Hello, all I am trying to switch careers and it's harder than I thought it would be, I was a supervisor for a while at an Emergency Veterinary Hospital in FL- Moved a year ago to Colorado, and want to get into Human Resources, I have some hands-on experience but not much.

10 Comments

1. AnonymousJanuary 30,2023 at 7:33PM UTC

   Can you maybe get into HR within the veterinary community to get the experience. Maybe express your interest in HR where you're already working and see if you can do a job rotation "to help out." Think creatively.

2. Andrea GabaldonJanuary 30,2023 at 8:07PM UTC

   I actually left my supervisor role over a year ago, and even after expressing interest in HR, my manager wasn't too interested to get me in a different role at the time. I have tried to go back to being a receptionist again in the veterinary industry and it's no longer in my heart. I just need something different. I appreciate your idea though.

3. AnonymousJanuary 30,2023 at 9:32PM UTC

   See if there are any certificates you can earn or courses that you can take on HR. Improving your HR credentials will help you to network in the HR field and gain familiarity with employers.

   One more possibility: would your degree in Public Safety Administration help you to qualify for an HR position with a fire, police or other first responder organization?

4. AnonymousJanuary 30,2023 at 10:18PM UTC

   Hi! Have you tried connecting in other HR communities for guidance? Organizations like SHRM is a great start --- it's the go-to professional non-profit that certifies and educates HR practitioners. A lot of their resources you can access for free but I also encourage you to connect in other digital and in-person events for HR professionals only, especially, where you're located.

   I also like the other recommendation below about looking into HR certifications/courses that could help accelerate your ability to break into the industry. There's so many facets to HR these days, but I find most people brand themselves as "HR Generalist" because it's more marketable (I'm a designer but even when I was attempting to break into this role, I branded myself as UX Generalist and it opened more doors in my search). It also doesn't pigeonhole you in one area of HR but you can market yourself as dabbling in a little bit of everything. I've seen free courses on LinkedIn Learning to Coursera; sometimes it just starts with that too.

   I'd make sure resumes, LinkedIn profile, etc. are all branded consistently as an HR Generalist too. Show your journey on LinkedIn, start resharing posts, share courses you've taken in HR, comment on posts around HR and just get out there to raise your network visibility. The more you position yourself as an HR practitioner, the job will come!

5. Bonnie CoventryJanuary 30,2023 at 10:36PM UTC

   So, just saying but Vet Hospitals need HR too. IN saying that HR can be a wide range to large corporation with over 100 people in it or it can be small HR dept that does it all from payroll, investigations, LOA, hiring, etc. Break it down. In HR there are roles in benefits, LOA, call center/ HR Shared Services, call intake for employee concerns (employee relations), payroll, onboarding, etc. Break.It. Down. Look for one of this openings and learn that position and grow. These positions are more open to little experience. Also, Loss Prevention opportunities investigators may be a consideration. They watch CCTV tapes, register trends, returns, time card fraud, etc. and partner with HR on investigations. I think you have more opportunities than you may think. Good luck!

6. AnonymousJanuary 31,2023 at 12:28AM UTC

   If your issue is stability and decent pay, consider laboratory animal care. A lot of universities are looking for staff. They tend to offer better pay and benefits than most vet clinics. If your interest is in completely moving away from animal care, make sure you focus on your customer service or other transferable responsibilities rather than listing out all of the intensive industry-specific duties you had for your jobs. Good luck!

7. Peggie Arvidson * Career Consultant | Adoptee Advocate | RecruiterJanuary 31,2023 at 9:59PM UTC

   HR is a tough field to break into - for many reasons. not the least of which is that they are nothing but pure overhead for a corporation - necessary but overhead, so they are often the first to be cut when belts get tightened.

   I highly recommend you take some HR courses at your local community college and look into SHRM certifications - to beef up your experience in this realm and then see if you can "intern" with a local company in the HR division (many of the certification programs require this).

   At my old firm we hired someone who literally cold-called and explained her career goals and why she wanted to intern with us....

8. AnonymousFebruary 1,2023 at 2:31PM UTC

   Hello All- I appreciate all of your input and advice, I can see that this is going to be a tough transition. So here is the thing I would love to get my certifications in HR unfortunately at this moment everything is very hard financially and those certificates do not offer financial aid. I have checked with local veterinary practices from corporate to family owned and they are not looking for anyone right now. I can use my degree in Public Safety to work with the sheriff's department, police, or fire departments but since my resume doesn't say I had previous working experience in HR it really doesn't get me far. I will keep looking and applying- one day I will get the HR certs just not right away. Thank you all for your input- I was just hoping that I could find a recruiter to talk to I just keep applying and getting so many rejection letters it just feels hopeless.

9. Peggie Arvidson * Career Consultant | Adoptee Advocate | RecruiterFebruary 1,2023 at 9:26PM UTC

   Maybe do what a friend of mine did- she was working in accounting (what her degree is in) in a small services company. and then as she built her reputation with the owner of the company/leadership she asked if she could move to something in HR - and she did - almost 16 years later she's had numerous promotions and opportunities for certifications. I always say there's no shame in taking a job to make sure the bills get paid, even if it's not your 'dream' -

10. AnonymousFebruary 2,2023 at 7:54PM UTC

    I agree- a job is a job to get the bills paid. I have applied for over 200+ jobs since September, I had one interview with a recruiter for an HR position but then ghosted once the new year came. I have applied for similar roles that I have experience in, such as customer service, reception work, data entry - even intakes at local hospitals to get my foot in the door. Unfortunately, I am too burnt out from the veterinary field and I want out I cannot go back to another clinic where I will get abused- I have had 15 years of that experience. I would like to use my degree at some point- otherwise, it was a huge waste of time and money that I am paying back extremely slowly. I would love to try and do something like what your friend did but at this point just getting an interview is the hardest part of all of this- every day goes by and more decline letters- I have also paid for someone to review my resume and have made several different versions of it myself and always included a cover letter to express what my capabilities are and what I have done in my other roles. I just feel that with so many that are in the same boat as me the job market is very competitive.