Perpetually client facing and considering a pivot into People Ops

Hi Elpha community- I am someone who has accidentally been in tech for my entire career. I am an extrovert and have always found myself in client facing roles.

I'm at a crossroads in my career where I cannot imagine myself continuing to advocate for SaaS products anymore. However, I am a true people person and have recruiting/interviewing experience in my background, and have also worked for an HR tech company and boutique culture strategy firm. I love talking to people about what they're passionate about, and supporting others so that they can thrive in their roles.

Would appreciate any advice/perspective from anyone who has navagated a career change like this, or anyone who is in a leadership position within HR/People Ops. How can I make this pivot? Does it sound like too much of a stretch?

Iynna·Jan 17

Hi Katie,this sounds so exciting and we in fact do have a TON of people in HR! @kimwilkes is my go to as she's a dear partner also (from Zapier), as well as @AmandaPorter @nashekian @lauraghattas And then check the following office Hours/ask me anything sessions which I think will give you a lot of ideas- https://elpha.com/posts/swufyn73/office-hours-i-advised-oprah-winfrey-the-obamas-and-reed-hastings-and-was-an-executive-at-netflix-and-clubhouse-now-i-m-the-co-founder-ceo-at-manual-i-m-maya-watson-ama- https://elpha.com/posts/s6yw5qfy/office-hours-i-m-the-head-of-global-recruiting-at-notion-i-m-kate-taylor-ama- https://elpha.com/posts/mpi1w2p7/office-hours-i-was-previously-the-head-of-people-at-lever-now-i-m-the-founder-ceo-of-workflow-i-m-jennifer-kim-ama- https://elpha.com/posts/bv2e9vp6/office-hours-i-m-the-director-of-people-ops-at-mekonos-i-m-nupur-sinha-ama- https://elpha.com/posts/j7bgb45x/office-hours-i-m-the-director-of-recruitment-ops-and-ed-i-at-r-ga-and-have-17-years-of-experience-in-people-management-talent-ops-ed-i-and-recruitment-i-m-daniela-herrera-amaHope this serves as a starter!!!

KatieLooby·Jan 18

Thanks for the link outs here! Enjoying the AMAs so far

Iynna·Jan 18

i love them too! and particularly enjoy seeing the wide range of questions from members, it always makes for good convos! :)

kimwilkes·Jan 20

Hi @KatieLooby 👋 I'd love to learn more about your background and passions. Would you like to chat sometime? Feel free to shoot me a message. I'm happy to jump on a call and offer any advice that I can!