Human Resources
01 February 2021 - 2 min read
Isabel had plenty of HR education and experience, but when she came to the UK she realised she needed to enrol on a CIPD Level 5 Diploma to get ahead. Read more about her story below.
I was born and raised in Salvador, BA, a city in the Northeast of Brazil, from a Swiss family. I always dreamed about living abroad, in an international city, full of different cultures and exciting opportunities.
After a brief experience in London and studying English in 2011 for 3 months, I became tempted to move to the city. Finally, in March/2016, I decided to move in order to expand my personal and professional horizons.
I have a strong professional background from Brazil, 10+ years of experience working intensively as an HR Systems Generalist, working with Project Management for HR, L&D and People Development for multinational companies. Also, I have an MBA and Bachelors in Business Management, from very reputable institutions in Brazil.
"When applying to equivalent HR roles, I observed that more important to the market was “the CIPD certification”. This was even more important than a local University degree, a recruiter said. "
My certificates weren't a differentiator, the market didn’t know about them or their relevance. In the beginning, I struggled to enter the market due to a lack of local experience, or in other words “no UK job experience”.
Then I started looking for a CIPD certified provider that could fit into my needs. Since I worked from 9am to 5pm, I needed a program that I could do in the evening or over the weekend.
After some research, I found that the ICS Learn CIPD Level 5 Diploma was the right fit for me. I was already used to the distance learning model, but my experience was with a very poor platform.
"Since the beginning of the program with ICS Learn, however, I really enjoyed the online, flexible format, and that I could accommodate study during my convenient hours."
The format of the program, user interface (not clunky or heavy), connection with human tutors (no robot in the back), is a differentiator.
After the pandemic, my contract as HR Partner at Capita PLC wasn’t renewed, but I’m sure that the certification will make a massive difference in my job search and HR knowledge.
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