Are you thinking about a career pivot to HR? Find out if human resources is a good fit and how to get started on pivoting from another role or industry. Host Nicole Belyna and Claire Stroh, senior talent acquisition business partner at ATI, discuss ways for professionals in a variety of industries to join the field. This podcast is approved for .5 PDCs toward SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP recertification. Listen to the complete episode to get your activity ID at the end. ID expires May 1, 2026. Subscribe to HR Daily to get the latest episodes, expert insights, and additional resources delivered straight to your inbox: https://shrm.co/voegyz --- Explore SHRM’s all-new flagships. Content curated by experts. Created for you weekly. Each content journey features engaging podcasts, video, articles, and groundbreaking newsletters tailored to meet your unique needs in your organization and career. Learn More: https://shrm.co/coy63r
Are you thinking about a career pivot to HR? Find out if human resources is a good fit and how to get started on pivoting from another role or industry. Host Nicole Belyna and Claire Stroh, senior talent acquisition business partner at ATI, discuss ways for professionals in a variety of industries to join the field.
This podcast is approved for .5 PDCs toward SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP recertification. Listen to the complete episode to get your activity ID at the end. ID expires May 1, 2026.
Subscribe to HR Daily to get the latest episodes, expert insights, and additional resources delivered straight to your inbox: https://shrm.co/voegyz
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Explore SHRM’s all-new flagships. Content curated by experts. Created for you weekly. Each content journey features engaging podcasts, video, articles, and groundbreaking newsletters tailored to meet your unique needs in your organization and career. Learn More: https://shrm.co/coy63r
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Nicole Belyna: [00:00:00] Welcome to Honest HR, the podcast for informed and in aspiring HR professionals. I'm your host, Nicole Belyna. Today we're offering a wealth of insight, guidance, and advice for anyone who might be considering a switch to HR mid-career. And of course, my first advice is do it. I love my job as Director of Talent here at SHRM, and I think it's such a rewarding profession to be in.
Joining us today is Claire Stroh, senior talent acquisition business partner at a TI. Welcome to Honest HR Claire.
Claire Stroh: Thanks, Nicole. So happy to be here with You all.
Nicole Belyna: Yeah, I'm super excited to have you. To kick things off, can you tell us a little bit about your HR background and your career path?
Claire Stroh: Yes, absolutely.
So I started my HR career in 2012, so it's been a little over 12 years now. And I started my career [00:01:00] as a HR intern. So that's kind of the first thing I talk to my emerging HR pros and students about is say your career started when your internships. Started that is like relevant work experience. So I say my career started in 2012 'cause that's when I started my HR internship.
So I've been in HR ever since. Um, but I went to school for business and it was after sophomore year I was still trying to decide what I wanted to do and my part-time job at the time was working for my local animal shelter in animal adoptions. And I was interviewing the general public about their home life and their current situation.
Do they have kids? Do they own or rent all these things. And I learned that I love interviewing people. So when I was talking to my career advisor, she was like, have you checked out HR and recruiting? That might be a good field for you. And then I got my first internship and the rest is history. So over the past 12 years, I've been in a variety of HR and talent acquisition roles.
Nicole Belyna: I love it. And certainly, uh, you've been busy, not just in your. Day to day career. But, um, you know, something that I love about, about you, [00:02:00] Claire, is that, and it almost feels like your other full-time job is you're constantly giving back to the HR profession.
Claire Stroh: Yes. Thank you. I love my involvement with SHR, my local chapter of course.
And, uh, helping our local, you know, college students too. Like you said, just do it, dive in. We wanna welcome you to the HR profession, so we are here to help.
Nicole Belyna: I love it. So little fun. Fact to kick us off in 20 23, 30 6% of clicks on HR job postings on Indeed came from non-HR practitioners. So for those thinking about pivoting their career to human resources, what are the signs that would tell them that HR might be a good fit?
Claire Stroh: Yeah, I love this question. I actually just spoke at a local SHRM chapter event about, it was a day in the life of talent acquisition, but we talked about skills and strengths that you might have that could indicate if you would be good for that type of position. [00:03:00] And um, the things I really talked about the most were influence, communication, creativity.
Resilience and inclusivity. Those were my five favorites. So if you have those skills or an interest in gaining those skills, um, I think that's a sign that HR could be a good fit for you.
Nicole Belyna: I actually am a career changer myself. I don't know if, if you knew that, Claire, but I started my career in retail, uh, retail operations and it was some of those things that made me interested in, in hr, uh, resilience.
Was kind of top of the list for sure. Um, in addition to, you know, being a really good listener, um, and having that, that desire to, um, help and serve others as well. Um, additionally, you know, just having a good business mindset, right? Like connecting how my actions impacted the day-to-day business results, driving sales, um, and of course developing talent.[00:04:00]
So human resources is a well-rounded discipline with many different facets. Would you recommend professionals initially look for more of a generalist role in hr, or should they pursue a specialty more closely related to their previous experience?
Claire Stroh: I love this question because you'll get a different answer from a variety of HR professionals.
Um, so for me personally, I had my first internship in recruiting and I loved it, but my first job upon graduation was an HR assistant role, and I'm really glad I took that role because it was very compliance and administration focus, and I think that's still a core. Pillar of really good HR pros. Of course, you develop more of those like creativity, consultation, strategic skills, but I think it's better to start in that type of role.
Again, just from my personal experience, I had to learn the ins and outs of [00:05:00] all of our policies, our employee handbook, you know, our company like Mission, vision, values, and having that. Basis really helped me then understand how HR can serve the business and then what is like our current state, um, with those policies and handbooks and things like that.
Before I actually did a lot of HR tasks and things like that, so I. I do think the general experience will serve you well to start, and then if you find somewhere that you wanna specialize into, then go into that. So I did start in more kind of HR role, decided to go into recruiting, and then since then I served in a various HR generalist, recruiting in-house roles, and then agency recruitment roles as well.
So being able to see things from all. Sides has also helped me be a better HR and talent acquisition pro. So I think getting some of that generalized experience is good because then when you go into, if you love benefits or love training or love talent [00:06:00] acquisition, you know how in that center of excellence, center of expertise type role, you're gonna be interacting with your other HR peers and departments 'cause you've been in their shoes perhaps, or kind of know what that relationship is like.
So I'd say start general first and then, uh, decide if you wanna specialize from there.
Nicole Belyna: Great points, and you've, you alluded to this in the beginning of your response, but um, everybody's path is different and so, you know, sounds like a generalist path or starting, um, you know, in recruiting and then going into a generalist role worked for you.
But certainly there are a variety of paths that you can take, um, for sure. And you could still still benefit from, from the experience For sure.
Claire Stroh: Yeah, I'm glad recruiting, like cracked open the door for me into hr. Um, but having that full-time role upon graduation, specifically in multiple HR areas, I think was very helpful as opposed to just [00:07:00] staying in recruiting upon graduation.
So glad I took that path. I think it's been helpful.
Nicole Belyna: Absolutely. Yeah. Well, and obviously, you know, most of my background is in talent acquisition as well, so I concur. Um, but um, it. It really does bring out the curious side of you, right? You learn to understand you how
to ask good questions, and there's this natural curiosity about what people do, how they do it, how they get to where they are today in their career path.
Um, which, you know, I think is a great basis for, um, a, you know, more broad career in hr, if that's the path that you choose. So. With that, what skills do you think are most important to have as an HR professional? Are there any skills in particular that are naturally transferable to oth from other careers?
That's a
Claire Stroh: great question. Yeah, I was thinking about some of the ones I mentioned earlier. So I [00:08:00] think that like collaboration, relationship management, communication, things like that. Um, those have really helped me. Personally, so in my journey starting at the S-P-C-A-I, you know, interviewed people, had to ask some questions about.
Their home life and be empathetic to their personal situation. Not all pets fit, all types of life stages that we're at. Um, so I had to ask questions, answer questions, be empathetic, sometimes deliver difficult news if they're not approved to adopt at this time, or this type of pet that they really like is not gonna be a good fit or things like that.
Um, so those were all transferable skills that served me well when I got into the HR field. So it was that building relationships, being collaborative communication. And I think a lot of roles, um, like to your point in retail and things like that can hone a lot of those strengths. And you'll notice when you get to your HR role, how naturally those things come to you.
And it's exciting 'cause you're really not starting from scratch. You [00:09:00] do have, you know, previous skills and experience that are gonna help you in your HR role.
Nicole Belyna: Great points, Claire. And I think just to add to some of the skills that you provided, um, there's a lot of technical related skills that we're seeing requested for HR professionals, more and more AI literacy Right.
To kind of top that list. Um, and, you know, having an understanding of a variety of different. Tech systems, you know, HRIS, applicant tracking systems, things like that. Um, with that, in your experience, do you. Do there tend to be any common skills gaps that professionals looking to switch to hr, um, you know, might
Claire Stroh: see.
I love that you mentioned technology, Nicole. I should have spoke on that as well, because that's something else we used at the SPCA. It was called PET Point, but we had to house everybody's personal information and I realized it did work very similarly, like to an HRIS system. So where you have. [00:10:00] Addresses, dates of birth notes and things like that.
So you're right, even having some technology prior experience that, um, will help you bridge that gap when you get to that, um, technology skills needed in HR too.
Nicole Belyna: I'm gonna kind of switch this question on you a little bit, Claire. What advice do you have out there for HR professionals who are potentially hiring someone for an HR role?
Who, and the candidate they're looking at is someone who. Does not have a clear HR path. Uh, you know, sometimes hiring managers, including HR professionals can get caught up on wanting to have that skills to skills, experience to experience, um, mindset. And so. What advice would you give to, to the hiring manager, um, you know, hiring somebody who is in transition?
Yeah,
Claire Stroh: that's a great question 'cause I've been an HR hiring manager before as well, and I know you [00:11:00] have too and it's always a good reminder for me to. I review the S HBAs quite often, the body of applied skills and knowledge, and I encourage my folks, my either HR students or emerging professionals coming into the field to review that as well, because sometimes they don't know how to speak to their experience or know what's relevant to hr.
And we both learn a lot slash get a good refresher on. What skills and competencies and things are actually needed for these different areas of hr. So it's a good reminder, like what are our actual required knowledge, skills and abilities? What's preferred? What are, you know, different ways we can evaluate for that skill versus just looking at that resume bullet or that experience.
Can we tailor some good interview questions, you know, to uncover if someone has that knowledge or skills? So I think the S Rmba is a great. Place the start. And it's a good reminder for me as a hiring manager to remember what those company competencies and [00:12:00] transferable skills are and make sure I'm evaluating those and not just asking like technical HR questions, which that person might not have yet.
Nicole Belyna: Yeah, that's great advice. And so do you tend to see, um, any common skills gaps in professionals looking to switch to hr? Yes. And you kind of touched
Claire Stroh: on it earlier with the business skills, which I thought was interesting. So I, I would agree. I think it's understanding business as one of the gaps that I'm seeing.
So folks switching into HR are very focused on getting their technical HR knowledge, which is important and they should do that for sure. Um, but taking, yeah, taking it back to kind of what I said about when you first. Maybe join your first HR role, or you're interviewing for that first HR role. Remember to keep that focus too on the business mission, vision, value, strategic plan goals, things like that, and just demonstrate, you know, an, an interest or just awareness of understanding those things so [00:13:00] that then when you get into your HR role, you can design the best, you know, service and delivery of HR for your specific company.
I worked in HR and TA for multiple organizations, and it's all. Different in how we look at candidate experience and manager experience and our core values, um, impact kind of how we run certain processes and things like that. So I think, um, yeah, don't forget to take a step back and demonstrate your understanding of business and then how a HR is gonna support that.
Nicole Belyna: I love that response. Uh, and really it's a great reminder to all HR professionals, even seasoned HR professionals, to take a step back and understand how, you know the work that you do on a day-to-day basis links back to the larger strategy and business priorities for your organization. Good call out.
All right. So to keep the honest and honest HR. What would you say are some of the biggest struggles faced, faced by the HR community, [00:14:00] um, that professionals should be aware of before switching to the HR profession?
Claire Stroh: I. Yeah, that's a good question. And let's be honest for sure. 'cause it is a tough climate right now for HR Pros.
Um, I mean, especially since the pandemic. So between navigating that, a lot of layoffs, bringing people back to work, various changes we have now, I. Due to executive orders and things like that. Um, it's good to go into the HR space knowing that we're, our job is to support and understand people. So that can be just a struggle and a challenge in itself with constantly changing, um, landscape out there.
So, um, to be able to listen and like be empathetic and show up. Well, in my role every day I have to fill my tank. So I know that's kind of a cliche answer, but I would just be prepared. To know that like there's always gonna be work there that you wanna do. There's always someone that you wanna get back to or support, and there's only so many hours in the day and there's always more good work to do the [00:15:00] next day.
So I just kind of try to keep in mind each day, what do I need to prioritize today? What can I make progress on today, make an impact today, and then stop, rest and recharge. So tomorrow I can again give the best service. Um, just 'cause yeah, there's a lot going on, so it's easy to get, you know, tired and we wanna make sure we can best support our people and just take it, take a step at a time to, and care for ourselves too.
Nicole Belyna: That's really good advice to remember. Um, again, right, uh, budding HR professionals and even though seasoned professionals, uh, I know I have to remind myself to, um, you know, take a step back and. Give myself a little time for self-care, whether, whether it's a few minutes of self-reflection during the day, or, um, you know, reminding myself to take open leave and recharge and relax every now and again.
So, good reminder, uh, kind of switching, uh, topics here real quick. [00:16:00] So, as you know, SHRM offers specialty certifications and conferences for HR professional developments at every level. Are there any other training courses that you would recommend a professional take before pursuing HR roles? Yeah,
Claire Stroh: this is a great question because I love to recommend folks get as much exposure as you can to the field before making the switch.
So definitely your local SHRM chapters. I'm always directing folks to the SHRM chapter locator on the website. Um, so see what's nearby. Even other chapters like B-N-H-R-A, we offer virtual programming that's free. So even if you're not in Buffalo or in the area of your local chapter, um, there's very.
Affordable or sometimes free, um, online professional development events. I also love being part of the people, people Slack channel. So there's just a lot of other ways to network and connect with people, even in just LinkedIn posts, comments, groups, things like that. Um, so I personally do love conferences and events, um, and certifications.
I love to [00:17:00] learn, um, but I encourage people to keep in mind. We obviously wanna learn a lot and keep a focus on professional development, but don't forget all the great people that you meet throughout those experiences.
'cause sometimes they leverage even more good insight or advice or inspiration, you know, to you than, um, just the conference or certification itself.
So I. The other thing I wanna plug for too is the Shem Foundation Mentoring Program. So I think it's such a great benefit for sure. Members. I love being a mentor in the program and for someone looking to switch into HR or for an HR student, having that mentor for the three months and then just the group coaching calls as well is such a valuable experience.
You will make a hundred new friends that are all motivated to. Make the HR profession better help people. So just being in that really inspiring and uplifting community is very helpful too. 'cause that journey and that switch to get into the field [00:18:00] can be a challenge in itself. Just gaining that technical knowledge and navigating those types of things.
So having the good community around you too, that comes with those events and learnings is also really, really great.
Nicole Belyna: That's a great point, Claire. And I would say I attribute my success or, you know, impart my success on the community that I've surrounded myself with people like you, um, you know, that I've met at conferences and through local chapters and, uh, so it's not always that technical knowledge that you're learning or that formal education, it's.
The people that you surround yourself with who can give you real world advice, they've kind of been through it. They may have been through your journey or a similar one, or maybe something completely different. Uh, and then, you know, you can never discount the power of networking, right? Many people say your network is your network worth.
And, uh, you know, being able to introduce you to even more wonderful [00:19:00] people, whether it's for, you know, a job opportunity or. You know, I think it's also important to remember that networking is, uh. Is is, you know, it's a, a, a long journey. Um, you know, it's, it's not a sprint, but rather, you know, a marathon and, um, you should take the time to, to build a, a really nice, robust network.
Um, so very, very good points. Um, I also kind of wanted to add, you know, beyond HR training, you know, building your HR knowledge, there's, I think, other, other relevant, um. Skills, maybe like project management. That could be something that could be helpful to a budding HR professional. Um, you know, again, we talked about the AI literacy, right?
Um, honing your skills there could certainly translate to hr. And you've mentioned earlier in our discussion the value of having really great business acumen and [00:20:00] understanding just how an organization runs, understanding hrs connection to the mission, vision, values. Um, I. So wanted to just add to that as well.
So how can professionals looking to get into HR, tailor their previous experience on their resume and cover letters to best position themselves for an HR role?
Claire Stroh: I of course love this question and geek out over it being in recruiting, right? We love to help people with this, um, 'cause yeah, great resume and cover letter can is that first step to get you through the door.
So it can either read like a task list or it can showcase your impact, results and transferrable skills and help you nail that first interview. So. Uh, love that. We really gotta focus on good tailored materials. That's always a good place to start. So I was actually talking to someone the other day who's in the transportation industry and wants to get into hr, and we talked about how the first few bullets on his resume, um, read, driving the [00:21:00] bus, maintenance, cleaning, things like that.
And I'm like, those are important tasks that you do, and they might still be good. To have in there and showcase. We of course wanna add a little bit more impacted results, so it reads that you understand how those tasks tie to the bigger, you know, department or organization goals. So we'll keep those, freshen 'em up a little bit.
But I recommended putting a few other bullets ahead of those that focus on those transferrable skills to hr. So in his case, training teammates and new hires, uh, deescalating stressful situations. Um. With customers and yeah, having to be organized, keep good documentation and records and using technology and things like that, that we talked about.
So, uh, we really, again, kind of looked at the SH rmba, went through his transferrable skills, and yeah, sometimes people don't realize the, the skills that they have, which is natural. You're going into a whole new field that you might only know. Certain things [00:22:00] about like employee relations or benefits administration or things like that.
And it's easy to overlook or just, yeah, forget to really reflect on your day to day and, um, look past driving the bus and doing the maintenance. But what are those skills you're using to do those things? What are some other. Situations
you've encountered and handled, um, which show that you have those skills that you're gonna need in hr.
So, um, so yeah, for him, customer service, you know, empathy, deescalating those 10 situations. So we, um, made sure to just make sure those things are, are focused on and those first few bullets because we're trying to catch the readers attention with our resume. So if that's an HR hiring manager, we wanna try to be speaking that language, uh, right at the top.
Nicole Belyna: That's great. I think making it easy for them to pick out those key skills is, is critical. So with that, what are two to three pieces of advice you'd give a brand new HR professional who's just transitioned from another career path? [00:23:00]
Claire Stroh: Yeah, and I just talked to my mentee about this in the SHRM Foundation program the other day, so I love this question.
And we really focused on the best advice that I gave her, and it really resonated with her, was to focus on what you can control. Versus what you can't control. So you are not gonna be able to control that. You have no formal HR experience or you have one year of HR experience. Like that is what it is.
It's where you are in your journey, but you can control, you know, if you're proactive. If you ask thoughtful questions, if you're networking, like you mentioned, things like that. Um, so keeping a focus on that professional development and networking is something we can control, and it gives us more context to use in those situations where we're feeling that imposter syndrome or that imposter complex.
And I've used this a lot as a young and emerging professional when I've been asked a question on the job or in an interview. Um, you know, I see you haven't done [00:24:00] this exact work or you don't have this experience yet, but what do you know about this topic or how would you handle this situation? And having always kept a focus on professional development and networking always gave me something to say, so I wasn't just like, I.
Yeah, you're right. I don't know, or I haven't done that yet or whatever. I was able to say, you're right. I haven't done that on the job, but I talked to someone in my network about it and here's what I do know. You know, how do we do it in this organization? Am I on the right track? And if you're confident and can keep things moving, uh, people will remember that.
Um, or they'll remember that you just said, no, I don't know. So you have the control, right, to be prepared how you answer those questions. Um. So, yeah, that was kind of a bunch of things all wrapped up. But I would say keep a focus on professional development and networking. It will help you, uh, advance combat that imposter syndrome and then focus on what you can control and not control if you spend too much energy spinning out and worrying about not being where you wanna be at in your career yet or things like that.
Um, it's just taking valuable time [00:25:00] away from just the good skills and things that you do have that you can capitalize on and use
Nicole Belyna: now. So you've given a lot of advice today, a lot of great advice. Is there anything else about switching to HR mid-career you'd like to share that we haven't already discussed?
Claire Stroh: I think just double down on that finding community. That's just the last one I really wanted to share. So even with that professional development piece, um, yeah, we wanna be focused on gaining that HR skills and knowledge, but remember those extra good. Yeah. Uplifting positive conversations are, are
Nicole Belyna: really gonna help you.
There's nothing like your community, right, to get you through those, those challenging times get you, get you through that transition. It's always good to have people cheering for you, you know, even when you don't believe in yourself. Um, and know that you can do it. I think that's going to do it for this week's episode of Honest hr.
A big thank you to you, [00:26:00] Claire, for sharing your insights with us. Thank you so much. Honest HR is part of SHRM's. HR Daily flagship content series, and you can head to SHRM.org/hr daily to learn more and sign up for our newsletter. You can also catch us on SHRM's social media. Be sure to like, comment and be part of the conversation.
Thank you for joining us, and we'll see you next time.
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