Hi everyone

I am currently in the dilemma of whether to continue with the hope of a career change into HR, and also whether to start a CIPD course, as I will have to self-fund.

I have a business studies degree, a masters (unrelated to HR or business) and around 10 years experience in marketing and administration. In my current role of marketing / admin, I have taken on a number of HR tasks including vetting CVs, advertising vacancies, managing employee reviews, induction, and updating policies, to name a few. My employer knows I am keen on HR, and have said they are happy for me to work towards a HR role here but it means waiting 5 years for someone to retire (which is a long time in my opinion to wait around). My employer is not willing to fund a CIPD course for me as the HR Director here doesn’t have any qualifications so they don’t see the point, (they say experience counts for more, which is true in a sense) and it’s a lot of money for me to fund myself at around £6k.

I feel in a dead end, as I really want to work in HR as I enjoy it and I think I’d be really good at it. I feel that time is not on my side as I am not young anymore, progression is limited for me here and the lack of support of structured studying from my employer is quite disheartening. 

I have a friend who is a top level HR director at an extremely well known firm who suggested I go straight into the full CIPD Level 7 – as I have a degree and am naturally very studious and clever (sorry if that sounds self-aggrandising). However, course providers I spoke to recommended Level 3 or 5 – but I cannot afford to do all those levels myself and fund them, so my other dilemma is which Level to study, if any?

I’m looking for jobs at the moment as I’m not feeling very happy where I am - I have applied for a number of HR entry level positions, without any luck (it may be my lack of much HR experience or CIPD qualification – or both). A recruitment agency I normally deal with said it’s best to stick to the experience I have (marketing etc) rather than HR, as without a CIPD qualification these days I would have little luck. I have very good marketing experience and occasionally get calls from recruitment agencies about roles, but don’t feel it is something I want to pursue anymore.

I have no idea whether to give it up and a) continue where I am in the hope I will years down the line become a HR manager B) give it up and look at marketing jobs, c) apply for HR jobs anyway based on my experience, or d) choose a CIPD course and fund it myself. And if it’s the latter, which Level to do!? Level 5 sounds good, as reading the modules, Level 3 seems very basic. Or do I take the plunge and study Level 7 even though it is quite high level strategic content? I understand HR is a hard market to break into as well so I don’t want to waste my money on something that won’t fruition into a job.

Sorry for the long post...

Any advice would be much appreciated - I am going around in circles very confused!