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Change of Career

Stephanie

Hello everyone,

I have recently obtained my level 3 CIPD Foundation Certificate in People Practice and am looking to move into pure HR career move. I have held some HR type roles in my previous job as a PA such as helping with recruitment and onboarding. I have been lucky enough to have had two HR job interviews but I was not successful. 

Does anyone have any tips about where to start? I don't mind starting at entry levels even getting on an apprenticeship scheme. Will my age be a factor? I know it shouldn't be but that is not always the reality. I still have a good 15 years until I reach retirement age. 

Thank you,

Stephanie

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  • Welcome to the community, Stephanie.

    First, I suppose I should encourage you to think and speak in terms of "pensionable age" rather than retirement age, because a good HR practitioner knows that there's no such thing as a retirement age anymore and, if nothing else, ours is a profession that chooses its words carefully.

    And with that in mind, I would encourage you to look at public sector roles and, especially, local authority and NHS jobs for a first step into HR practice. These employers tend to not only be less prejudiced when it comes to older workers, but more likely to actively seek to encourage diversity within their workforce. They are also more likely to value your formal qualifications than the private sector.

    Pure apprenticeships in HR are rare enough to begin with and, although age should not be a factor when considering candidates, it often will be whether we like it or not. Far more common are permanent HR appointments within which an employee can undertake an apprenticeship up to Level 5 (S&G Funding for Level 7, sadly, has ceased) and these are what you are more likely to find.

    The trick with an interview is being able to speak about evidence of competence in the key areas. So it's worth reviewing the interviews you had to understand which areas you most struggled to evidence competence in and, from that, to interrogate your memory to come up with better examples in the future.
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  • Welcome to the community, Stephanie.

    First, I suppose I should encourage you to think and speak in terms of "pensionable age" rather than retirement age, because a good HR practitioner knows that there's no such thing as a retirement age anymore and, if nothing else, ours is a profession that chooses its words carefully.

    And with that in mind, I would encourage you to look at public sector roles and, especially, local authority and NHS jobs for a first step into HR practice. These employers tend to not only be less prejudiced when it comes to older workers, but more likely to actively seek to encourage diversity within their workforce. They are also more likely to value your formal qualifications than the private sector.

    Pure apprenticeships in HR are rare enough to begin with and, although age should not be a factor when considering candidates, it often will be whether we like it or not. Far more common are permanent HR appointments within which an employee can undertake an apprenticeship up to Level 5 (S&G Funding for Level 7, sadly, has ceased) and these are what you are more likely to find.

    The trick with an interview is being able to speak about evidence of competence in the key areas. So it's worth reviewing the interviews you had to understand which areas you most struggled to evidence competence in and, from that, to interrogate your memory to come up with better examples in the future.
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