I worked in sales at Vodafone for 14 years but could not balance working at a senior level with having small children so decided to switch careers. I wanted to continue to interact with people at all levels and felt that HR was in many ways similar to sales. In both, you have got to create buy-in to your ideas as well as build up influence. I chose to go into HR in the education sector because I wanted to work term time only so I could spend more time with my children in the holidays.