Alex Baker
What employment sector do you work in?
NGO Sector
How long have you had a green job for nature?
3.5 years
Please describe the work that you do.
I work for the Woodland Trust and have responsibility for all resourcing activity for my organisation, this includes operational recruitment, workforce planning and emerging talent.
My team and I form part of a people team directorate and collaborate closely with team members and colleagues across the organisation to ensure that our people feel supported and that we have the right people in the right roles at the right time.
What do you most like about your job? Any dislikes?
I enjoy building and maintaining relationships with a variety of colleagues, working in recruitment means you learn about so many different jobs within an organisation and is a chance to gain a real appreciation for the part that everyone plays.
I enjoy supporting people on their career journey and seeing people progress to where they want to be and helping managers create team structures that enable long term success.
My main dislike would be having to give negative recruitment outcomes. Giving bad news to candidates can be really tough, especially when you know how much effort will have gone in to the process. Hiring managers are the ultimate decision makers but the recruiter will quite often be the one to feedback to candidates whether they’ve been successful or not. Some candidates take the decision very badly, which is understandable, but you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t let that conversation affect you in some way.
What inspired you into this career?
I worked in learning and development (L&D) prior to getting into resourcing. My role grew naturally from L&D to talent development to talent acquisition and strategic resourcing.
My current role focuses on taking the strategic direction of the organisation and translating that into a workforce plan that will be able to deliver that strategy in the future. Balancing the needs of the organisation, the current workforce and the financial boundaries that come from working in a charity is both challenging and rewarding. There is never a moment to be bored or uninspired!
The different specialisms within HR don’t always cross traditionally but I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work across L&D and resourcing while gaining input and insight into other areas of HR like organisational design and development, employee relations, diversity and inclusion and employee experience.
Have you faced any challenges in progressing your career so far?
I’ve been very lucky in my career progression so far. The opportunities I’ve had, have meant that I’ve had exposure to a range of experiences that have equipped me well for the role I’m in now.
There are naturally times when life throws you a curve ball and I’ve had to get creative e.g. studying while working full time, recruiting nurses during the Covid Pandemic, but remaining focused on the end goal and getting unwaivering support from home has been my saviour on more than one occasion.
What education/training did you have?
Up until relatively recently, all my career related training was done on the job. When I left school I went to university and I left with a Geography degree, but like many students didn’t follow my academic path and instead worked in hospitality, retail, sales, finance and customer experience before moving into learning and development. I think my ‘education’ in delivering high quality customer service set me up for being able to design and develop a variety of training programmes which led me to develop my people skills further.
I was fortunate enough to be supported by a previous employer in 2018 to commence a degree apprenticeship in business management and gained chartered manager status, then in the last year I’ve completed a post graduate degree apprenticeship to gain accreditation with the CIPD which is a sought after qualification within the HR profession and has enabled me to sharpen the tools in my people practice toolkit.
What advice would you give to someone coming into the profession?
Don’t be afraid to move sideways, upwards career moves aren’t always as helpful for development.
Invest in yourself but equally invest in others – as a leader its a must.
Get to know people, build relationships, nurture them, approach challenge with a solutions focus.
Apprenticeships are great, support them, do one, mentor one. I’ve been lucky with my academic opportunities but wouldn’t be as effective without my work experience.
Practice for interviews and don’t rely too much on AI!
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Tags: England, NGO sector, Other related roles, Administrative support, Apprenticeship
Date profile submitted: 21/04/2026
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