My Life: What an Emotional Rollercoaster!

Rinku Raina

My life. What an emotional rollercoaster it has been! Writing this article has brought back so many memories, my parents, my professional struggle, and moving to a new country. Therefore, I hope you will enjoy the story of my life.

As a teenager, unlike my two older sisters, I was ambiguous about my career and where life would take me one day. I was not a very academic person, but I went with the way life took me.

The values of my parents, even after migration, of not giving up- valuing every relationship, staying calm in every challenge life threw at them- changed the way I looked at life.  Their aim in life was to provide the best education to their daughter, even if it dealt a blow to their own careers. The mantra of my life has always been ‘to do my best in whatever I do’. These values have kept me going for all my life, and even now, living in England, working for University of Cambridge, I never let that get ahead of me and hinder who I really am. 

After my graduation, my friends had all worked out the journey of their life and I sat- wondering what I wanted to do in my life. As my older sister is my role model, I followed her advice of getting into Management, without being fully aware of what was I getting into.

I completed my post-graduation in Human Resources (HR) from Pune University and it clicked and felt like a missing piece in a jigsaw puzzle. I have been privileged to work for one of the best manufacturing companies in Pune – Forbes Marshal. I had started enjoying life in HR and what appealed to me about this profession other than helping people grow, is that it’s constantly growing, changing and evolving. From compliance with new laws and legislation, to technology and employee expectation, one never experiences a dull day at work. At Forbes Marshal, I grew from a Management Trainee to an Assistant Manager in HR, honing new skills each day.

A few years later, married with a little child, our family immigrated to the United Kingdom for better job prospects. Even though, I loved the place in many ways, it brought a huge obstacle to my professional life. 

It took 5 years for me to find a role that I liked and aligned with my experience and interests and at the same time allow me to focus on raising my little children. I completed my CIPD Level 5 qualification needed for HR roles in the UK. I wanted to focus on career pathways where I could use my passion for helping people develop new skills and a career in Learning and Development (L &D) seemed to provide me with that opportunity and a bonus of a healthy work-life balance. So here I was after around 30 rejections, accepting an offer from the highly coveted University of Cambridge. Initially, a 9-month project, later evolved into a full time L & D role. I currently work as L & D Manager at Cambridge University Information Services. 

My life: L&D and Human Resources

My role is about creating the right culture and environment for individuals and organisations to learn and grow. It knows the current and future capability needs of the organisation, as well as how to create a learning culture that drives engagement in ongoing professional development.

The advice I would give someone considering a career in L&D is – do not just think about it, make the career move into L&D, as you will not regret it!

Plan your route into L&D, research what type of role you want to work towards, undertake some qualifications that will help prepare you for the transition and then search for a role within an organisation that you think you can add value to as an L&D professional.

Having a degree in HR can come in handy when applying for L&D jobs, but what is even more valuable is a professional qualification from the CIPD – in fact, many L&D job adverts specify a CIPD qualification as an essential or desirable quality.   

CIPD qualifications are recognised internationally as the gold standard in L&D and they will allow you to prove your professional credibility and commitment to high standards to potential employers.

If you are completely new to Learning and Development, you can start with the Level 3  Certificate or Diploma to get to grips with the basics and develop the essential skills you will need.

If you’ve had some experience dealing with L&D as part of a managerial role or have a university degree, you might be more suited to starting with the Level 5 Certificate or the Diploma which delve deeper into the core functions of L&D. Make sure you choose the right course for your education and experience level by consulting an experienced CIPD course advisor before enrolling. 

Later in your career, you may wish to study a Level 7 Qualification, which will prepare you to transition into the most senior roles in L&D such as Head of L&D or L&D Director.

Lastly, I strongly believe that the values my parents embedded in me, of never giving up when times are hard; having a seeking attitude and, arguably, most important of all, keeping all relationships strong is helping me to lead my life.