Hi Alicia and congratulations on passing your Level 7

It's some years now since I upgraded, but the advice I received at the time underlined the following points :

• You should be analysing/thinking/proposing (not deciding) at a strategic level in your organisation, and are probably responsible for delivering the operational output of the decisions that will have been made based on your thinking/proposals
• You will have been doing this for "several years" - I think 3-5 years was an indicative figure at the time
• You should have regular access to the senior management team in terms of delivering advice or undertaking analysis
• You should have an excellent understanding of the business and how your delivery impacts and affects the rest of HR and the other functions in your organisation, plus how it creates added value for the business
• Your decision-making will be based on information from a wide range of sources, both inside and outside the organisation
• If you are in a senior specialist role, you should be able to demonstrate that you interact with a network of peers outside of your organisation, possibly internationally

I'm sure others will come along with their more recent experiences, but I hope this helps in the meantime

In reply to Ray:

Hi Ray
Thank you for your comprehensive advice - it is very useful! My experience covers most of the above, except I have been doing the first point for about two years. I will call the CIPD as well and see if they have any advice.
Thanks again
Alicia

Also, connect with your local CIPD branch as they will probably have people who have recently been through the process and may even - as in my local branch - have one of the assessors on the membership who will be happy to ensure your application is as straightforward as possible.

It took me two gos, and the first time I failed was for having not had sufficient time in the organization I was with to demonstrate clearly measurable outcomes from my work.

In reply to Robey:

Thanks Robey - I am going to a branch meeting in a few weeks' time, so I will talk to some of the members about it.
Alicia

In reply to Alicia:

Hi Alicia...

This question gets asked quite a lot, so do have a look through previous discussions.

For example, you'll find a selection from the past 12 months here... but there are many more.

If you're going via the Experience Assessment route, there are a couple of stonking threads, too:

https://www.cipd.co.uk/Community/discussion-forum/careers_clinic/f/hr-qualifications-and-studying/60768/finally-chartered-via-the-experience-assessment-route

https://www.cipd.co.uk/Community/discussion-forum/careers_clinic/f/hr-qualifications-and-studying/67250/mcipd-experience-assessment

There are many others.

In reply to Steve Bridger:

...and you may have already read all this on the CIPD website:
www.cipd.co.uk/.../chartered

In reply to Steve Bridger:

Thank you Steve. I had had a look at the final link you posted, but I found it rather vague. I will take a look at the threads you have sent - thank you for providing these.

Hi Alicia I recently upgraded to Chartered Fellow and what really helped me was reviewing the Profession Map as this shows for each level what the expectation is from Associate level. Hope this helps

In reply to Sue:

Hi Sue
Thank you for the tip - I had not thought of that. I will do that too.
Many thanks
Alicia