Industry qualifications are becoming more and more popular amongst working professionals. Whether you’re enhancing your career or developing your skills and knowledge, acquiring a highly regarded industry qualification, with CIPD, for example, can without a doubt enhance your HR or L&D career. 

According to key findings presented by the CIPD, the people profession has seen significant growth in the last decade, having increased by 42% between 2011 and 2021, while the rest of the UK workforce has only experienced a 10% growth over the same period. 

While CIPD qualifications are not necessarily prerequisites to obtaining an HR or L&D related job, acquiring a CIPD qualification can bring about a wave of positive benefits for your own professional development and career progression.

We go into more detail below. 

1) Enhance your credibility 

With CIPD being the professional body for HR around the world, it is also viewed by HR and L&D professionals as the most trusted and experienced resource, delivering the latest HR policies and practices, in order to gain their industry qualifications. 

Therefore, it is unsurprising that CIPD qualifications are held in high esteem and are especially valued by professionals in the industry, making them the most desirable qualification to attain in the HR and L&D professions, and perhaps the most sought after by employers.

To add, as these qualifications deliver the most up-to-date industry practices, they also represent commitment, dedication and credibility of CIPD certified individuals to the industry.

2) Makes your CV stand out

More often than not, recruiters tend to favour CIPD certified individuals, over non-certified job applicants, to hire for their HR teams. This is based on the fact that studying for a CIPD qualification guarantees that you have the best industry training available.

Subsequently, CV’s that include a CIPD qualification can often set you apart from other candidates, and ensure your CV is at the top of the pile. 

This is also supported by research findings, which suggest that the top requirement in senior HR job posting is for candidates to be CIPD certified, since over 20,000 senior people professional job postings between July of 2017 and July 2022 asked for candidates to be CIPD certified and hold a CIPD membership.

3) Helps with promotion 

In many instances, studying a new industry qualification is attributed to a candidate’s desire to claim a higher salary than the one they receive. Similarly to any other industry qualification, CIPD can help HR and L&D professionals progress up the career ladder, by undertaking a level of the qualification equivalent to the position they are looking to pursue.

Whether that is to claim a higher position in their current organisation or in a new company, you can leverage your newly acquired qualification to claim the promotion. Additionally, qualifications can also be utilised as proof of your ability to work at a more senior position, since CIPD qualifications offer a high level of knowledge, skills and capabilities, equivalent to that required within the industry and then some. 

4) Gives you eligibility for CIPD Membership

Completion of CIPD qualifications leads to eligibility to register as a CIPD member, granting access to exclusive resources and insights from industry experts to accommodate career progression, while also becoming part of a thriving community of HR and L&D professionals.

CIPD membership grades, include: 

• Student Member: available for those studying or about to study a CIPD qualification, this membership level showcases your commitment to the industry putting you on the path of professional recognition. 
• Foundation Member: granted to people who have successfully completed the Level 3 Foundation Certificate in People Practice, allowing them to build on their credibility with CIPD benefits supporting their growth and career development through a thriving community of people professionals.
• Associate Member: individuals who have successfully completed a Level 5 Associate Diploma or Level 7 Advanced Diploma, this level displays your knowledge and awareness of essential mechanisms in the field.
• Chartered Member: you become eligible for this membership level once you have completed a Level 7 Diploma (or equivalent), having worked consistently at this level for at least a year, allowing you to show to your employer and peers that you have the knowledge, dedication and experience to make a difference in the workplace.
• Chartered Fellow: this level requires you to have held a senior HR or L&D role for over a year after having completed the Level 7 Diploma, demonstrating you are highly skilled, with expert knowledge and fully capable to truly impact the industry.

Regardless of the membership level, CIPD membership grants members an expert level of credibility, since the memberships signify your drive to go above and beyond in your profession, allowing you advance and develop your career with significant support from the CIPD learning and knowledge hubs, while the CIPD community and events are ideal for helping you build and grow your network.

5) Helps build your network 

CIPD membership not only provides members with up-to-date resources and industry trends, but also gives you access to a wide variety of events, allowing you to interact with your peers and expand their professional network.

Examples of such events include: 

• Networking events
• Industry trends seminars
• Skill development workshops, and 
• Mentoring event opportunities.

Interacting with a group of like-minded professionals is invaluable to your career, giving you the chance to build, develop and enhance your connections in a way that positively impacts not only your role, but the roles of others in this innovative industry.

Exchanging ideas and values is important in any line of work, making networking the key to taking these ideas and turning them into best practices.

Are you looking to enhance your HR or L&D career with a CIPD qualification? Our globally recognised CIPD courses can help you achieve that.