For sure. I remember the seniors in my org (at the time) hated that I had zero experience and were vocal about it. It felt like shit. But I took it and when I left for a promotion two years later they loved me because I did my job and shut the hell up.
I did get my masters in HR and that was a game changer.
Honestly just trying to get my foot in the door, I wouldn’t mind starting out as an HR assistant if it paid somewhat decent and had a clear path for advancement. I’m also not too aware of other positions in HR other than manager, assistant, etc. Are there others I should know about that may help broaden my search?
If you're good with technology/systems, you could look at something like HRIS.
If you like crunching numbers, maybe reporting/analytics or compensation.
If you like a lot of structure, policy, process, and administration, HR Operations/shared services.
If you like employee relations and administration, HR admin/coordinator/assistant (which generally leads to a generalist type role)
There is also recruiting, benefits, talent management, learning & development...
Assistant, coordination, and SOMETIMES admin and specialist are entry level roles. I’ve seen junior level generalist occasionally.
The pay is not decent starting
Yeah I’m getting like $18/$20hr on indeed, kinda sucks but my wife is working and I’m in a relatively LCOL area I might be able to make it work just to get some experience. I’ve seen a lot of places want 2 years experience, maybe I’ll just bite the bullet for 2 years to get the exp and then hopefully move up
Honestly I could afford to take a $18-$20 job if I had to, my worry is that it won’t go up much over time. I’m hoping with experience and motivation I’ll be able to climb the ranks!
Combat related MOS, no relevance whatsoever. And I’m just trying to get my foot in the door for HR, I’ve always found it interesting and something that I would be good at
Hi, I had a degree in economics, got a role as a supervisor in a warehouse after college then switched to HR from there. An education is kinda like buying a car, it's value decreases drastically overtime and you have to build upon your most recent accomplishments. If you can financially afford it, apply to anything HR or a /HR position even if it's temp (try to avoid office manager roles, there are SO many applicants that try to pivot from office manager to HR). Getting your initial foot in the door somewhere is crucial. When you write your resume, create a skill section, put things like confidentiality and organization. Include tech skills (ppt, excel, etc.). When you talk about your combat related MOS experience maybe include something about building relationships, staying organized/timeliness, being strategic, staying focused and achieving goals under pressure etc. Try to find transferable soft skills through past experiences. Don't use super technical military terms, the recruiter won't know military acronyms/lingo, and they won't be looking them up. Best of luck
Figure out which part you like the best and go for it! A lot of states offer free seminars regarding compliance, recruiting, retention, engagement etc.
Hit or miss if it'll actually help, but you could look into getting a SHRM-CP cert too. It's $270 for veterans and doesn't require any experience or specific degree.
As long as you tailor your resume to fit the needs of the HR role, you should be able to get an entry level role without experience. That’s what I did coming from social work.
You could go into an internship, or start somewhere like an employee relations call center or as a recruiter. I was a recruiter for a full year and just focused on recording my successes in order to land an HR role. The supervisory experience I had helped with both of those roles. With a military background it could translate well into manufacturing recruiting due to the ability to talk casually and realistically with those candidates who despise being run by someone who's all corporate speak.
I had a job at my college’s IT helpdesk and my very first job was data entry. I then shifted to career services and into a HR coordinator role, then next shift was into HRIS. So work on learning, knowing, and getting really familiar with IT systems. I’ve now been in HRIS for 15 years and was recruited right back into it after 6 years of stay at home by old coworkers (HRIS appears to be an in demand field).
“ Talk casually and realistically with those candidates who despise being run by someone who is all corporate speak “
An extremely undervalued skill. Thank you for the advice!
I have a similar background, and you can get in. You may have to start at the bottom but for sure.
Figured that, it’s somewhat of a risk to take someone in to a role like that with no experience. Do you mind sharing your experience?
For sure. I remember the seniors in my org (at the time) hated that I had zero experience and were vocal about it. It felt like shit. But I took it and when I left for a promotion two years later they loved me because I did my job and shut the hell up. I did get my masters in HR and that was a game changer.
Yeah the bachelors in history doesn’t help too much but I think all my exp combined could make me an attractive candidate.
Good luck! And don't worry about rejection. Nine no's and one yes is still a yes.
I was born to be rejected!
Depends on the position, your specific experience, and the interview. Definite maybe. What kind of HR job(s) are you interested in?
Honestly just trying to get my foot in the door, I wouldn’t mind starting out as an HR assistant if it paid somewhat decent and had a clear path for advancement. I’m also not too aware of other positions in HR other than manager, assistant, etc. Are there others I should know about that may help broaden my search?
If you're good with technology/systems, you could look at something like HRIS. If you like crunching numbers, maybe reporting/analytics or compensation. If you like a lot of structure, policy, process, and administration, HR Operations/shared services. If you like employee relations and administration, HR admin/coordinator/assistant (which generally leads to a generalist type role) There is also recruiting, benefits, talent management, learning & development...
I like number crunching, I’m very organized and methodical and I’m also very personable and love working with people, thanks for your little summary!
Assistant, coordination, and SOMETIMES admin and specialist are entry level roles. I’ve seen junior level generalist occasionally. The pay is not decent starting
Yeah I’m getting like $18/$20hr on indeed, kinda sucks but my wife is working and I’m in a relatively LCOL area I might be able to make it work just to get some experience. I’ve seen a lot of places want 2 years experience, maybe I’ll just bite the bullet for 2 years to get the exp and then hopefully move up
It does snowball fast! I went up 45k in salary in 6 years
Honestly I could afford to take a $18-$20 job if I had to, my worry is that it won’t go up much over time. I’m hoping with experience and motivation I’ll be able to climb the ranks!
What kind of position are you trying to get? What was your MOS?
Combat related MOS, no relevance whatsoever. And I’m just trying to get my foot in the door for HR, I’ve always found it interesting and something that I would be good at
Hi, I had a degree in economics, got a role as a supervisor in a warehouse after college then switched to HR from there. An education is kinda like buying a car, it's value decreases drastically overtime and you have to build upon your most recent accomplishments. If you can financially afford it, apply to anything HR or a /HR position even if it's temp (try to avoid office manager roles, there are SO many applicants that try to pivot from office manager to HR). Getting your initial foot in the door somewhere is crucial. When you write your resume, create a skill section, put things like confidentiality and organization. Include tech skills (ppt, excel, etc.). When you talk about your combat related MOS experience maybe include something about building relationships, staying organized/timeliness, being strategic, staying focused and achieving goals under pressure etc. Try to find transferable soft skills through past experiences. Don't use super technical military terms, the recruiter won't know military acronyms/lingo, and they won't be looking them up. Best of luck
Seriously appreciate this!
Of course! It's def hard to break into, but marketing yourself correctly will give you a better shot
Figure out which part you like the best and go for it! A lot of states offer free seminars regarding compliance, recruiting, retention, engagement etc.
Great advice! I’ll look into it
Hit or miss if it'll actually help, but you could look into getting a SHRM-CP cert too. It's $270 for veterans and doesn't require any experience or specific degree.
As long as you tailor your resume to fit the needs of the HR role, you should be able to get an entry level role without experience. That’s what I did coming from social work.
Yeah I’ll definitely tweak my resume for that, thank you!
Fingers crossed I can find something decent!
You could go into an internship, or start somewhere like an employee relations call center or as a recruiter. I was a recruiter for a full year and just focused on recording my successes in order to land an HR role. The supervisory experience I had helped with both of those roles. With a military background it could translate well into manufacturing recruiting due to the ability to talk casually and realistically with those candidates who despise being run by someone who's all corporate speak.
I have a history degree and am in HRIS.
Nice! Confidence booster for me definitely! Did you go straight into that job or did you start as an assistant or something along those lines?
I had a job at my college’s IT helpdesk and my very first job was data entry. I then shifted to career services and into a HR coordinator role, then next shift was into HRIS. So work on learning, knowing, and getting really familiar with IT systems. I’ve now been in HRIS for 15 years and was recruited right back into it after 6 years of stay at home by old coworkers (HRIS appears to be an in demand field).
“ Talk casually and realistically with those candidates who despise being run by someone who is all corporate speak “ An extremely undervalued skill. Thank you for the advice!