Your HR journey and how being a CIPD member helps

By Emma Clayton, Membership Engagement Lead
18 October 2021

Last month, myself and a team of Manchester Branch Ambassadors welcomed professionals at different stages of their career to an informative webinar on joining the CIPD, membership benefits and the upgrading process. 

Poll results early on in the session showed an overwhelming interest in upgrading, followed by membership benefits. 

How many benefits are you aware of?

You might be surprised by all the options

When you ask people about CIPD membership benefits, usually the first – and sometimes only! – thing they mention is People Management magazine. As great as the magazine is, this always makes me sad because there is so much more on offer. 

The CIPD website may be a bit tricky to navigate as it’s so expansive, but it is a treasure trove of information – and it’s clear that many members aren’t making full use of this invaluable resource. 

One benefit that really stood out in the session was the Career Hub. If you haven’t explored this resource before, you should remedy that very soon! It’s one of my favourite membership benefits, and I’m still working through its contents. 

A site within a site, the Career Hub is jam-packed with information, advice and tips to guide you whether you’re just starting or wanting to move into a senior role. There is also a special focus on areas like leadership and management, dealing with challenges and change, and some fantastic job search tools. You can upload your CV to receive detailed feedback and tips for improvement, repeating the process as many times as you need. 

There’s similar support for interviews with tips on how to approach common questions plus mock interviews for practice with feedback on your performance. And it could come in handy if you’re considering upgrading too.

An upgrading journey

Jenn Hulme, our former Vice-Chair and Membership Engagement Lead, joined us to share her journey of upgrading to Chartered Fellow, really bringing the whole process to life for us. Jenn is currently the HRD at Marlowe Fire and Security Group in Manchester and Trustee for Altus Education Partnership (a Multi-Academy Trust).

Jenn’s passion for HR and giving back to the community was evident and inspiring throughout her talk. I think she made us all want to be our best HR selves and not get in our own way when it comes to our career progression. When sharing her upgrading story,

Jenn took us through the whole journey: 

• why she decided this was the right choice for her personally and professionally
• what she did to prepare for it
• travelling down to London for her face-to-face interview – even running into Peter Cheese!
• discussing the interview experience and some of the questions she was asked

She advised anyone wanting to upgrade to reach out to their networks, ask questions, and make sure they can back up their successes and achievements with data. 

Jenn explained how her involvement with CIPD Manchester Branch, upgrading and the Career Hub all played a part in helping her secure her current role. Throughout her talk, she was positive and encouraging, so we all left the session recognising the challenges of the upgrading process but also the reward at the end of it. 

CIPD Profession Map

Jenn also briefly touched on the all-important Profession Map and how she uses it to underpin the work she does with her HR team. The Profession Map will be the focus of our next membership webinar. We hope you can join us on November 16, when we’ll take time to explore the map and its value to us as professionals, no matter where we are in our careers. 

Find our more about CIPD Member Benefits

Watch the playback

You can watch a recording of our session here

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