Is HR a good route for School Leavers?

George Greenhill started his HR career at 17, and now at 21, George has recently passed his Level 5 HR Business Partner Apprenticeship along with his Level 5 CIPD Diploma. Some people may think the demands and professionalism of the HR industry wouldn’t attract the younger applicants, but after speaking with George, I think it has the potential to grow as a “School Leavers” career route.

George’s HR career began at Advance Tapes, an SME manufacturing specialist for self-adhesive tapes, where he now operates as an HR generalist doing many things from training, and inductions to disciplinaries and redundancies.

When asked, what made him want to go into HR, George started by saying:

… “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do; all I knew was that I didn’t want to go to university, but I wanted to continue to learn, so had been considering apprenticeships. There was a vacancy for an HR apprenticeship 10 minutes down the road, so I thought I’d go for it with an open mind. It was great for me; the role is so varied, and no two days are the same. There’s so much to learn in HR, you’re constantly absorbing knowledge, and you’ll always be progressing and hopefully enjoying the role.”...

As a school leaver it was mainly coincidence and self-research that led George down the HR route, he mentioned…

… “I didn’t know HR Apprenticeships were a thing! In school, apprenticeships were solely for manufacturing or engineering. I didn’t know business apprenticeships were an option. I did a lot of research outside of school myself which is where I found out more. I started at Advance Tapes with administrative tasks and quickly progressed to deal with the usual HR issues. The Level 3 HR Apprenticeship is broad enough to be an excellent starting point for most people looking down the business route.” …

The biggest thing I took from George in our conversation was his passion and drive toward continuous development and learning. He takes every conversation as a learning opportunity from others, whether this is in disciplinaries or appraisals.

… “You’re dealing with lots of life-changing situations which can be difficult as a young HR professional. It’s great to be concise with people and learn from people that have done it previously and implement that into your role. In HR a lot of the time something happens, and you might not know how to react, which is why it's so important to be open and learn as much as you can. It can be difficult at the start because you feel like a burden, but it’s beneficial to ask and learn from each other. You’ll learn more about the business. Nobody will be angry at you for trying to learn or be inquisitive. Any experience is a good experience.” …

Apprenticeships have the added challenge of working whilst full-time studying along with the stresses of day-to-day life, and over the last 3 years, the “day-to-day life” has been one of the most challenging parts, especially whilst working in HR!

…"At the start of Covid, it was challenging, trying to navigate your way around all the new legislations, furlough etc as well as starting the Level 5 apprenticeship. I think working from home helped block out lots of distractions. Everyone was busy at Crosby, and at Advance Tapes, and delaying work just wasn’t going to help anyone.?

Pausing or delaying my apprenticeship was never an option for me. I’m not someone to give up, I’ll just rearrange my priorities - It’s a short-term sacrifice which could mean getting your Level 5 on time and not delaying it, it’s a no-brainer. I just did what I could to get the work done and dedicate the correct amount of time to my assignment to give me the best chance of passing them all the first-time round.” …

Finally, we asked George what he has taken most from his apprenticeship with Crosby:

… “The good thing with Crosby is the monthly workshops to reflect and get stuck into the role without the threat of always having to attend something weekly. In the industry, you can have busy weeks, where you want to throw yourself into work and then a week that’s a bit calmer you can throw yourself into the apprenticeship work. I worked well with the flexibility to be able to learn as much as I can in the role.?

Crosby has always given me structure, a clear plan, assignments are broken down clearly and everything linked to the workshops. I had confidence in all the trainers, they all had so much knowledge in their field. They’ve always been driven to get me to the end goal of EPA and even though the trainers are busy with other learners it never felt like that, I always felt supported the whole way through. Michael has always been there for me, answering all my calls, I’ve probably still got him on speed dial! But one thing I’ll take away is he never gave me an easy answer. He was so focused on making me learn which has made me so much more committed to learning, and there’s no way I would have completed this soon without you.

Having the network of other apprentices was so important, there were people from Mitchells & Butlers, NHS, and Dudley City Council. Finding out how they work and what they do differently. It was eye-opening to go to Dudley City Council on the site visit and to see how they work too.

I can’t emphasize how much I would recommend an HR apprenticeship. In HR it’s about the practical application. You need to know the theories, the legislations, and the foundations, but you don’t know how to manage the difficult conversations until they happen. It’s great to learn, but what’s the point when you don’t know how to apply it? You pick up so much from your employer on an apprenticeship.” …

On completion of his Level 5, George has recently moved on from Advance Tapes to progress his HR career even further at an NGO. He wants to gain more experience and knowledge in a different sector to “be the best HR person I can be”.

We are confident George will do excellently in his new role and are pleased to have helped in his journey through apprenticeships and HR.