Breaking into the people job market

It can be tough to get your foot in the door in a new industry, whether you’re a fresh graduate looking for your first role, or someone looking for a career change, and 2025 is proving to be no exception: redundancies are happening across all sectors and many employers tightening their belts and reducing recruitment efforts. When you’re up against tons of candidates for a single role, even a simple mistake can count you out of the running from landing your next role.

This session is a 3-person panel event, formed of key experts in recruitment, education and hiring, to share their experiences and knowledge on how to break into the job market within the People, HR & L&D industry. This is a panel and Q&A event. Each speaker will give a brief overview of their experiences and what they see from their position, before we then open up the room to a wider Q&A for our panel:

• Emmy Bevan and Joanna Thomas at Hoop Recruitment on their perspective in the recruiting industry, such commonly observed mistakes made by candidates, what successful candidates have done and how to best pitch yourself.

• Lorraine Bartlett, Consultant at Reed Learning on the benefits of a relevant qualification in your career journey, including how she has seen the Level 5 Diploma help her learners, challenges she has seen learners face in their own career journeys, and how to make your qualifications work best for you.

• Shelley Moore, Talent Acquisition Manager at Creditsafe on their perspective as a hiring manager: common mistakes made by applicants, how difficult decisions are made choosing between great candidates, what employers may look for in 2025 and how could you position yourself to stand out to employers.

Speakers:

Joanna Thomas

With 18 years’ experience across both internal and external recruitment, Jo has hired talent at every level, from entry roles to senior leadership. She has recruited across a variety of roles including marketing, finance, office support, HR and executive search, giving her a complete view of how careers progress and how employers hire.

Passionate about supporting people at every stage of their journey, Jo shares practical advice on CVs, interviews and the skills employers value most, alongside insider insight on what organisations look for when appointing future professionals and senior leaders. Known for her approachable, honest style, she builds lasting connections that help both candidates and businesses thrive

Emmy Bevan

As an HR recruiter in the South Wales market, Emmy’s passion is connecting talented professionals with their dream roles. With over 5 years of experience in the industry, she has developed a keen eye for identifying top talent and a dedication to fostering strong relationships with both clients and candidates.

Lorraine Bartlett

Lorraine Bartlett is a seasoned RL Consultant and cohort advisor with over 20 years of experience in operational People Management. A Chartered Member of the CIPD, Lorraine brings a wealth of expertise, strategic insight, and a collaborative spirit to every learning journey she supports. Known for her clear communication and results-driven mindset, she plays a pivotal role in guiding learners and driving organisational success.

In her role as a cohort advisor, Lorraine is passionate about creating engaging and supportive learning environments. She helps learners navigate the Virtual Learning Environment, encourages active participation in forums, and ensures everyone feels connected and empowered throughout their development. Outside of work, Lorraine is an avid traveller who loves exploring new cultures and destinations. At home, she enjoys countryside walks with her lively golden Labrador and unwinds in the evenings with a good TV series—always on the lookout for the next binge-worthy show. Lorraine’s approachable nature, professional excellence, and genuine enthusiasm for learning make her a trusted guide and mentor for those embarking on their educational journey.

Shelley Moore

Shelley is an experienced People Manager with over a decade of expertise in leading teams and supporting talent acquisition. Shelley prides herself on her passion in fostering an inclusive, high-performance culture and driving strategic organisation design. She consistently supports industry leaders on aligning talent with business goals, optimising People functions to maximise value and ensure sustainable organisational growth. Highly skilled in career progression, Shelley regularly coaches individuals and teams to achieve their best in both professional and personal development, and ensure that every hire is a credit to their culture and contributes meaningfully to their success.

This event is aimed at People/HR/L&D: students of qualifications, new and current entrants to the job market and those who are reskilling or transitioning career. This is a great opportunity to meet some truly experience industry professionals and get a peek behind the curtain of the other side of the recruiting experience and ask questions on how to best position yourself for success in your job hunt!

Please note:

1. Webinar joining instructions will be sent to you again 1 day before the event, with a further reminder 20 minutes prior to the event starting.
2. The session may be recorded and shared with people afterwards. Please bear this in mind and have your camera off if you do not wish for your image to be shared.
3. The chat function will be used for participants to engage with the webinar, so just be mindful of the login name you use and ensure you are happy for other people to see this.
4. For security reasons, it is requested that participants join the live session 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time and with the same name as registered on Eventbrite - not doing so may cause a delay or non-admittance to the event.
5. This event may include an external speaker who has prepared their own presentation. Any views or opinions expressed by the speaker are their own and do not reflect those of the CIPD.
6. If you require any reasonable adjustments to enhance your experience, please get in contact with us by responding to this email and we will do our best to accommodate.