What are you trying to gain out of doing the L7 qualification. Is your primary motivation the certificate or is it the practical learning and experience necessary to have a successful and rewarding career in HR? (and I know its more nuanced than that)

Many people do Masters HR courses after undergraduate degrees in a year studying multiple strands at one time gaining a masters/L7 qualification. But do they get the best out of what is supposed to be a practical framework for senior HR professionals or do they simply get an academic theoretical qualification and then find it harder to both gain/progress in employment or to interpret and implement the learning?

In reply to Keith:

Hi Marco,
I agree with Keith, to get the most out of the course, I would recommend doing one module at a time, to truly maximise your learning, there is a great deal of reading and research to do particularly the EL one. I found by focusing on one area at a time I really absorbed so much. We had to do the management report with the other modules, which in itself and having a full time job was too much, but manageable.

In reply to Keith:

Thank you very much for your answer!

My primary motivation is to learn as efficiently as possilbe. My goal with this question was to check if any modules were deemed to be somewhat too fluffly, a waste of time or overly theoretical. Suppose many would say 50% of the Employee Engagement module could have been mastered just by regularly reading major industry media or reports e.g. by McKinsey. This would mean that I could do that module plus another one and dedicate more time to getting immersed in the other module, while determining what´s needed to breeze through the simpler one.

The end result would be same amount of knowledge while shaving months off the time needed to attain associate membership.

You could ask: "If you know 50% of the Engagement module is a waste of time, why do it in the first place?". My answer would be: "You´re right, not super efficient, but I just want to make sure that I don´t miss any practical tips or UK-specific rules/requirements about Engagement that I would otherwise never know about.". The time saved would still be worth more in the long run.

What do you think? Would you agree? Were there any modules that raised your eyebrows?

In reply to Marco:

I think employee engagement is the single most important skills and added value for HR professionals so no I probably wouldn’t agree :-)

Ultimately real employee engagement is the key to so much we try and do. Too many HR professionals focus on the mechanics of other areas rather than understanding why people work well and add more value.

In reply to Keith:

I agree with you fully. :) I´m just wondering if in your experience you think all of the modules are high quality and balanced with practical tips, or whether some of them are mostly theoretical.

I ask because I already have a master degree in work psychology (1 year) which was very theoretical but I´m looking to complement my current theoretical mental models with practical knowledge that I would hope is the primary focus of a profession-specific certification.

It's not exactly as hard to complete as it's predecessor, I know some try to say the two exams are harder but they never experinced the PDS with an exam for every module! Thinking about it we used to do two modules at the same time! But Keith is right, L7 is meant for senior HR professionals already in post so you are meant to apply what you are learning at work, remember its not an attendance course!

In reply to Marco:

Most students are doing 3 modules at a time over two years.
My students have my teaching and tutorials and that of my excellent full and part-time colleagues. It is hard work and sometimes frustrating for me when I see them prioritising other assignments with a closer deadline but that all depends on your motivation, intelligence, work and personal commitments