I have planned it since I was in high school when i was making my uni decisions.

I chose to business with HRM at Magee, and am currently on my placement year, in a somewhat of a hr assistant role (not totally dedicated to HR unfortunately, with the current economic climate I had to take what I could get)

I am also studying for my CPP so Im right at the bottom at the moment working my way up..............watch this space :-)

A very interesting read!

I also 'fell' into HR. After a false start in Financial PR I decided I wanted to go travelling and needed to raise the money to do so, so I learned to type and started temping as a secretary to raise my travel funds. I landed a temp job in an HR department........and here I am!

What I enjoy most about our profession is that we have to know and input on all aspects of an organisation from what it's striving to achieve, to how it's structured and managed with a predominant focus on the organisation's biggest asset for success, it's employees!

 Alex

I took my Mum's advise and went to Secretrial College (instead of Art School) where I found I really enjoyed the business, economics and law aspects.  I got to the top of my career as an Executive PA to an MD only to find I was no longer challenged.  My boss at the time always encouraged me to challenge and stretch myself and I became heavily involved in the Management Team of the business, it was then that the company had got to a size where we really needed someone to take responsibility for HR which I volunteered for, after all, I was already very much involved in supporting the staff and managers in the company and people generally gravitated to me for questions and problems and issues. 

After having completed the CPP I decided that this was the career for me which went on hold whilst having my youngest son.  So on finding an experienced HR Manager to run the HR function I returned to work for her as her "spider in the web" HR Administrator.  It was hard work starting back on the first rung of another career ladder but gained such fabulous expeirence working for her and the subsequent HR Advisors that joined the team.  My CIPD studies were funded and I was well on my way.  

Now 12 years on I have had the best experiences and worst experiences of my working life and never regretted that turn in the road.  Thanks to my Mum and those lovely passionate HR people I've met on the way I have enjoyed every minute of the challenges of HR.

H

This has been such an interesting and informative post.  Unfortunately for me the path to HR seems to continually allude me and I am not able to get into in as yet.  Currently I am undertaking some HR related duties on a voluntary basis for a local firm but this work as yet is infrequent as there is not a specific HR person there and no specific HR function (and according to the powers that be there never will be.  In the next week I will be doing payroll for the 2nd time and there are some maternity related issues to address amongst other things .  And I have been given the role of updating a new database for their external company to access (they are paying for external HR advice).   I have also undertaken various administrative duties.

My barriers unfortunately come from agencies who are unwilling to put my CV forward for any work (the majority of HR related posts seem to come via this route). 

 

Please tell me that it is only a matter of time :-) 

 

Hi

 

I fell into it and then planned it....

 

I originally took on a Events Coordinator/ Personnel Clerk role following a project implementing new systems fora well known retailer but left (despite thoroughly enjoying the personnel aspect of the role) to persue greater remuneration to purchase my first house.

 

I found HR so difficult to get back into (everyone requiring 2+ years experience and CIPD) that I moved into warehouse operations management whilst embarking on my CIPD.

 

5 years later (& a pay cut) I managed to move internally into a HR Admin role which I thouroughky enjhoyed and gave me the relevant experience to move onto HR Advisor.

Krissy

I planned it.... but was lucky in so much as a number of things fell into place for me.  Previous 15 year career in ops management, then following a career break of 2 year was lucky to be able to return to the work place in a local firm on a part-time basis, into their HR team.  They are also funding my MSc in HRM. 

I would agree some very interested reading.

 My pathway was from that of a part time trade union activist with 20 years experience, looking for a way of earning a reasonable living since as a chef with thirty years experience it only just paid the bills. I went back to education after a 30 year gap to do my CIPP, from there Core Management and Post Grad.

I owe a debt of gratitude to a couple of people who gave me the opportunity to move into this field without which I would not be were I am today, so many place such emphasis on academic achievement rather than practical experience, that a great deal of expertise must go wasted

I fell into HR.  I temped in a couple of HR teams over the summer holidays during University, but then went into Retail for 3 years.  After a disastrous job came to an end I was looking to do something new away from Retail, and my brother told me he was leaving his HR job as he was relocating across the country for personal reasons.

He put me forward to his boss along with a good word and I was on my way in HR, 6 years and counting.

My favourite aspect of HR is that the people you deal with keep this fresh and interesting.  You may deal with familiar topics every day, but everyone is unique and this always seems to throw up something new.

I originally wanted to be a Forensic Psychologist! I studied Psychology at university and up until the end of the 3rd year (it was a 4 year course in Scotland) that was all I wanted to do.  But mid-way through my final year I realised that I didn't want to spend another 4 years studying and training. 

I decided on a career in HR as I'd really enjoyed the modules we had studied in relation to psychology within the workplace, and once I had read up on it, decided that was my new career path.  So, I did an MSc in HR Management that was CIPD accredited, and worked part-time as an HR Adminstrator whilst studying (the course was a year long).  This role was made redundant but I was offered a place on a graduate scheme within the same company, which although it wasn't HR related at all, it enabled me to work in some of my 'soft skills' and took me through the customer services and property departments for 18 months.

I eventually made the move back down to London and decided to get back onto the HR career ladder. 2 years later and I am 4 months into my second HR role since moving down to London.  I now work as an HR Assistant, and although the departments (I work across two of them!) are very busy, I am thoroughly enjoying it all!

It took me a while to get into HR and onto the career ladder, but I wouldn't change it for the world, I find it so interesting and enjoyable, and no two days are ever the same!

Alex 

My path into HR was not a planned one, but after the HR Manager returned after a period of long term sick at the company I was working at needed some assistance I jumped at the opportunity to try something new.  At the time I was working as a Sales Administrator and had got to the point where the role was no longer very rewarding. 

I was very lucky as the HR Manager was very experienced and turned out to be a real inspiration and mentor to me whilst I studied for my CPP. 

 Now I am the HR Manager and love my job and the fact that there is always something new to learn or a new way to view things. 

 HR never gets boring.  The people you work with ensure that never happens and the rewards are always there; there’s nothing like the knowledge that you have helped someone to achieve a goal or put their mind at rest if they have a work related issue. 

 

I fell into it. Left school at 16 and started temping for the MOD just doing data inputting for a Unit's training department. Was made permenant when they realised I was the only one with indepth knowledge of their database! A couple of years and the threat of redundancy later, my mum sugested I look on the website of our local university where she worked, and there was a generalist personnel admin role. It's been upward from there, am now working at another university with responsibility for all operational HR & development activities for a Faculty of approx 360 staff.

Ten year career so far, no quals on leaving school, but did an advanced modern apprenticeship while that the MOD, and then CPP, the L&M modules of the diploma before embarking on an MSc in HRM course through my organisation. I too was very lucky in having excellent supportive bosses who were more than happy to let me have a go at pretty much anything. I love working in HR, really can't see myself doing anything else.

Andrea

I left school totally clueless about what i wanted to do, initially was going to be a nanny/nursery nurse or work in a carehome.  Fell into floristry (it was the only thing the youth op scheme had at the time)  and when I was getting married a couple of years later got sacked and went to work as Tesco checkout girl.  For the next 10 years I took on several short term temp cleaning and retail jobs and then went back to college to take a secretarial course.   During the course I did work experience in a HR Department and liked it but was an unemployed mother studying business courses for another 5 years until my youngest went to nursery. 

Getting my first real job in my mid-thirties working for a retailer at Heathrow Airport and not getting recognition from my managment team (funny, a lot of people seemed to think I was the shop manager but the company would not promote me beyond supervisor) I was invited to interview by another company and given a hr role.  I enjoyed it so much.  The responsibility for obtaining security passes, creating Personnel Files from scratch and carrying out recruitment.  Last year the company lost the contract with BAA and I was TUPE'd, back to square one, standing on a shop floor bored out of my mind and very depressed. 

My friend asked me to join their team working for a well known grocers which was fun because of the people I worked with but not what I wanted in the long run, as soon as I started I was offered a HR administrator role which I began 4 months ago.  It is very demanding and stimulating. 

I fell into HR and have progressed such a long way in such a short time, I hope to take a course to gain some qualification.

 

• What do you think HR should be doing to encourage the 'brightest and best' to choose or plan a career in HR?

I think that employers should value  HR graduates more, it is admirable that people choose this profession rather than stumble in as I and some others seem to have done.  Being passionate about making a difference and improving working environments needs to be rewarded more, this is not a job for everybody, you need to be prepared to put the groundwork in and not just in it for the money.  I salute those young adults who know what they want to do because I still have no clue what I want to be when I grow up. LOL

    

• Some people suggest it's good to have experience outside HR, while others have worked within HR from the start - are there key skills that you need to be successful in the profession?

In my case; empathy and the ability to learn on the job quickly.

• What do you wish you'd known about HR before you joined the profession?

I wish I knew what I was letting myself in for, I am not well renumerated (I earn the least in my company!) I also wish I knew how rewarding it is and how varied my duties are.

 

 

For me, HR was always something that 'someone else' did and I didn't really know how to go about getting into it though I would have liked to.

I left Uni with a business studies BA but ended up being a recruitment consultant for 2-3 years. Unlike most recruitment firms, mine had separate teams for sales and resourcing. After hating sales I managed to get moved on to the resourcing team and loved it. I still wasn't thinking about HR though, when I left to move away. Upon moving, I was looking for any business type job as I fancied a change from recruitment, and went for an entry level operations interview - but with my resourcing experience came out with an offer of being their new HR administrator which they had yet to advertise!

I was thrilled and once I got started I loved it. Now I am in a stand alone generalist role at another company and (as you can see) have got around to doing some academic study which I should have done sooner really! After all the years of college and Uni I just didn't fancy going back in the classroom for a while but it hasn't been bad at all.

I hope to progress further in the coming years - I can't see myself getting tired of HR work anytime soon and hope for a solid career on this path.

So to cut that long story short yes I did fall into HR but I am very glad I did!

Hi

I've almost finished my CIPD Level 5 course, but I have over 35 years practicing - but alas I still seen as not having enough experience. Any tips from anyone on practical things I can do, when applying for that first role.... or convincing the employer.... I dread the "chicken and the egg" scenario.

Frustrated HR Professional "in the making"