I'm not sure that my CIPD membership has affected the salary I can command. What I do think is that nowadays it is harder to break into HR if you aren't studying, but that has to go hand in hand with experience. You will find many threads on here that demonstrate that this can be a difficult balance to strike.
I have not had any doors opened with having a membership however alot of potential companies will have it as essential criteria within their recruitment briefs.
