How to become a HR manager

Businesses are increasingly placing importance on human resources and building a strong HR team. Why? Because there is now greater focus being placed on staff wellbeing and happiness at work. As such, this is becoming a more popular profession and is especially appealing if you enjoy  working with people.

But if you’re considering becoming a HR manager, how you go about this will depend on where you are in your career right now. It will depend on if you’re already in the industry, if you’ve got any relevant qualifications or if you’re currently in an unrelated job but looking to make a career move into the HR industry.

So whether you’re just starting out, or your already climbing the HR ladder, we’ve put together a guide to discuss in more detail how you can progress in your career and become a HR manager.

Identify if you’ve got the skills

As a HR manager you need to be extremely organised, communicative and decisive. You also need to be a problem solver and always act with extreme professionalism. Therefore, you need to make sure that you’ve got what it takes to succeed in this industry. Do some research and look for the key skills HR professionals need to have.

Then consider whether you may need to take on some additional training to boost your skill set. This could be something as simple as sharpening your communication skills, all the way through to learning about the most important and widely used HR practices.

Look into the qualifications you need

Next, you need to find out if you’ve got the qualifications to become a HR manager, or if you’re going to need to get these before you start. There are a number of ways you can get into the role. You could choose a university or college course (degree or diploma), an apprenticeship or you could work your way up through a company by starting in an entry level role.

You might want to look into taking some CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) certified courses to help you get started; you can do these online or at a training centre. Some businesses might even help to fund this type of training for you as part of your role within their company.

Build your experience

If you’ve got little to no experience in the industry, you will want to build on this. Whether this is with your existing company or searching for a work placement. This can give you a chance to get some real-world experience and learn some new skills. If you’re already working in a HR role, you could ask to shadow your more senior colleagues or take on new responsibilities to help you build on your experience.

Grow your network

It pays to keep expanding your network throughout your career, whether you do so through industry events or by using professional sites like LinkedIn. This can help you to get a foot in the door, as you never know when someone in your network might approach you with a great opportunity. It can also help you to get great insights, become clued up on the big players in the industry and keep up to date with the latest trends.

Keep learning new skills

It’s also important that you never stop expanding your skill set. If you’re offered additional training, a chance to take a course or even just a day’s work experience, you should take it! It’s vital that you keep working towards your goal and seize every chance you can to learn new skills. This will help you to move forward in your career and land a role as a HR manager.