The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
Project Coordinator / Project Support Officer
2-3 yearsSkills to master
- Organisation, stakeholder coordination, basic project planning, documentation, risk identification, communication support.
You're ready to move on when
- You're the person who keeps the project on track and anticipates potential issues.
- You've taken initiative to support communication efforts or stakeholder engagement in your current role.
- You're curious about the 'people side' of projects, not just the technical delivery.
- 2
Business Analyst (Junior/Mid)
2-4 yearsSkills to master
- Requirements gathering, process mapping (as-is/to-be), data analysis, stakeholder interviewing, problem definition.
You're ready to move on when
- You're great at understanding business problems and translating them into clear requirements.
- You've identified user adoption as a key challenge in past projects.
- You're keen to move beyond just defining 'what' to understanding 'how' people will actually use it.
- 3
HR Generalist / HR Advisor
3-5 yearsSkills to master
- Employee relations, talent management, training coordination, policy implementation, understanding employee sentiment.
You're ready to move on when
- You've been involved in implementing new HR systems or policies and understand the employee impact.
- You're skilled at communicating complex information to a diverse workforce.
- You have a natural empathy for employees navigating change and want to play a more proactive role in supporting them.


