HR consultancy or some sort of career change?
Discussion
Just a thought I've had and wanted to get a few opinions on if its a silly idea or not..
I'm currently contracting in engineering and doing reasonably well, as far as hourly paid work goes. The problem is the materials i use on a daily basis have given me constant sinusitis and permanently runny painful and bloody nose! I've finally got to the point now where I want out.
Before getting in to my current line of work i had a job as a HR assistant at a hospital, and quite enjoyed it. With some research, independent consultancy firms specialising in HR, writing policies, handling disciplinaries and tribunals etc are In demand and pay rather well.
I guess my question to PH, if we have any HR or employment law folks in, is how much on-the-job experience do you need to start up doing this? Would it be a case of studying and becoming qualified and away you go or is it something that would need the expertise which comes with real world experience?
So keen to try something new but really i need £35k pa minimum, ideally more, so im struggling somewhat go make the change with no experience or qualifications in other fields and no decent business ideas. I dont expect just to breeze in to a successful business but just wondered how well equipped CIPD qualifications would make you to deal with proper work in HR.
I'm in a fortunate position where i can save quite a bit to put towards a new business and could still do a bit of contracting in my current line of work to help pay the bills while things get up and running.
Any advice gratefully received from people in the industry.
Cheers
I'm currently contracting in engineering and doing reasonably well, as far as hourly paid work goes. The problem is the materials i use on a daily basis have given me constant sinusitis and permanently runny painful and bloody nose! I've finally got to the point now where I want out.
Before getting in to my current line of work i had a job as a HR assistant at a hospital, and quite enjoyed it. With some research, independent consultancy firms specialising in HR, writing policies, handling disciplinaries and tribunals etc are In demand and pay rather well.
I guess my question to PH, if we have any HR or employment law folks in, is how much on-the-job experience do you need to start up doing this? Would it be a case of studying and becoming qualified and away you go or is it something that would need the expertise which comes with real world experience?
So keen to try something new but really i need £35k pa minimum, ideally more, so im struggling somewhat go make the change with no experience or qualifications in other fields and no decent business ideas. I dont expect just to breeze in to a successful business but just wondered how well equipped CIPD qualifications would make you to deal with proper work in HR.
I'm in a fortunate position where i can save quite a bit to put towards a new business and could still do a bit of contracting in my current line of work to help pay the bills while things get up and running.
Any advice gratefully received from people in the industry.
Cheers
V12biTurbo said:
Just a thought I've had and wanted to get a few opinions on if its a silly idea or not..
I'm currently contracting in engineering and doing reasonably well, as far as hourly paid work goes. The problem is the materials i use on a daily basis have given me constant sinusitis and permanently runny painful and bloody nose! I've finally got to the point now where I want out.
Before getting in to my current line of work i had a job as a HR assistant at a hospital, and quite enjoyed it. With some research, independent consultancy firms specialising in HR, writing policies, handling disciplinaries and tribunals etc are In demand and pay rather well.
I guess my question to PH, if we have any HR or employment law folks in, is how much on-the-job experience do you need to start up doing this? Would it be a case of studying and becoming qualified and away you go or is it something that would need the expertise which comes with real world experience?
So keen to try something new but really i need £35k pa minimum, ideally more, so im struggling somewhat go make the change with no experience or qualifications in other fields and no decent business ideas. I dont expect just to breeze in to a successful business but just wondered how well equipped CIPD qualifications would make you to deal with proper work in HR.
I'm in a fortunate position where i can save quite a bit to put towards a new business and could still do a bit of contracting in my current line of work to help pay the bills while things get up and running.
Any advice gratefully received from people in the industry.
Cheers
I work in HR. I would say with very limited experience you are not going to have the credibility or the experience to propose the sort of solutions that clients will want. CIPD qualifications are a good starter but really exposure and experience is key. I'm currently contracting in engineering and doing reasonably well, as far as hourly paid work goes. The problem is the materials i use on a daily basis have given me constant sinusitis and permanently runny painful and bloody nose! I've finally got to the point now where I want out.
Before getting in to my current line of work i had a job as a HR assistant at a hospital, and quite enjoyed it. With some research, independent consultancy firms specialising in HR, writing policies, handling disciplinaries and tribunals etc are In demand and pay rather well.
I guess my question to PH, if we have any HR or employment law folks in, is how much on-the-job experience do you need to start up doing this? Would it be a case of studying and becoming qualified and away you go or is it something that would need the expertise which comes with real world experience?
So keen to try something new but really i need £35k pa minimum, ideally more, so im struggling somewhat go make the change with no experience or qualifications in other fields and no decent business ideas. I dont expect just to breeze in to a successful business but just wondered how well equipped CIPD qualifications would make you to deal with proper work in HR.
I'm in a fortunate position where i can save quite a bit to put towards a new business and could still do a bit of contracting in my current line of work to help pay the bills while things get up and running.
Any advice gratefully received from people in the industry.
Cheers
Looking at peers and other people in my network I would say people go their own way once they have reached HR Manager/Director/BP level and have been there for a few years. That probably means 10+ years progressive experience.
The sort of work you allude to above tends to be aimed towards SME businesses who do not have the requirement for a full time HR person. They will probably have somebody attached to Finance or Office Manager to deal with the administration side of contacts and payroll etc. What they like is indemnified support for employee relations cases in the main. They are less interested to engage you for assignments in succession planning, employee engagement, leadership development, organisational design, performance management systems, reward and benefits design. Unfortunately, this is where the interesting part of HR is. You could probably join one of these such providers as an employee but unless you are a good salesman and have contacts who can work for/with you with more in-depth knowledge hen i think you will struggle.
I'm an employment lawyer and I am afraid I agree with edc's comments. If you try and go straight into HR consulting you will probably struggle to generate an income and you also risk giving negligent advice. I think it is something you would need to work up to but that would mean taking a pay cut in the short-medium term.
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