It's never too late to jump ship and embark a new career as one must always follow the heart. A career in Human Resource is a safe bet since it deals with the most vital aspects of running a business, which is managing workforce. Career analysts and career counselors have predicted a rise in job opportunities in this field.

Human Resource Management

Have you finally decided to make use of your soft skills, people skills and experience to help others in finding a job? While transitioning from a career where you had gained expertise to an altogether new field is a bold paradigm shift and can make the mind go buzzing with endless questions, going for risk and taking the first step is always important. A human resource manager is entrusted with the responsibility of managing employees in an organization and his or her work may fall under one of the categories namely – handling staff, defining work policies and methods as well as offering employee compensation and benefits. Wondering whether you will be able to manage these responsibilities when there is no relevant experience or degree? While an official degree is an obligation in many companies, there are people who have done exceptionally well without it. If you have planned to make a HR career, taking baby steps in this field while pursuing an online degree course can help you get the hang of duties in this role.

How to make a lateral move in HRM ? 

A career in HR comes with an ample opportunity. Start taking additional responsibilities which are different from daily job assignments. Here are a few common ways which you can employ to make a transition into human resource management.

Take on some administration responsibilities 

This could be one of the best way to get an idea about how a HR goes managing different duties like payroll system, managing employee relations, providing benefits and solving employee issues. To be successful in a new career, one most show willingness to learn things right from zero.

Add HR professionals to the network 

What better way could be to start in this profile than interacting with individuals who have been working in this field and have a substantial experience? Become a part of HR group or community of different organizations until you get some clue about an opportunity. Interacting with people who have already been employed in this sector can help you learn from their experiences. Also, it could head start your new career when a professional is seeking a known employee for a junior position.

Demonstrate your desires 

While you are taking time to find the appropriate opportunity, express your wish to work in HR role to the current boss or senior official. Demonstrating abilities to take on new responsibilities can help you get noticed in the office and it might happen that boss would pay heed to requests and give small tasks. Also, you might get a chance to act as a substitute when the HR is unavailable due to certain reasons or when there is enough work pressure in the department.

Become a part of the recruiting team

As this role usually deals interacting with probable candidates and choosing the best, play an active role in deciding which individuals must be recruited. Apart from this, you can be a part of training sessions for HR or enroll in an internship to learn the technicalities of the job.

While getting a career switch in the current company lies completely at the mercy of boss, doing professional certifications and getting affiliated with communities can add weight to your request and justify the decision. Add new skills and HR-related education in your resume be referring HRM resume samples. Following these points will eventually help in making a successful career change.

Career change is not a novel phenomenon. People today are willing to explore options, as they are in abundance. They are also susceptible to boredom due to the monotonous nature of work that they do, thus making room for exploring new options. Along with that the way a change in career was stigmatized initially is not prevalent these days. On the contrary, a person pursuing a different career and succeeding in it is glorified.

Therefore, it might sound exciting for a person who reads success stories related to career change. But it is important to realize that all that seems so easy is not actually the case. And a change in career involves a lot of efforts and risks. So it is advisable for anyone who wishes to change a career to scrutinize carefully all the variables at play and understand the key stages that govern the career change.

Stages in Career Change

Experiencing the need to change a career

This is often the first stage in switching a career. People who tend to pursue careers in which they don't have any interest, but still end up choosing it for various reasons, usually experience boredom very early in their career. However, there are several other reasons such as grim future prospects, stress, etc. that can induce the thought for a change and thereby force them to explore other options.

Contemplating on the reasons for the change

This is the next critical stage wherein a person who is serious about moving out of a career, pragmatically evaluates the need and reasons before taking any decision. The importance of this approach should not be undermined because if a person doesn't think critically and makes erratic decisions, it won't help him in the long-run and he/she might end-up getting trapped into a vicious cycle. He/she might suffer the same fate and would frequently experience the need to change careers.

Exploring different careers

Once there is a clear understanding of the need and reasons for the change, the next step is to explore the right career. Once people experience the pros and cons in their previous career, they have a vivid understanding about their own expectations from a career, which is helpful for them in the quest of a new one. For some people, exploring different careers might be based upon their childhood interests. And for others, it can be implementing an idea and be self-employed, whereas in some cases, it can be problems related to health or family issues.

Investing time and money in the new career

Changing a career is not easy. Initially, it involves serious thinking. And once you move into a different career, it can take a lot of time & investments before it starts yielding returns. Also, pursuing a different career may need you to acquire certain skills, which is time-consuming. Furthermore, individuals who wish to start something on their own may need a huge capital to invest.

Once an individual explores and finally decides the career to pursue, he/she arrives at a stage where investing time and money in order to nurture and develop abilities to withstand competition becomes necessary. This is the stage that can be challenging for a person as he/she might face situations that can be difficult to surmount.

Changing a career is a difficult choice. A proper due diligence and a right action plan is critical in ensuring a swift transformation. So it is advisable for individuals to factor all the critical stages and the necessary steps that need to be taken.

Want to give a new direction to your life? Going for a career change is not something that has been just born. Although questioning yourself whether you are on the right career path can induce anxiety and fear among many individuals, it is not something that has not been tried before. As the adage goes: “Better late than never,” some people do take time to realize their inclinations and get the right start. It is always better than being stuck with the wrong job. Today, there are plenty of examples of people who have switched their careers midlife and are living a successful life after taking the bold decision. Here are a few examples that demonstrate it is never too late to alter the career path.

#1. Jane Doze – DJ duo who make you tap your feet

Mozentor and Schlissel, the female DJs who are among the most renowned electronic DJ artists hit the right notes when they met at a show. Their bonding increased over the time while discussing electronic dance music and mash-ups of different songs. Before their instinct took over, both the ladies were employed in a full-time day in Manhattan. After their Chicago show and a print featured in Billboard magazine made them overnight stars, they decided to take the plunge and shift from a paycheck job to a full-time career in the music industry.

Jane Doze

#2. Roz Savage – An expert ocean rower

This woman in mid thirties with no previous experience in adventure gave her family and friends the shock of their lives when she suddenly announced her decision to row across the world's biggest deep-blue oceans. Roz actually wrote down two obituaries to determine if her current job was giving her the freedom to live a fulfilled life. When she noticed that it was taking her in wrong direction and forcing her to live a life of obligation, not only did she ditch the job but also became the first woman to row across the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian ocean.

Roz Savage

#3. Walt Disney – Creator of the most loved cartoons

A testimony to his own thought, 'If you can dream it, you can do it'. Walt Disney did not reach the pinnacle easily. Braving various childhood odds, he started to work as a newspaper editor at Kansas City Star newspaper, but was fired from the job due to 'lack of imagination and creativity'. He soon started his own venture 'Laugh-O-gram Studios' but went bankrupt. In later years, he went on to create the iconic Mickey Mouse and his group of friends, which is still quite a rage among children.

Walt Disney

#4. Andrea Bocelli - Struck the right chords with music

He holds a law degree from the University of Pisa and was working in a highly qualified role of Defense Attorney until the age of 34. Following his love for music, Andrea quit the high profile career to become a full-time singer. He struggled for the initial years until Pavarotti listened to him on tape and become one of the world's most famous classical singers.

Andrea Bocelli

#5. Jeff Bezos – Amazon chief and entrepreneur

Bezos went on to make a lucrative career in computer science in top firms of Wall Street after completing graduation. He served as the youngest vice president at an investment firm, D.E. Shaw before quitting the job to start his own setup in Seattle and created history by transitioning the world of e-commerce with Amazon.

Jeff Bezos

#6. Brad Pitt – Hollywood's heartthrob

Eldest among his siblings, Brad Pitt dropped out of college when he was just two steps away from completing a journalism degree at the University of Missouri. He worked as a limousine driver to make a living before realizing his love for films. Driven by his passion, he left that job and entered the world of glamor. He won several accolades, and the rest became history.

Brad Pitt

#7. Shaina Olmanson – For love of desserts and passion for food blogging

Shaina was working as a typewriter in 2008 typing the interviews taken by other journalists. Though the job kept her on toes and occupied a major part of the day, she knew this job was not something that would be appreciated in her career. Aspiring to be a writer, she was urged by her friends to take up writing as a serious career. Shaina slowly started getting recognition for her work and went on to become a successful food blogger and even published a book on desserts.

Shaina Olmanson

Changing careers is always a big decision and definitely not for the fainthearted. If you have the courage to ditch your monotonous job and guts to follow your dreams and accept the challenges, take example of inspirational individuals who dared to make the transition and took the jump.

There comes a time when ones get bored doing the same job repeatedly and the person start experiencing a strong urge to switch profession. However, what stands as an obstacle in the transition is the questions you have to answer for career change. Since you are starting fresh, employers are concerned about lack of experience and commitment towards the new field. That's where convincing the interviewer that you have made a right decision gets difficult. The best way to relieve employers of their concern is to be ready with answers that can explain your career change decision clearly. Go through the below points to mitigate employers' worries. You can also include your own interpretations, circumstances, and phrases that would relate your situation.

Prepare well for the interview

Before you think about a career change, spend maximum time and effort looking into and finding out about the profession in detail. Discuss about the career with those who are in this field. It will help to gain practical knowledge, and you shall understand how to make the professional switch. The career change which you have made previously is revealed in your resume. Doesn't matter whether the switch is current or in the past, disclose the interviewer the work you did and why that decision of your career change does make a sense for the future.

Show that you are flexible and easily adaptable to new conditions

Explain to the interviewer, the work you did in the previous job and the skills you have gained. For instance, if you were a part of a project in which you gained understanding as a team player, describe how the teamwork made you a better person. If you have supervised others, then speak about monitoring and observation skills. Other skills such as correspondence, critical thinking and data investigation may also be very valuable in your new work profile. Go through the job description you want and make a list of all the matching characteristics and skills you presently possess. Be prepared for a situation during the interview in which you have to discuss about how your experience can be beneficial for your current job applied.

Future oriented

The current situation in the job market provokes individuals to think about a career switch. Upgradation in technology and failing businesses can sometimes make a new career. The most ideal approach to maintain your professional life intact is to move forward. You may also think that it is necessary to take a reverse step when you are thinking of changing profession. You should be able to make the interviewer aware that all of your movements related to career were done deliberately, and you firmly trust that the outcome will be in your favor. Talking about these nuances in an interview enables the company recruiter to understand that you have made these steps for a strong purpose.

“Change” as an opportunity

One of the major ways to succeed in a career change interview is to promote your capacity to adjust to change effortlessly. Employers usually don't prefer people who are hesitant to change; they are looking for candidates who consider 'change' as an opportunity. Their are many high paying career opportunities as well if you adapt it easily. Candidates who are adaptable and versatile are esteemed in the workforce. If the previous career change has occurred several years ago, discuss about the positive aspects of focusing on the new profession.

Keep the following points in mind while attending a career change interview. Show that you are enthusiastic about the job and ready to put in all the efforts to achieve success. Also, address their worries about your capabilities and dedication by stressing why the change makes well for your skills, passion, and goals.

Taking a new career is not an easy walk. Whatever has tempted you to take the step, be ready to face challenges. As you will be treading on a new path, you have to consider turns, curves, and bumps that are on the way. Moreover, changing a career will send you back by many years. You may also find no takers for your skills and experience. You will find yourself at a crossroad from where success will seem far away. As you are turning over a new leaf, you have to do everything from scratch. Right from drafting your resume to marketing yourself and finding employment, you will be all alone. Though you will be eager to prove yourself, convincing hiring authorities for one chance will be like cutting a road through a mountain. And even when you are given a green signal by the employer, several challenges will be craning their neck that will bewilder you and make you regret on your decision. Here are some of the challenges you will face during a career change and how to handle them.

Low income

Competition

Since you are entering into a new field, you will face stiff competition from the younger generation. To match with their energy, knowledge, and skills, you will have to put in extra efforts. And when you are unable to do so, you will get frustrated and feel yourself lost. Your woes will further inflate when you hear them using jargon in verbal and written communication. As you are alien to these terms, you will begin thinking where the hell have you come. To face this challenge, you can start befriending young colleagues and learn their style. You can share your experience and try to learn from them. You can bring change in your lifestyle and enroll yourself in a gym to improve your  stamina and energy. Alternatively, you can also wait after office hours and learn on your own if you really want to make yourself suitable to the new working environment.

Distance and Time related issues

Retraining

As the field is new to you, you have to be trained. Even the company understands this fact and will help you by providing training. However, learning new technology can be tedious for you. As you have already crossed the age where grasping new things was easy, you will need more time to learn than what the company expects from you. The only way to make yourself suitable for the job is by taking classes outside. You can also take help from experienced people within the company. Furthermore, you can utilize weekends and off-days for learning.

Entry-level position

At an age where you must be leading a team or holding a managerial position, working at an entry-level position can be challenging for you. Not only your position, but also your paycheck will be far below by the young graduates starting out. Though your age and previous experience may demand respect, you will receive none at a new workplace. You may also have to report to younger boss and take orders from him or her. You can cope with such challenges thinking yourself as a fresh graduate. Don't bother yourself about your age or the position. Instead, enjoy the new work environment and take inspiration from the younger generation and everything around you.


Shifting from one field to another is never going to be easy. There are bound to be challenges you have to face. You may not even like the present working scenario since there could be many changes in the way you used to work during your younger days, and the present generations do nowadays. So, brace yourself to face the challenges and enjoy your new career.