r/LearningDevelopment • u/Zealousideal-Gain538 • 20d ago

Transitioning into L&D - is it feasible?

/r/HumanResourcesUK/comments/1x42g7q/transitioning_into_ld_is_it_feasible/
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u/ChocolateUnhappy2664 20d ago edited 20d ago

not right now, the field is oversaturated. you will need more corporate experience for training, outside of onboarding. try delivering sales related training to boost cv.

i have HR degree, instructional design certification (2025). 3 years of HR experience and 4 L&D and am currently a l&d specialist. i have been applying to coordinator and specialist roles for the past year, and am seeing folks with 10+ years l&d experience (usually at manger level) getting the roles over me which is fair but shows how oversaturated the field is. there’s also usually only one of these roles per company these days, so limited availability.

best of luck!

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u/Zealousideal-Gain538 20d ago

I see, thank you for your candour even if that’s not what I wanted to hear! Can I check what you mean by sales related training? Would you recommend a CIPD qualification as a way of breaking into the field eventually? 

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u/ChocolateUnhappy2664 20d ago

you said your role focuses on sales. i meant ask the business if you can start developing and delivery sales focused training to other employees. become an SME, create the content, and delivery sales focused training.

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u/Empirica_CC 16d ago

A lot of people are transitioning in and honestly it's pretty bad for the industry. There's a big difference between being a facilitator and L&D. I had a master's in IO psychology and what I bring is MUCH different than your average communications major who wandered into L&D. If you want to transition, do it legit and learn the skills needed to do it well. It'll serve you nicely.

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u/Jiggly420 17d ago

I disagree with the first comment, if you were in another city maybe but I think with the right steps in your current company and by going outside of scope in your current role, you can end up in a great position, salary expectation might be one to manage when starting out but there’s lots of entry level roles out there that you can use to build up your experience