Does anyone work in HR or learning & development?

[xroads21]

I'm considering a career change, and it would be helpful to hear from anyone within either field, especially if you're at a senior level.

I have lots of people management experience in my current role, and I could feasibly self-study for a CIPD or MBA qualification in my spare time before making the move. I was wondering what sort of roles/salary I should be looking at that background, or if realistically I would be looking at starting from scratch, like a new graduate.

I want to do something more satisfying, and the people management bit of my very senior very technical role is the part that brings me the most joy. I find it very rewarding supporting others in their training/career progression, and I'm interested in making that the main part of my job in a career move, but given I'm in my 40s, I have responsibilities to consider like a mortgage to pay!

I could afford to retrain (i.e. to pick up a qualification), but I can't afford a massive pay drop for years and years. I'm just wondering if I can pivot into a different field without starting from the very bottom.

Any advice - even if it's to say this is a complete non-starter - would be very welcome.

I worked in HR for fifteen years in a variety of roles, including in talent and learning, before I set up as an independent career coach (which is what I do now) so happy to chat.

HR is quite professionalised and above a certain level roles will require you to be CIPD qualified, but some employers will pay for you to do the qualification while you work. Depending on what your role is now, you may be able to move into a role at a higher level while you do a CIPD, especially if you have people management experience.

What sector are you working in at the moment?

@MirandaWestsNewBFF Really appreciate the input - you are exactly the sort of person I was hoping to reach here! We probably have a similar level of seniority, but in different fields.

I'm a qualified accountant and have spent a large chunk of my career to date helping junior staff progress through their own training contracts, dealing with staffing issues (recruitment, performance improvement plans, investigations, disciplinaries, etc), coaching/mentoring trainees etc. The main part of my job is supposed to be the technical accountancy side, but I actually enjoy the people management part far more and always have done. I have an interest in employment law too, which has a bit of a crossover with accountancy.

I'm not entirely sure what my options are/what I could be/should be aiming to do. There wouldn't be any scope for me to move into the HR function at my current firm, but I thought I could perhaps study for a CIPD qualification in my own time, and plan a move in one to two years' time, depending on how long it took me to retrain. It would also give the market a chance to calm down post-Covid - I would keep the security of my current job, whilst getting ready to leave.

The concern I have - perhaps misplaced - is that in accountancy, we really struggle with people who try to walk into the profession with a qualification and no practical experience. Some people will study for the ACCA (as you don't need a training contract for that) and come to us with the qualification you'd expect after 3 or 4 years of service, but no corresponding experience. It makes it really hard to know what to do with them, both in terms of actual work and salary expectations.

I don't have any HR experience per se, but I think I have some transferrable experience. So... I'm not really sure what HR people would make of me.

I’ve been in HR 10/11 yrs now. You can do a level 3 CIPD people qual part time in a year which would give you the basic qualification, and then look to complete the level 5 or 7 (which some companies may sponsor) Based on what you’ve said you have a good grounding in basic people management but the level 3 will help you compare that with industry best practice. My firm are currently recruiting for generalist types roles and we would definitely interview you based on what you’ve shared, but I’m not sure whether the salary range at this level will be what you are looking for. For more senior HR generalist roles, they often want level5 quals as a minimum, if not level 7.
If you wanted to go into, say a training and development type role, there is a level 3 CIPD course in training specifically that might be a quick win. I think those types of roles would be easier to demonstrate transferable skills and potentially come in at a more senior level?

Also bear in mind that HR is quite hands off in terms of people management/development. Our role is to support and advise management rather than do it ourselves. If actually working with/coaching/mentoring people is what you enjoy HR might not give you that.

@ATowelAndAPotato The Level 3 CIPD courses look very doable (and comparatively quick/cheap), but my existing non-HR qualifications are the equivalent of Level 7, so I wondered if I would be expected to push myself a bit more and start at Level 5 if not Level 7.

I'm also not entirely sure whether the HR or L&D CIPD course would be more appropriate, mainly because I don't know where I'm trying to land yet.

@ProfYaffle I've been looking at both HR and learning and development. I think there are aspects of both I would enjoy, but perhaps learning and development has the lower salary ceiling?

I'm realistic about needing to take an immediate pay cut on switching career, but that wouldn't be the worst thing if there was potential to climb back up to a similar salary ballpark. I'm not really sure what sort of entry salary I would be looking at and where I could hope to get to after, say, 5/10 years in.

I do enjoy supporting management as well as coaching staff in their day-to-day jobs. I know some firms do employ training officers specifically to look after trainees/apprentices, but I suspect that's quite a low paid role without much scope for progression, hence looking more at the HR side.

I'm really just exploring options right now - I know I don't want to practise accountancy any more, and I know I'm good at managing people and projects. HR seems to be a possible fit (especially at another accountancy firm where I'd really understand the business I was supporting) but all opinions welcome!

I'm not an L&D/OD specialist but those roles do exist at a more senior/strategic level though are usually combined with HR too I guess.

I've been in HR for about 20 years and am in a generalist role. Honestly very little of what I do is about coaching/mentoring/developing. That's very much the role of the line manager rather than us. Organisations obviously do differ in their practices though.

This has been a brutal year in HR, we deal with some very difficult stuff, redundancies, furlough, explosion in mh issues etc The organisation leans on us but we have no-one to lean on ourselves. As they say "you don't have HR when you are HR". I don't mean to be negative, in normal times I enjoy what I do, but it's not all roses by any means.

[quote xroads21]@ATowelAndAPotato The Level 3 CIPD courses look very doable (and comparatively quick/cheap), but my existing non-HR qualifications are the equivalent of Level 7, so I wondered if I would be expected to push myself a bit more and start at Level 5 if not Level 7.

I'm also not entirely sure whether the HR or L&D CIPD course would be more appropriate, mainly because I don't know where I'm trying to land yet.

@ProfYaffle I've been looking at both HR and learning and development. I think there are aspects of both I would enjoy, but perhaps learning and development has the lower salary ceiling?

I'm realistic about needing to take an immediate pay cut on switching career, but that wouldn't be the worst thing if there was potential to climb back up to a similar salary ballpark. I'm not really sure what sort of entry salary I would be looking at and where I could hope to get to after, say, 5/10 years in.

I do enjoy supporting management as well as coaching staff in their day-to-day jobs. I know some firms do employ training officers specifically to look after trainees/apprentices, but I suspect that's quite a low paid role without much scope for progression, hence looking more at the HR side.

I'm really just exploring options right now - I know I don't want to practise accountancy any more, and I know I'm good at managing people and projects. HR seems to be a possible fit (especially at another accountancy firm where I'd really understand the business I was supporting) but all opinions welcome![/quote]
Just to chip in, I’m only qualified to CIPD level 5 but it didn’t hold me back. You can always upgrade to level 7 later.

There are definitely strategic roles available in capability building, which is what it sounds like you’ve been doing some of in your current role, and the more you can do of that and evidence results, the better a prospect you’ll be for an HR function to take a punt on.

It sounds like some career coaching could help you further clarify and explore your options. Happy to chat about what’s available in that regard if you want to message me privately.

If you want to discuss salaries in more detail, feel free to pm me