Originally Posted by mro

It really depends on which area of HR you are interested in.

The best paid area is in HR Rewards & Organization consulting, but the hours are very long and you really need strong financial skills. Many go in & whack 5 years then switch back to corporate HR, pay progression very fast and comparable to some finance FO roles.

Another high paying area is headhunting (real one, not those agency hor). The problem is it’s sales oriented and not many people can take the stress to meet target and long hours. Once you have built up required network, can start your agency or join in-house recruitment.

The more traditional generalist way is business partnering role where you slowly work your way up to senior HR partnering roles, this tends to be slower in pay rise but more work life balance compare to above.

Never go into OPS HR, Admin HR, Shared Service, Training, Payroll etc. Once you are in there, very hard to progress as you will be branded as administrator / low level recruiter - prospects are very limited and you don’t get to learn much because colleagues around you is generally mediocre.