Short version - How difficult is it to get work in HR without any sort of training or degree in it? What can I expect compensation-wise?
Longer tale:
I’m about to lose a job I love and that I don’t think I can replicate, not where I live anyway and probably not ever, anywhere. I’ll be 65 in Nov. but I can’t afford to retire yet, alas. In job hunting I’m finding it a tough slog to come up with something comparable to my current job (I admit I’m really spoiled by it) and am thinking that maybe I need to pivot a bit to something a good deal more general. Thus HR, because while I’ve never done a standard office job I have done a lot of HR-adjacent tasks as a manager of people/small businesses in previous jobs. It seems like something I do have the skills for if not the official training for.
@Odesio surely knows much more in-depth than I do, but I handle the HR (among many other things) for a very small company, and anything larger than a very small company seems to have a stupid ridiculous amount of BS to deal with, more than I would ever want to be around. But you’re not me and may love that stuff.
I want to say: Don’t think that your age may be a problem. You can really work it to your advantage. “Mature, knows the job, doesn’t participate in office politics or pettiness, years of organizational skills, etc.” I got 2 phenomenal jobs past age 60 this way.
For what it’s worth, I’ve heard from seniors who have changed jobs that potential employers tend to see them as reliable, especially if leaving a job for some external reason beyond their control.
I always feel bad when people ask me how to get into HR because this is an accidental career for me. I was looking to switch careers, got a temporary job in the HR department of a nice company, and when a full-time position came open I was hired and thus my HR career bagan. Just getting your foot in the door is the hardest part, but it took me a few years to realize that because I just fell into the position with no prior experience or an HR degree.
If you’re just starting out with no degree then your best bet is to look for a position as an HR assistant or something similar. I started out as an assistant, and it was mostly administrative work like processing new hire paperwork, maintaining personnel files, answering basic questions from employees, screening and scheduling candidates for interviews, etc. etc. It’s been more than a decade for me, but I started as an hourly employee making about $35,000 a year. Not a lot.
Thanks, this is kind of what I was hoping. Is the 35k in current dollars or back then? I’d like to be at 55k min, and that’s tough in small retail (which is what I do now). I may have to suck it up and try for Big Box management, which makes me want to cry.
