I have got a degree and have been a HR Adminstrator for 6 months.  I am trying to decide whether I would be better leaving my role after 1 year and doing the CIPD full time with the hope of progressing quicker.  However, my Firm have offered to sponsor me to do it part-time. I am not sure which option is for the best, do employees value experience over the CIPD qualification? I am worried that I will do my full tiem CIPD and then find it hard to get another role in HR?

Any suggestions!?

I would recommend taking up the sponsership, as its not every day a company offers to pay!

I would definitely do it part-time with your employers support.  I recently completed my MA Human Resource Management [CIPD accredited] in this way.  I felt that studying the subject whilst I was also working in HR was much more beneficial to me.  My fellow colleagues agreed with me.  It also allows you to keep your work experience recent and gives you something real to base assignments on etc.

Best of luck whatever you choose!

Hi Nicola

Just read your post and it is my intention to undertake my MA in HRM with CIPD accreditation. Please can you tell me who you studied through and how long it took to complete.

Thanks

Hi Helena,

I'm doing a Postgraduate Diploma in HRM at Kingston University part time. There is the option to do the MA at the end of the course. In total the part time MA will take about 2 calendar years. This course is accredited by the CIPD as Kingston is one of their centres of excellence. It may be worth checking out their website to see if you can do it by distance learning if you dont live near Kingston. I found that doing it this way was cheaper than going through MOL or BPP.

Nicola

Experience and qualification will trump qualification every time.

I would take the part time route - there are many people that complete their studies only to find they can only get a very low level admin role after and feel frustrated - you will have the opportunity of proving your worth to your employer and potentially gaining promotion

I wish you well with your career

Mike
http://www.rapidbi.com/bir

This site is such a great resource, I'm glad I've found this thread!  Nicola, thanks for the tip about Kingston Uni - I will look into the distance-learning option as I have been looking at BPP / ICS etc and am worried about the cost. 

In relation to the original thread I'd say definitely go for the part-time CIPD - you are so lucky to have your employers sponsor you to do this and it'll make it so much easier for you to progress your career with it under your belt.