Thinking of career change to HR, any one work in HR and got any advice??

[granarybeck]

Currently work for civil service and due to a big merge of organisations in October, I think my job will either not be there anymore or move to otherside of London which would be too far away. So...have been looking at moving into HR.

Most posts say 'relevant qualifications' or cipd qualified'. To get in at basic level would the Certificate in Personnel Practice (cipd approved) do or would I be wasting time/money? Any other tips? Is it worth the training money/enough jobs wise?

Would really appreciate any advice as am just in process of taking on new much bigger mortgage (move to london) so need to find another job just don't want to make the wrong move/choices.

I don't think you would be wasting your money. The certificate would show employers that you are committed to working in the profession as so many people want to move into the field but do not have any experience/qualifications. Without previous experience you would probably need to start at Adminstrator/Assistant level and the money is not great. Have a look on www.cipd.co.uk or www.personneltoday.co.uk for an idea of the jobs and starting salaries.

Thanks nogoes. I could afford a bit of a pay cut as not commuting into London would save quite a bit. Have vaguely related experience. I think I'll see if I can do course before October, I've seen it at malpas where you can do in 6 months. I'll have a look at personneltoday thanks, not looked there.

I have studied through MALPAS I found that they were very good if you are disciplined enough to do the work in your own time. They are a lot more expensive though, might be cheaper to do it at a local college although 2 evenings a week for a year is not much fun.

what grade are you in the civil service and what section of it so you wok for. How long have you been there? I worked for JC+ and am currently on 3.5 year career break but I know that I would not leave (hang on for redundancy) and if you are a Band A or B you are not a mobile grade and cannot be expected to travel for over 1 hour.

Helsi, they are about to offer 'voluntary release' - but before we know what jobs are on offer and where they'll be based. I bet they maight get away with us being less than an hour from where we are now (would be moving from holborn to sw1). I'm not sure what grade I am as for some reason we are described as zones, I am zone 3. If I wait for redundancy I have to say I want it now but work til October to get it. So as I've only been there a couple of years would end up using the money whilst finding a job as couldn't get one before then.

I'd rather not leave really as although pay isn't fantastic its better than other things i've seen and it is just so fexible hours wise and get lots hols etc. But if I have to, thought I might as well get myself prepared to find a job.

Sorry to say but in my experience, CPP is not worth the paper it is written on. I have never known anyone fail to get it and consequently if you want to progress within HR as a profession you really need the full CIPD qualifications. Go for a decent course - I was at Kingston which is highly recommended - and you could do the evenings only (although it is bl**dy hard work and may not be possible with children)

This is based on 15+ years in HR although I have been out of it now for 3 years.

Can I ask why you are interested in HR? People very often join the profession because they "like working with people" and then find actually they spend more time working out how to sack/discipline the b*ggers than anything else. But I am a bit prejudiced On the other hand at the top of the profession you do have an opportunity to contribute to the running of the business (although that depends on the nature of the biz, the employer, and whether or not HR are on the board....but don't get me started on that one!)

Agree with paranoidandroid - cpp is not really worth anything as such although it would show a willingness to study and change career.
Kingston is recognised as a good course.

Have to say even though I worked 3 different companies and 3 very different industries, as hard as HR tries to be positive, it usually ends up with disciplinaries/sackings/downsizing unless you are really at the top and the business recognises HR can have a positive contribution.

Also with all the legislation at the moment being introduced HR is becoming more and more the police force of the company and the policy writers - so think about whether you want to do this or are good at that type of thing!

On the plus side, the job is varied everyday and you are working with numerous people.

People Management is another publication that has loads of jobs in and articles about HR so may be worth a look.

Good luck!

Thanks paranoidandroid and Bellie. I kind of suspected that may be the case about the CPP, but it just seems that you need something to get in and then do the CIPD training. I perhaps would be better trying to get any job that may lead to doing cipd on the job. Unfortunately I can't afford to not work for a year.

The reason I have considered HR is that I currently work with discrimination legislation, have worked with indiv cases, good/bad practise and policies in this area etc. So I have seen a bit of the tougher side to the job but perhaps from the other side.

Maybe I'm better looking at other things.

There is a wide range of possibilities within HR. Take a look at the job ads in Personnel Today for salareis, job titles, qualificaitons required etc. Smaller companies tend not to be so bothered about qualifications, and the role can be all-encompassing. An HR Manager in a company of 100 staff will do all the recruitment, employment contracts, staff procedures and handbook, appraisal system, disciplinaries, sacking etc. At the other end of the private company spectrum, in a large investment bank one person might handle recruitment for one part of the business (as part of a team doing recruitment), and nothing else.

I started in HR as a generalist in a small company, but I am now an HR Information Systems specialist (I chose and implemented the HR system). I previously had a career in IT, and managed the transition to HR in a small software house.

Thanks Clerkkent. I have just had a look at personneltoday, it was really useful to see salaries etc to work out whether it's worth the retraining.