This information gives some indication of the work involved in the
field of personnel and development.
What will a career in people management and development
involve?
As a professional in people management and development you'll be
involved in all aspects of people management. This includes
advising others to develop and plan organisational needs. You may
prefer to be a generalist and do a bit of everything, or you may
want to specialise in areas like recruitment, training or
employment law.
Qualifications
If you are going on to study either 'AS' or 'A' levels, or in
Scotland, Scottish Higher Grades, choose the subjects that you most
enjoy and are good at.
If you decide to go into any areas within people management and
development, you'll need to have good spoken and written
communications.
As you are likely to have to deal with budgets, you'll need to
be good with figures too. Certain subjects are considered more
appropriate than others. These include 'A' levels in Business
studies, Communications, Psychology, English, Law, and
Economics.
If you are planning to take a degree there may be some
Bachelors-level degrees that we recognise (most of our
qualifications are at postgraduate level). Check with us first if
you are not sure. If you decide to take a degree in another subject
area, such as Psychology, English or Economics, you may wish to
take one of our qualifications after graduation or at a later
date.
It is possible to start a career in personnel and development
before being qualified, but employers often expect one of our
qualifications for middle and senior management posts.
Finding a job
If you are looking for your first job after leaving school or
university you'll need to look in your local press for vacancies.
Junior positions are advertised in magazines and journals, which
you can find in any good reference or college library.
There is a lot of competition for jobs and you must expect to
start at a junior level. You may not earn a lot of money at first
but salaries will increase with the level of responsibility and
seniority of the job.
Office administration, organisational and IT skills are useful.
Try to develop these skills and learn to be flexible.
At first there may be more employment opportunities available in
other fields, so use this to your advantage. Once you have gained
some relevant work experience and transferable skills you will be
in a better position to move into people management and
development.
Our magazine, People Management (ISSN:13589297), comes
out every fortnight. It's the only magazine that reaches all those
professionally qualified in the field of personnel and development.
It contains interesting articles and has a very good jobs section.
A lot of the jobs advertised are at middle and senior levels of
responsibility, but looking through them will give you a good
indication of current jobs and salaries, what employers are looking
for, and what career progression is available.
When in employment, try to get your organisation to sponsor you
for one of our qualifications. An appropriate course would be a day
release certificate course, an NVQ/SVQ or a CIPD postgraduate
course. Before enrolling on any course, make sure that it is
recognised by us as a part of membership.
Further information
Personnel Practice by Malcolm Martin and Tricia Jackson (IPD,
ISBN: 08529 26782) provides a good general introduction to the work
of the personnel department.
The Personnel Manager's Yearbook (AP Information Services)
provides detailed information about companies with a personnel
department. Using the contact names listed you could write to
organisations in your locality to see if they have any vacancies,
even at a junior level.
If you decide to take the route of a university degree, then in
your last year at university/college you could consult a number of
other directories. The Prospects Directory (CSU), GO (Graduate
Opportunities) and GET (Graduate Employment and Training) advertise
on behalf of companies offering training and sponsorship schemes to
new graduates.
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