CIPD qualification for getting into HR role

[NotAGolf]

My wife has worked in various admin roles for a few years now but is looking to move to something that is less of a job and more of a career, i.e something with a bit more specialism with the opportunity for progression.

One of the paths she's considered is moving into HR. Looking at a few vacancies that have popped up locally, a lot of them mention being CIPD qualified.

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this qualification? Is it essential for getting into the industry, or is it more of a luxury qualification? Does it actually teach you much, or is it one of those expensive box ticking exercises that you do just to get a certification?

The local college runs an evening course, but it's not cheap and is quite a commitment, so would be good to hear from anyone in the know before diving in!

 

[DanTheMan]

My wife has worked in various admin roles for a few years now but is looking to move to something that is less of a job and more of a career, i.e something with a bit more specialism with the opportunity for progression.

One of the paths she's considered is moving into HR. Looking at a few vacancies that have popped up locally, a lot of them mention being CIPD qualified.

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this qualification? Is it essential for getting into the industry, or is it more of a luxury qualification? Does it actually teach you much, or is it one of those expensive box ticking exercises that you do just to get a certification?

The local college runs an evening course, but it's not cheap and is quite a commitment, so would be good to hear from anyone in the know before diving in!

I don't k ow anything about this but I just asked my friend who's quite senior in HR with RBS. He said having CIPD level 5 is desirable when being recruited for HR advisor roles and above.

I'm guessing it's not essential as he said probably 50%+ haven't done the qualification but a lot of them will have been recruited internally where the process is less competitive. For an external candidate, it should help work in your favour.

 

[.Lethal]

My ex did this through her work. She started in HR doing general Admin work and eventually got an opportunity to do this. The above poster is right in that it's desirable for a HR advisor role.

You could always contact a few employers and ask their HR department to get a better feeling on it's usefulness.

 

[john_s]

Mrs_S works in a fairly senior HR role. She doesn’t rate the CIPD qualifications, but has observed that it’s a bit polarising, as those with a CIPD qualification do tend to gravitate towards recruiting other HR professionals with CIPD qualifications.

 

[Lopéz]

I did a CIPD L5 in L&D, which shares the majority of its modules with the core CIPD HR course.

If she doesn't really know much about HR then I would say it's absolutely worth doing.
If she was already in an HR role then I would say it's usefulness is far lower.

I did it as a box-ticking exercise for my employer at the time, and they paid for it (the costs vary ENORMOUSLY depending on where you do it, shop around!) It cost about £2700 for me if I remember rightly, around 6 years ago on a 1 night a week college course.

I wouldn't say it's essential for working in HR, but it's certainly useful and will help lower some of the entry barriers for your wife.

 

[Bear]

My wife is an HR director for an American sportswear company and she said she wouldnt hire anyone that at least didnt show they had a desire to get CIPD qualified if they didnt have it. Most people would start at the bottom as an HR administrator, so wouldnt need the qualification but to progress, knowledge of law and processes is important so the qualification would give you a good grounding in it.