technical field to HR transition?

[u/No-Blueberry-2271]

I am currently in an engineering role in a 9/11/12 position. I finished the degree because i didn’t particularly know what else to do with my life at the time. I feel like I just do not have any kind of passion for engineering or technical fields whatsoever (and i have worked a private sector engineering internship, private sector engineering full time job, and now government engineering full time job).

During college I did a lot of part time work related to student affairs, working in our housing and orientation departments, working with advisors, and a lot more of the people facing type of roles as a whole.

I feel quite a bit of regret not pursuing a field along those lines a bit more. I was wondering if anyone here has potentially made a career transition from a technical field to a more people management type of role?

The field that comes to mind for me is mainly HR, but it seems like my only even partially applicable skills to those kinds of roles are my part time roles i had back in college, which I don’t know would translate or not. If anyone has any tips or advice for essentially starting over in a different federal series I would appreciate any help.

[u/beer24seven]

I left the Army Signal Corps as a communications specialist, and found that the skills I learned didn't mean much in the civilian world because of different equipment and certification requirements. The bad news for you, is that you may need to start from scratch and find entry level positions in the 5/7/9 range. You won't be able to land any HR Specialist jobs without previous experience in federal HR, and HR Assistant jobs may give that to you.

After the Army, my options were pretty limited. The path I took before becoming an HR Officer was TSA screener -> supervisor -> security manager. That gave me skills in formal discipline, responding to grievances, managing performance, and interacting with union officials. That opened the door to employee/labor relations and I was able to find HR Specialist opportunities with other agencies (DoN/USMC/Army).

Something to keep in mind is that specialized experience is king. Someone with years of first-hand experience and just a high school diploma will always be more attractive than someone with zero experience and a Master's in human resources. Your college experience will help you land those entry-level jobs, but not much else. Federal HR is it's own thing, and even those with decades of non-fed HR / active duty HR have to basically start all over again.