Confused about field - 2 years of experience as a hospital hr executive - but now I want to change

Hi, I am confused about my career. I have 2 years of experience as a hospital HR executive. But now I want to change my field within the hospital industry. I have tried applying to other companies, but I haven't had much luck so far, and now I am feeling stuck and uncertain.

Dear Dharti,

After spending two years in the hospital as an HR Executive, why do you wish to change your industry? What is the reason? Why have you developed distaste for the hospital industry?

To grow in one's career, it is important to gain the general knowledge associated with a particular industry. Secondly, if you continue to work in the same industry, then you will come to know the ecosystem of that industry. While functional knowledge is important, as you grow in your career, in the future, you will be assessed for your industry's knowledge as well. If you change your industry, then you will lose your competitive advantage.

After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare industry will continue to grow. Many big industrial houses are yet to enter this sector. However, in the future, you will find that they too have entered. This will increase your job opportunities.

Therefore, review your decision of the change of industry. Stick to one industry to grow!

All the best!

Dinesh Divekar

Each industry has different requirements and unique ways to handle problems. Healthcare differs from the manufacturing industry, so making a change will be challenging. You may need to apply for entry-level positions or consider working for a smaller company willing to hire someone from a different sector to save costs or attract otherwise unavailable talent.

While I agree that transitioning to healthcare HR means you will likely stay within that specific industry, what prompts your desire for change? What difficulties or risks do you foresee in the future?

Dear Colleague,

Very well explained by our colleagues. Thanks for that.

Even though HR in general is common for any sector in the olden days, now the scenario has changed. The skill set required for HR is going sector-specific. HR is practiced differently in hospitals, hospitality, IT, ITES, BPO, manufacturing, sales, financial sector, etc., in different passion and fashion. But it is very well possible to move from one sector to another provided you have a sound understanding of the business/organization's processes, which are unique in terms of talent requirements, business objectives, business drivers, etc.

When you want to move from sector to sector, you must be able to apply the HR skills sector-specifically. If you want to move to manufacturing, for example, you must know more about industrial relations apart from HR, for which you need to equip yourself, including statutory compliance, liaison, stakeholder management, trade union management, and so on. Additionally, understand the business objectives, targets, manufacturing processes, and the different job descriptions of talents working in the factory so that you can excel in the selection process. This is possible through self-learning or by an orientation learning from any of your colleagues' factories.

If you want to move to sales HR, then you need to have in-depth knowledge of sales-related processes like marketing, advertising, technical support, customer relations, R&D, etc., and also understand their business targets, business strategies, pricing, dealership arrangements, advertising methods, and so on. You can collaborate with any of your sales colleagues and do a market visit to learn.

Similarly, for other sectors, you can endeavor to explore what type of industry it is and what business challenges they face, especially when you want to move to IT/ITES. You need to know the ins and outs of their working patterns, their job descriptions, their business model, etc., so that it will be easy to get in.

Nothing is impossible as HR remains the same in every field, and you should know the knack of applying it to the field with a full understanding of the business. Hence, kindly spend some time and prepare well for the sector you choose.

As rightly said by our colleague, it may be challenging to move to another sector, but keep trying. This is like cooking remains the same but whether it is North Indian/South Indian/Continental/Fast Food/Contemporary/Family style, and so on, which definitely needs the art of applying the skill to different fields.

Keep trying, and definitely, you will come through, and as suggested, try to enter at the lower or middle level in the next sector, and within a quick time, you can progress fast as you have basic HR with you.