Late career change to HR

Hi Alasdair, I'm doing a very similar thing. I have spent most of my working life in Marketing and have switched to HR. I'm now starting my CIPD level 5.
I put it off for so long as I couldn't afford too much of a pay cut in taking a much less senior role in an industry I am new to. I eventually took a job as an Office Manager, for the moment I have to accept that I do lots that isn't HR (facilities, admin, H&S) but I'd say around 50% of my role is HR and that's the part I enjoy. Luckily my company are supportive in developing the HR part of my role and hence I'm doing my CIPD with their backing. Wishing you lots of luck in getting a break soon, don't give up. How are you finding your studies?

Hello Kelly, it is great to meet someone in the same boat! I'm pleased you are getting some of that hard to find HR experience. I'm really enjoying the studies, though I find studying part-time a bit frustrating as I feel I can't do the material justice all the time - it's just down to how much free time I have that week... Often not a lot! At the moment I need to do some rapid catch-up on the module I'm doing :) How are you finding it? I really like the topics, it's such a mixture of interesting stuff from different areas. I'm very fortunate at the moment, as I am starting day 1 of a new role as HR Officer (temp) - was really not expecting to be able to do this, but it took the lucky break of someone seeing something in the CV and having a bit of faith. It may not be for very long, but getting it on the CV is a really important step. It's quite a slog getting into a new area - all the comments from people saying it's going to be tough don't really prepare you for the knock-backs and just how all-consuming the job hunt is. And then there really can be a bit of luck - this break came as a result of a combination of some advice on this thread (apply for everything!), and taking a punt on a recommendation from an agency even though it looked like a long shot - they know their contacts/roles, so I think it's worth going with their wisdom even if it seems a bit of a long shot. Anyway, all the best, I really hope it works out well for you.
Alasdair

Incidentally, if anyone is looking in on the thread and enjoying the advice, there's an additional tip I think it definitely worth considering. Use of agencies is potentially really important, and working hard on building up the relationship with them, showing enthusiasm/energy, frequent contact, asking for feedback on CVs and then following up by visibly using their feedback and so on. All this helps to make them advocates for you, and they often have long-standing relationships with organisations who trust them. So this can be invaluable - my hit rate for interviews applying "cold" to job ads has not been great, but with a well respected local agency who acted as advocates I was short-listed and managed to secure a really important step along the path. So I would suggest signing up with as many agencies as possible and really taking the time over the relationships.

Incidentally, if anyone is looking in on the thread and enjoying the advice, there's an additional tip I think it definitely worth considering. Use of agencies is potentially really important, and working hard on building up the relationship with them, showing enthusiasm/energy, frequent contact, asking for feedback on CVs and then following up by visibly using their feedback and so on. All this helps to make them advocates for you, and they often have long-standing relationships with organisations who trust them. So this can be invaluable - my hit rate for interviews applying "cold" to job ads has not been great, but with a well respected local agency who acted as advocates I was short-listed and managed to secure a really important step along the path. So I would suggest signing up with as many agencies as possible and really taking the time over the relationships.