Change of career direction from recruitment?

I currently work as Head-Hunter and although the money is good I am young and did not envisage doing this as a career. I have been applying to HR roles but the response if fairly negative and I wondered whether anyone else had experience of moving from recruitment into another area? If so which area and what transferable skills they have to offer. My degree is in International Relations..

Ta

I'm exactly the same as you! I am a headhunter and would like to move into general HR. I am even applying to jobs which specifically say "we would consider applicants from a recruiting background who would like to move into HR" and still nothing! The only way seems to be if I were to move into an admin role first, and this is not going to happen since it would mean taking a pay cut of at least one third.

But, others within my company have successfully moved out of headhunting. Most of them have done it by moving into roles which require good research skills, such as in politics and in government agencies and in the TV industry (but you really need to have contacts for that one). One of my former colleagues is currently working for Gordon Brown. With a degree in International Relations, this seems like it might be a good option for you.

You could also look at moving into a Project Management role. You would do this most successfully by working in the field in which you're currently recruiting.

If you don't want to move out of recruiting altogether but just don't want to headhunt anymore, consider joining a Recruitment Outsourcing organisation such as Alexander Mann or Capital Consulting. You may find an Operations or Project Management role there.

Some people move out of recruitment and into sales because they require similar skills, but I don't really know why because surely all of the negative things about recruitment apply to sales also! Could be that the money is even better though.

I would think that realistically you would expect to stay on the same salary as what you're on now (most people tend to get an increase when they change jobs) but hey, hopefully you'll enjoy the work more and probably won't have to put in as many hours.

Hehehe ... I'm not telling you who I work for! I have to remain anonymous on here, and I work for a very small company so if my colleagues saw this, they'd know instantly! Report It

Well yes..u do have soo many other options available...and u have a degree with international relations...
well basically it depends on what your interest is.....by suggestion to u is move on to PR(Public relations dept) its a great job which involves lotta responsibility and exposure....u need to have sound knowledge of the organization as well as the industry....
Or u can try something in Human resourse developmet wing...which involves training n stuff..