Hello Stephanie, here are my recommendations:
- continue your studies along the HR path while applying for more roles
- share your learning journey and milestones on social platforms like LinkedIn
- network with more practicing HR professionals across industries
- extend your job search to SMEs
- remain positive and resilient. Sure, something will come through.

Two HR interviews within a short interval are encouraging. Meaning, you are doing some things right, as much as you have a few gaps to bridge. So, those gaps have to be identified and thoroughly filled. You can request feedback from your last two potential employers. They should be able to give you insight into what and where to improve in comparative terms with other applicants.

It is well.

Great share Dare 

Congrats on passing your qualification Stephanie.

I know you'll get great advice here on where to start.

In the meantime, here are some helpful tools and resources to support you on your career journey:

www.cipd.org/.../
www.cipd.org/.../
www.cipd.org/.../

Wishing you all the best on your next steps.

In reply to Dare:

Thank you very much!

In reply to Michelle Battista:

Thank you Michelle!

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.

Welcome to the community and congratulations on your studies. I'd echo the feedback you have received so far especially from Dare.

I'd add, review your CV and application. Position the skills and experience you bring front and centre especially in the roles where you have HR experience although not with an HR job title to match.

Some recruitment processes sadly overlook prior experience and we can often downplay it but this makes you a different candidate to others who might lack that business experience and you could turn it to your advantage.

Similarly, when you get to interview, think about all your experience not just that purely badged or related to your HR qualification. This could make you a more appealing, rounded candidate and show that you are actively interested and committed - you've re-trained to show that- and you are learning. I'm sad to say that age discrimination is alive and well and we have to actively counter unspoken biases which some have about more experienced candidates applying for roles, especially those they might traditionally think are for people at a different stage of their career.

Good luck and don't give up on your dreams.

In reply to Robey:

Dear Robey,
Thank you for your detailed reply. I am actually more drawn to the public sector where I did work up until recently.

In reply to Sharon:

Hello Sharon,
Thank you for your encouraging words. Im looking at various roles now. Trying to get my foot in the door.

As someone who moved into pure HR from financial management, then general management with some HR reponsibilities I'd echo what Sharon said. Experience in business can be invaluable.

We are supposed to be strategic partners, and the fact I can speak the language of income and expenditure accounts and the overall business picture has helped me be successful in getting the HR roles for which I have applied.

Hi Stephanie,you’re in a strong position with your CIPD and HR-related experience. Entry-level HR roles or apprenticeships are a good start, and age is rarely a barrier—employers often value your experience. Make sure your CV highlights HR tasks clearly.