CIPD level 3 or 5 and when to do it?

[Jerryyyyyy]

Can anyone help me with this please?

I've been teaching for 11 years and looking to leave teaching. I'm really interested in a career I'm HR.

I've read that as I have a degree, the level 5 CIPD course would be the right one for me rather than level 3. Does this sound right? Would I go for assisstant/administrator roles with a level 5?

To get into HR do I need to fund and start this course myself in order for my applications to be considered or should I wait for a potential employer to pay for it?

Thanks so much - any info much appreciated!

@Dippydonky I always say to people “don’t go into HR because you like people, go into HR because you are very nosy”!

I used to enrol students to CIPD, you’ll only really be able to bypass level 3 if you have some experience working in payroll or employment law. Most people who enrol already have a degree and find they have to do Level 3 if no experience at all. Level 3 and level 5 are usually partially funded by Advanced learner loan and the student pays the rest. Or you can wait for an employer to pay it for you.

Just wanted to add that it might be worth looking around different providers who can do the course, as they may have different requirements to get on Level 5.

This is really good advice regarding focusing the job search

Haha even better. I am dead nosy 😂

Interesting you say that. One of my DC is about to become Head of People in their organisation, no CIPD qualification either.

Ahh OK this seems quite different to what pp have said. A few of the courses I've seen have said either currently work in HR or already have a degree but none of them state what subject the degree should be in.

I've not heard of the advanced learner loan so that is something else I can look into.

Thanks again to everyone- so much really good advice from you all. Its massively appreciated.

I had a masters in a science subject but no experience in HR when I started my Level 3 just working in the evenings/weekends. As a teacher the actual content should be quite easy. I got a HR admin role part way through my qualification, it wasn’t required but definitely helped me progress. I did my Level 5 through the apprenticeship levy while working in the analytics side of HR, you can read about it in the CIPD website. It’s worth having a look on there at the different parts of HR to see what you like. I have now moved in to a more senior role in L&D.

You can join the Cipd without committing to study and explore the resources/ info there.
have a look for local branch meetings- network😉.

Absolutely agree that being nosy is key for HR!

I’ve recently finished my level 3 remotely through Avado. I changed career and needed a boost on my cv after 2 back-to-back maternity leaves. A lot of recruiters (love them or loathe them) were explicitly looking for CIPD qualified candidates, so even while I was still working towards the qualification I found it fairly easy to get interviews as a result.

Honestly, a lot of level 3 is common sense but it’s a good way to expose yourself to the most common areas of HR outside of a working environment. It’s less intense than level 5 though, which I’m looking at doing in the next two years once both kids are at school.

Ah that’s good to hear. I always thought it was a bit silly making students do a level 3 when they have a degree anyway.

Yes with advanced learner loan I’m not sure how much they can fund this year but from my memory - I think it was about £1400ish and students had to pay around £400 themselves.

Good luck!

Future Learn have a free course called HR Fundamentals which uses CIPD accredited content. I did this when transitioning into HR a few years ago and it gave a good taster plus showed (to myself and employers) that I was interested in studying. I would recommend doing it first before committing ££££ to a full course, and in the meantime decide what level you’d like to do - I vote level 5 since you have a degree already - and hopefully find an employer who would pay or another type of sponsorship (my first HR job paid for mine and I learned lots by doing the job too)

I'm currently undertaking my associate diploma (level 5) it's much more intense than Level 3, but it's doable

You can apply for an advanced learner loan to fund it, but you might have to pay the excess fees yourself.

I’d recommend a HR admin role within the largest organisation you can find so that you can get a range of experience and in-house training all under one roof.

Look at recruitment, L&D admin, payroll, employee wellbeing, policy development. If you truly want to progress I think you’ll struggle without a stint somewhere in a frontline generalist role where the work is contentious and the risks can be high.

I think that first HR role/CIPD L3 is chicken and egg… crack on with both and eventually they’ll come together. If you’re new to the subject matter then give yourself confidence by starting at L3.

Also don’t be fooled by the ‘people’ side of HR… the conflict management is tough when you have to work in terms of the risk appetite of your organisation and with the possibility that management may have little respect for HR.

Like most things, you’ll get on well if you’re your rigorous, conscientious, principled, numerate, pragmatic, and more well-read than you think you really need to be. It’s a tough gig!!

I work in HR in schools which might suit you well. Having a good understanding of the sector is really helpful. If you want to talk about it feel free to direct message me (if you know how to do that - I have no idea!)

And don't worry about it- it is intense but you mainly work from a lot of case studies.I'm disabled and retraining in HR, and it's a really interesting worthwhile thing to study. There's lots of room for progression once you've got your qualifications as well. Good luck, OP 🙂

But definitely go for admin roles, and work your way up from there. 🙂

Ahh so lovely that there are still people offering advice. I've signed up to do level 3, starting in Jan. Been sending out applications for admin/assistant hr roles but no biters yet. Am a bit worried it won't happen but I'll keep at it!

@Jerryyyyyy that's great news! Good luck 👍🏻❤️

Well done! Keep going! And good luck.

I had so much great advice here so wanted to post a very happy update. I started the level 3 course last week and today accepted a job in HR with the NHS.

I knew that when I got a job I'd post here to say thank you to everyone who gave me tips and advice so this feels like a real milestone!

Oops forgot I'd changed names since

That's wonderful, well done.

Interesting post OP as I’ve literally just filled out online form to start HR CIPD with ICS and I used to be a teacher. I’m going to do the L3 as I did L7 in Spld a while back which was a lot of work. I could potentially work for our own business which is expanding and want to get a feel for HR. It looks interesting with transferable skills to bring from teaching. Go for it !