Hi Julie. I am coming to the end of level 7. I have a degree too and 25 years in HR. I dont think that you should go in at level 7. It is a challenging course and it is not easy to pass the assignments as the expectations are hard to understand, which will mean that you need to do re-writes quickly and that can eat into your annual leave and be hard. Whilst some of it is novel learning that you dont need HR experience for (e.g. the causes of global social inequality), a lot of it will be easier if you have worked for a while and across a few different organisations. It might be worth you getting one of the L7 books to understand the breadth of study - i like the wilkinson et al contemporary human resource management. Hope that this helps and good luck. Mel

Hi Julia,
How long have you been working in HR and what type of things do you deal with in your day to day role ? I'd steer clear of L7 for now, I have also studied at degree level but I wouldn't say that put me in a position to study L7.
I started at L3 and I was working as more of a HR Generalist but honestly, in hindsight I wish I would have just started at L5 as both are time consuming and L3 was probably a little basic. I'm a HR Manager currently and studying L5, but given the experience I had when i was studying L3, I could have went straight into L5. CIPD do offer a quiz to find out which level of study would suit your role and experience, might be worth a go - link www.cipd.org/.../

Hi Julia

This is personal to you and your confidence as a learner and academic student.
I recently started my L7 Strategic L&D. I have not studied any HR based qualifications previously and my degree is in English. I might have to work harder and read more around some topics more than someone who has studied the lower levels (maybe), but it is not beyond my capabilities. I would rather work harder and go straight to the level I want to be at, than spend time and money working up through different levels.
I asked the distance learning providers if I could have a trial access before signing up. One of them confirmed that they offered this (all of the standard learning and assignments are the same across different training providers as the come from the CIPD). This gave me a chance to look at example assignment briefs, resources etc before signing up.
There is always going to be a period of adapting from degree level to masters because the requirement for critical thinking and higher level command words increases significantly, and there is a focus on strategic rather than operational thinking. Practice and listening to feedback will make this easier though.

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In reply to Claire :

Just a note of caution that you may well be all over already, certain levels of academic HR study don't equate to automatic entry to a higher professional level. Moving up the HR career ladder will depend on relevant, real-life experience, not whether you have a CIPD level 7 or not. CIPD study will support your professional practice, that's all.

In reply to Annabel:

Agreed, Annabel.

I would also reinforce that the vocational study should be immediately applicable to the current working activities/role for there to be effective learning transfer - or at the very least the approval/agreement of the employer for the student to gain access to such activities.

Hi Julia,

Some excellent advice and insight above - and I agree, this is a very personal decision... very miuch depending on your own circumstances.

That said, Rhianna may have a view given she recently askedLevel 5 or 7? 

But I also recall this thread... 

I've started my Level 3 and I feel I'm out of my depth... 

This may also be helpful... 

https://www.cipd.org/uk/learning/qualifications/find/

Hi Julia,

As Steve mentioned I recently had this predicament myself with level 5 and 7!

I was a manager for a few years before I took a career change and went into HR so I did level 3 when I started the job so I could learn both at the same time. Although there was value to it, I think in hindsight because I am degree level educated, I probably could have just done level 5 as there is a lot of cross over.

I think depending on how long you've been working in HR will help you make your decision. If you are in charge of or doing a lot of the decision making strategically then I'd recommend level 7 but if you aren't there in your role yet then I would do level 5.

I've only completed 1 module of my level 7 so far and this is just my personal opinion but I do think that you need to have quite a reasonable understanding of business decisions and how/why they are made in conjunction to all other aspects of the business.

Happy to talk about it in further detail :)

Rhianna

In reply to Rhianna:

Thank you, Rhianna 

In reply to Mel:

Hi Mel, thanks for your help - I've had a look at some of the course materials for level 7, and I think level 3 is the right choice for me. Congratulations for reaching the end of your course :)

In reply to Hannah:

I've only been in HR for about a year now - so I think level 3 might be more suitable than level 7.

In reply to Steve Bridger:

Thank you Steve! :)

In reply to Rhianna:

Thanks Rhianna! L3 is more closely aligned to what I do in my current role, and I haven't been working in HR for very long. I'll wait until I'm more experienced to do L7.