Learning and Development Student Stories:
CIPD Student Stories: Linzi Lown | CIPD Level 5 Review

Linzi followed her dreams of starting a Learning and Development career by studying a CIPD Level 5 in Learning and Development. Discover how she got on here. 

I currently work for Bright Horizons as a Nursery Manager in Southampton. For about 5 years I have thought about enrolling on a Learning and Development course as it is something that has always interested me, but I just never got on and did it until February this year when I finally decided it was the right time and why not, I thought if I don’t do it now I’m never going to do it!

I spent a few weeks looking into it at any spare moment I had, and I found ICS Learn standing out to me more than other providers, I sent an enquiry asking a few questions and a lovely lady got back to me straight away with all the answers.

After a few emails going back and forth and all my questions answered, I decided I was going to go for it and arranged a phone call to set it up and get started.

I enrolled at the end of February 2020 and got stuck in straight away, although working full time and having a 2-year-old did present limitations, I planned my time the best I could and started with my first unit.

Then on 23^rd March 2020 the country went into Lockdown and on the 29^th I was put on Furlough with my nursery closing. I went from having one day a week to do my assignments to having a lot of spare time.

My husband and I planned our days so that we each had our son alternative times so I was spending 6 hours a day doing the course, it was amazing to have all that time to spend on it, also the fact that I could do it every day, it was kind of like my job, I really got stuck into it and the more I got done the more motivated I found myself.

I went from thinking it would take me until March 2021 to thinking I could get this done by the end of this year! I then found out I was pregnant with my 2^nd child in April so I was motivated more than ever to complete the course before this baby arrived and my life got busier and I would struggle even more so to find the time to enrol and start the course.

I have recently submitted Unit 6 so I have 1 more unit to go, I am so proud of myself for doing it and I have really enjoyed the process of learning, the tutors are so helpful, if I have a question I can easily message them and they will get back to me as soon as they can.

The online classrooms for each module explain in detail what is expected so I have a clear understanding of what I need to cover within the assignment.

I am going back to work in September and I am really looking forward to getting back into work and a routine but I am so grateful for the extra time I have had whilst being on Furlough, I have managed to complete 1 unit per month which I am really proud of.

My dream is to get into a Learning and Development role, preferably within the company that I work for now as they have an excellent Professional Development team and they provide L&D to over 10,000 employees in the UK.

I reached out to them at the beginning of this year to ask what qualifications I would need if I would like to get a job in their team and they came back to me and said I would need a minimum CIPD Level 3 in L&D, so now I am not far off completing my Level 5, I am hopeful that this will support me in landing my dream role.

I would definitely recommend ICS Learn to anyone who is thinking about doing a course like this, they have been so helpful throughout and the way the diploma is set out is just brilliant and straight forward.

I am also part of Facebook groups that offer support and the opportunity to network with others doing the same course. I am so excited to finish my Diploma and know that all my hard work has been worth it, also so glad that I enrolled when I did and didn’t put it off any longer.

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