picked a more general subject for my degree (English) to give me more time to consider my options.

On finishing Uni, like many others, I found it very hard to get my first foot in the door and worked for a year in a purely administrative role at a University (I had been canny and worked over my summers to build up some experience).  I then moved into a Staff Development Administrator role at another Uni, who sponsored me to do my CIPD studies.  Five years later, and I am now Chartered MCIPD and HR Manager for an awarding body, not having strayed far from the education sector.

Gemma

This is really interesting reading!

I planned it - though it was hard to find that first route in. I had worked as a general administrator in a call centre, and was fascinated by the HR team there - fingers in every pie!!

I looked around and eventually started as an HR Administrator at the company I am still at today, 6 years later.

Unconventionally, some would say, I started working fresh from my A levels, and only went down the uni route a few years ago. Last year I completed an MA in HRM, which although a struggle whilst working full time, made sure I was financially secure at the same time as being a part-time student.

Hi,

I started off working in Santa's grotto as an Elf. Due to a sudden down turn in business towards the end of the year (which I suppose I should have seen coming, but wasn't too strategic at that point in my life), I realised I would have to broaden my horizons.

Couldn't decide what to do, so my girlfriend (at that time) advised me to go into a particular and more mainstream line of work - as I didn't have a good reason not to, I did ... struggled to feel confident speaking to groups of people, so became a trainer ... which then turned into training management and then HR Management ...

Have progressed and gone full circle, I suppose, as I now also do ad hoc Father Christmas duties for fun in December each year, so if you saw a Santa in Daventry, Pocklington or Warrington last December, it may have been me.

Paul

Very interesting discussions. Like many of us, I fell into HR. Graduating with a Creative Arts degree (so much fun but not all that useful in the real world) I was working as an Office Manager in a school, and decided that I would, eventually, pursue the law qualification that I didn't quite have the guts to do when I was 18. So I told the Head, who said that they would sponsor an HR qualification if I wanted to do that, as they needed an HR person -  but that law was beyond their scope. Being 22 at the time, with very little money, I took the bribe! So started a career in HR, mostly in the not-for-profit sector.

Strangely enough, I always still wanted to do the law qualification, so a couple years ago I settled down to some intensive part time study, and got my Graduate Diploma in Law (kind of a conversion course), with a view to becoming a solicitor.

What I realised though, when it came down to it, was that I actually loved the job I was in and really didn't want to start all over again. I'll always be interested in the law, and I'll never regret getting the qualification - but it has certainly made me more satisfied with my current work.

I did a Business Studies Degree with a final year specialism in HR but upon graduating couldn't get a job in HR and found myself working for an independent telecoms company where I primarily supported the Operations Manager until they recruited a HR Manager and I then worked for him.  Following that I worked for an Employmemt Law Consultancy for 7 years (which I kind of fell into as I needed a job after travelling for a year!) and am now HR/Office Manager and really enjoying the variety of the role.  I am also a member of the Senior Management Team and feel that my earlier roles have been instrumental for me being able to see the 'bigger picture'.

I guess I fell into it too...although my late mother was a shop steward in the NHS and was always encouraging me to work in 'personnel' as she called it. 

What attracted me to my degree in European Business was more the year in France than the career path it provided but it worked out well despite a year in the wilderness following graduation. My first 'proper' job was in small, growing IT company initally as a project coordinator moving into quality management - implementing quality procedures etc. After 2 years in that role, the company was growing rapidly and they needed someone to implement an employee handbook and that's where my HR career started. I loved developing the HR dept and was supported in studying towards my CPP at the same time.

3 years on, I was made redundant from that job after a merger and spent my redundancy payment funding my CIPD studies. I decided to fast track and do the 2 years in one, part time which allowed me to temp in HR roles at the same time - 6 months in manufacturing (a rude awakening after my very pleasant 5 yrs in IT) and 6 months with the police. Fabulous year if not a little challening during the exam fortnight!

Following a false start with a bank, I worked for the water board for 4 years as an employee relations advisor and really learned my stuff. It was a fantastic grounding. I've been a HR Manager in insurance, telecoms and now construction for 5 years now and am still learning!

OccasionallyI hate 'HR' to its core but, happily, the majority of the time I'm so glad I work in a role that provides such variety and the opportunity to move between sectors (well private ones anyway) so easily.

I completely planned it at the age of 15/16 (whilst doing 2 weeks work experience in an HR team) - bit scary thinking I planned my career at that age, I guess it could have gone horribly wrong!  But it didn't!  At that time I think I was hooked due to my somewhat nosy nature...  I went on to do an HR degree and 8 years on I haven't looked back!

I planned it. 

After I graduated with an undergraduate degree in Sociology and Anthropology, I went back and did a 1 year postgraduate MA in HRM.

On finishing University, l then went on to work as HR Assistant, HR Officer, HR Manager then HR Manager  and now Group HR Manager.

10 years on, I love every bit of my work ( strategic & operational)  I have no regrets! l am glad l made the right career choice!!!