One of the most popular industries that many graduates try to break into is HR. It’s also extremely popular with people who fancy a career change after a few years in a completely different industry. But, as there are so many people applying for jobs and positions, you will find that it can certainly be a cut-throat world to try to break into.

Thankfully, though, getting your dream HR job isn’t completely impossible. You just need to remember the following extremely useful tips and tricks.

Set Up A Plan

There are a few different ways to break into HR. For instance, you might want to look for a full-time role with a company in which you can specialize in recruiting. Alternatively, you might prefer to work closely with people and strengthen a company’s work environment and culture.

If neither of those takes your fancy, you could always become a freelance HR professional and take on a variety of short-term contracts with different firms. Whatever your ideal HR role is, it is important that you devise a plan to help you get to your end goal. This plan should also help you build on your career once you get your foot in the door and work your way towards your very first promotion.

Build Up Contacts Early

Getting to know the right people can help your chances of finding the right job for you. So, it’s important that you start rubbing shoulders with HR professionals as soon as you decide that this is where you want to take your career. As well as helping you find job positions to apply to, these contacts can also help improve your knowledge of the HR sector.

They can give you plenty of hints and pointers to ensure that you perform as well as possible in your interviews. If you are very nice, they might even review your application forms and cover letters before you send them off! The best place to meet HR professionals is at industry conferences and expos.

Use A Specialist Recruitment Agency

Once you think you are ready to start applying to different companies, it is important to look at as many job boards as possible. You should also sign up to some recruitment agencies.

In fact, it’s worth creating an account with the likes of Portfolio HR and other agencies that specialize in the HR sector. These will know the sector inside out and will have all the resources and knowledge needed to connect you with the best possible employer so that your HR career gets off to the right start!

Get Some Work Experience

Do you want to get the edge over all the other job applicants out there? If so, then you need to get plenty of work experience under your belt. There will be plenty of options to take part in work experience while you are still at college or university.

In fact, some HR courses will even include it as part of your studying and training. But it is also worth looking for a work experience placement or an internship once you have graduated as well.

Actually, getting as much work experience done before you start applying for jobs can really be a big advantageous. So, it’s a good idea to start looking for some right now!

Brush Up On The Lingo

As with most sectors and industries, there is a lot of specialist jargon that you need to learn if you want to make it big in the HR world. For most newcomers to this profession, it can be quite confusing at first but, eventually, you will start to learn all the jargon.

You just need to make sure you pick up on all the lingo sooner rather than later. Otherwise, you might get left behind in your career! It is also worth bearing in mind that many HR roles are now quite technical these days.

As a result, you will need to learn a whole load of tech-related words and phrases alongside all of the usual HR jargon. Sometimes, you might feel like you are speaking an altogether different language!

Than A People Person

When most people think of HR professionals, they think of people persons. However, working in HR involves a whole lot more than just that! You will need to understand office politics and what influences people so that you can create an optimum work environment within a company.

Still interested in hacking a career for yourself in HR? Hopefully, all of these tips will help you along your journey!

This post has been contributed by Ryan Gatt, it may contain affiliate links.