Transitioning from Sales to HR: How Do I Explain My Career Shift in Interviews?

I have three and a half years of experience in frontline sales. I have always been interested in the HR field. Now, I have the opportunity to transition to an HR role. If I am asked about the reason for switching from sales to HR, what should I say, apart from my interest in HR? Can anyone help me with this question?

We are on the same boat, dear. I too have had direct exposure to sales for the past 3 years, but now want to change my profile to HR. Still, I have not received an answer. What if the HR professional asks me about the reason for the profile change?

Hi,

I am a seasoned HR professional, and I firmly believe that there is not much difference between the HR and marketing fields, except that marketing professionals tend to be more flamboyant. The "Guru Mantra" to be a successful marketing/HR professional is the same, i.e., "Customer Delight." From my perspective, the skills required in both of these professions are common, such as communication skills, listening skills, client management skills, empathy, research orientation, and the ability to manage clients' or employees' expectations.

HR professionals mainly deal with internal customers (employees), while marketing professionals deal with external customers (clients).

I hope this helps.

Good Luck!

Hi Phukki,

No one can answer this question unless they know you. At least provide your detailed resume, and only then can anyone help you with the answer because you have to give a reason based on the experience you have had.

I personally feel that three years is not a big deal when you shift your domain. Moreover, as RahulPHR said, Marketing and HR are not very distinct. They have their own similarities.

Provide some more details so that some seniors here can give you an appropriate answer for it.

I have 3 years of experience in direct sales at two leading private banks in India. I totally agree with Rahul about the fact that HR and Marketing have a close similarity. For HR professionals, customers are the employees, and for sales professionals, customers are external clients. Don't you think there is a vast difference between these two types of customers? Those in direct sales generate revenue for the company, so at the end of the month, our bank accounts are credited. Customers for HR professionals work for the same organization, so the goal remains the same, whereas for outbound sales professionals, it's the open market. How can these two profiles have similarities? I also want to switch my profile to HR. Please suggest how to proceed. Good luck!

Hi all, I want to move to an HR profile. My current role is as below mentioned: I am handling the Accelerated Integration process, which is one of the critical processes involved in diagnosing organizational culture to bring about positive changes and helping employees adapt to the new changes. It involves conducting culture-based surveys, managing survey tools, and creating analysis reports.

My KRAs include:

- Creating links for Organizational Culture-based Surveys
- Assisting clients in filling out the Culture Diagnostics Surveys
- Collecting all the online fill-in surveys and data
- Creating Cultural analysis reports
- Managing the Survey tool
- Coordinating with clients
- Providing training to new joiners in the same process
- Data mining
- Handling queries
- Auditing the reports

How can I edit it to help me transition into an HR generalist profile? I look forward to your valuable suggestions and guidance.