In reply to Rebecca:

For professionalism I quoted CIPD, the HR map is great to use in 1.1. As you have gone straight to level 5 you may not have come across the map. The link to this is: www.cipd.co.uk/.../profession-map. This will help for 1.1 as this will help you pick professional behaviors and also areas. Pick some of the areas and behaviors and see how you can relate them to HR professionals and their skills and knowledge base. e.g. skilled influencer and using this in a meeting to assure that everyone comes to a fair agreement even if it wasn't the expected outcome.

Regarding references, i always did these as I went along, as i found it easier to advise on my point when i had a reference to back it up. I used about 6 references for my first assignment but by the last one i was on about 15-20 references per assignment.

The hardest part is always starting, but once you start you'll be fine.

Hope this helps

In reply to Maureen Scholefield:

Thank you Maureen... much appreciated

In reply to Gina:

Thats handy to note Luigina, the amount of refereces. This is new to me because we didnt need them for L3

In reply to Gina:

I had already done a degree but in an unrelated subject. I was used to providing up to about 10 references, but was told I should be including at least 20 and to quote from original source rather than the text book. My 1st assignment (1 of the optional modules) references ended up being pages long!
Definitely agree hardest part is starting it as honestly it does get easier as you work through the assignments.

In reply to Lisa J:

As you can see this forum is only too willing to help and advise etc.
That is the issue I had as well doing Mixed mode learning whereby I had no access to an academic library and was quite shocked about how much the cost of buying new books was (always asking for Amazon vouchers for Christmas etc!). My county library service did have some books which were useful to borrow, but were often rather out of date (like over 10 years old!).
I was lucky in that I work in a large team and a number of them had studied (albeit Level 7) so could borrow text books from them. Otherwise always worth an ask to see if anyone is selling them 2nd hand on the forum (I did manage to get 2 Level 7 books that way but struggled getting hold of Level 5 ones).
I also found the online CIPD fact sheets, Journal articles etc very useful

In reply to Gina:

Thanks very much Luigina, that is helpful. My 2nd question refers to the CIPD map so i didnt know if to cover it in 1.0 and 1.1

In reply to Gina:

i'm struggling to even define what professionalism is! i've looked on CIPD/Google

In reply to Rebecca:

I think its the wording, I find some of it very ‘fluffy’, 400 words instead of 4 type of thing. Define, tell it as it is! Describe it ... no idea if thats right but I will be finding out soon!

In reply to Lisa J:

Let me know how you get on - you have my emails :)

In reply to Rebecca:

Will do

In reply to Clare:

Hi Clare
Amazon sell used books and you could go for an earlier edition.
I have also heard of people ordering the books from their local library as you have said. Many of the basic principles in HR have not changed so I would not be too worried about the age of the books!
In fact, I am often amazed how little things have changed and it is interesting to note that many do not even realise that some principles go way back!!
Also remember that the L5 qualification started in 2010 so is still relatively new....

hi Rebecca
I have also just completed the Level 5 and to be honest the biggest difference between the Level 3 and the Level 5 is the style of writing.
The Level 3 is rather casual in comparison with little need for research and the writing style was more simply spitting out what you read and what you know.
The Level 5 is a Foundation Degree level with the need for academic writing style. I found that in my class, I was one of the lucky ones who had completed an Undergrad Joint Honours and a Post Grad which really helped me when it came to writing.

Some key things to help you structure:

1- Use the bullet pointed parts in the assignment brief. CIPD assignments are word limited but the questions are fluffy and not to the point! Some of them ask you to go over the same things several times in one assignment! Be concise with your answers while answering the question.

2- To answer your questions, use key authors/texts etc from HR theorists and well known researchers such as Marchington et al - I found this to be a significant one as well as Herzberg, Maslow to name a few others. Don't use third party website type blogs eg businessballs or wiki links. Look for the actual authors and dig a bit deeper.

3- In Level 5 assignments, it's important to be comparative and reflective to show wider reading and reference a range of texts to show that you can be analytical. If you don't analyse, you're not writing at Level 5. To make reference to your initial question about describing professionalism, try starting with "the Oxford English Dictionary describes professionalism as..." and then take a look at what HR theorists look for as well as what CIPD quotes on their factsheets as well as the HR map. Comparing a few gets you going. Don't forget to reference as you go along :)

4- Language used should also be objective, not subjective, unless it asks you for your own experience.

5 - The Developing Professional Practice one can't actually be completed fully until the end. It asks for CPD which needs reflected on at the end of the academic year as you need to show the development and what professional activities and research you undertook.

6 - The biggest tip I have is just start writing. Ideas will flow. Maybe some things you will write will be absolute rubbish but these are vocational assignments and the more you read as you go along, the more ideas you will have and you can chop it and change it. Start with one point and go from there.

Hope this helps - and good luck!

Nicola

In reply to Maureen Scholefield:

Yes that's exactly what I did - went to Amazon for older editions for a fraction of the price. Even though principles may not always changes that much, I did think though that my 20 year old core text for my Certificate in Personnel Practice (now equivalent to Level 3) might be a bit out of date!
True - I did find getting hold of Level 3 and 7 books easier than Level 5.

In reply to NICOLA:

Even though I had previously completed a degree around 20 years ago, I still found it quite different starting the Level 5 qualification. Analysing was never my strong point , but somehow managed to pass my degree (albeit in Languages rather than Business). Although I was used to referencing, I did have to at least triple the amount I had previously used for Level 5 !
Agree that Marchington et al was useful.
I can say from experience that however daunting it seems at first it does start to flow easier as you go along and do more assignments.

In reply to Clare:

Yes Clare, I did my degree in French and German and did a PGCE; it was all comparative but subjective so it was a bit of a change for me too. I graduated in 2010 but I'm lucky that have never been too far away from a book, simply just to keep my brain buzzing (it's a little addictive!)
I enjoyed the Level 5 more than the Level 3 and it certainly felt like a bigger achievement. Now I'd just like to find a job in a Generalist HR function. I've 7 years Recruitment experience so potential employers look at me as an agency recruiter now which means I'm maybe a little stuck!

I should also say, Rebecca, just start writing and bounce drafts off your tutor if you can to check you are on the right track. I was very unfortunate to have a cancer diagnosis right at the beginning of my course, but if it wasn't for my tutor and being flexible with deadlines, bouncing drafts from him from my living room recovering afterwards, allowing me the time to catch up as well as 12 weeks away from the classroom, I wouldn't have got through it! Tutors are an invaluable knowledge source so plug them! Thankfully I finished (and finished early!) and just waiting my certificate. (Proud moment over here! lol!)