Hello,
I would recommend you to browse the latest research carried out by the HRM professors of the UoB that you can find in the following website: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/social-sciences/business.aspx
Best of luck!

Hey there! First of all, congratulations on being admitted to the program! The difference between MSc in HRM and MSc in HRM with a CIPD pathway is just one extra module, to which you could enroll and pay the difference between the two programs. You should contact the Business School admissions staff and express your wish to add the CIPD course to your program.
Best of luck!
Milda

Hello again!

– Before starting my MSc in 2015 I went to a funding fair organised by UoB to get to know whether I had any possibilities to get some kind of scholarship. Unfortunately, I was told that because I didn’t do my undergraduate studies in the UK I was not eligible for any of them. As for research assistantship, these are usually for PhD students, as MSc students do not do any research. However, everything I am telling you now is based on my experience back in 2015-16 so things might have changed since then. You could check the UoB guild of students website (guildofstudents.com). They publish all kind of information related to students’ life, such as job vacancies, volunteering, events, student groups, etc. I am sure they will be able to give you more specific information regarding funding possibilities.

– When it comes to the average salary range, to be honest with you, I moved to Chile to start my PhD right after finishing my MSc in UoB so I have not yet had the opportunity to practice HRM in England. Hence, my answer can only be based on the information I could find on the internet. The salary would depend on your experience in HRM and on the location. So for example, if you start as a HRM assistant, you could probably expect around £20.000 a year, while working as HRM officer/administrator you might earn between £25.000 and £30.000 a year. The salaries are obviously way higher in the London area.

– As for social life in Birmingham, due to the pandemic everything has been closed or very restricted for months now, like everywhere else. However, under normal circumstances, you shouldn’t get bored here! Birmingham is one of the biggest cities in England so it’s well connected with other places. For instance, you can get a train and be in London in just 1,5 hour! Or you also got small beautiful touristic towns nearby like Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare’s hometown), Warwick, or Lichfield. And as I mentioned before, you could also join some student groups (sports, music, games) which are supported by the guild of student. This would make your social life much more entertaining!

Happy to help with any further questions!

Best of luck,

Milda

Hi!

I will do my best to clarify your doubts.

– MSc Management, Organisational Leadership and Change Pathway is a program more oriented towards starting, leading and managing a business. Within any business you will most likely need to manage human resources too (and that’s why this MSc also includes some HRM-related modules too), however, this specific MSc program is more focused on business itself rather than HRM.
– MSc in HRM is all about employee relations in different societies based on their specific economic/political perspective; HRM theories and practices. So people management in general, within an organisation.
– MSc in HRM with CIPD pathway is exactly the same program like the one I described above, the only difference is that it has one extra module which completion means you will get the membership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). This is absolutely necessary if you are planning to work in the HRM field in the UK.

Therefore, if your goal is to get a deeper understanding of HR policies, practices and key theories, you should definitely go for MSc in HRM. Personally I would opt for MSc in HRM with CIPD pathway because it would also give you the possibility to work in the UK in the future (otherwise your degree would only be valid abroad but not in the UK).

When it comes to your last question on why you should prioritise the UoB over other universities, I would mainly say that this is a very international university, receiving students from all over the world, which makes the atmosphere really welcoming for someone who comes from abroad. I found the lecturers really approachable and friendly, always willing to open up to discussions with students. Nearly all modules have theoretical and more practical classes (seminars, where you can discuss the main ideas with your classmates and lecturers’ assistants). Plus, the campus is beautiful! 🙂

I hope that with my answer I have been able to clarify a little your doubts. If you got any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Best regards,

Milda

Hi!
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is an association for HRM professionals. Therefore, the CIPD accreditation is a professional accreditation that recognizes the applicability of your skills. In other words, a program with a CIPD pathway means that your degree will be recognized by this association. This might have several potential benefits once you finish your degree, e.g. globally recognized degree, higher salary, CIPD professional membership.
Nowadays, most companies in the UK ask for a CIPD qualification, so I would really recommend you to take this option. It will be much easier to start your career after completing a degree with a CIPD pathway.
Best wishes,
Milda

Hi there!
I can perfectly understand your concern. However, I can reassure you that MSc in HRM, with or without the CIPD pathway, has nothing to do with math or statistics. I did not do the CIPD pathway (and I regretted about it afterwards). However, the modules I had did not include anything related to maths or statistical analysis. When it comes to the CIPD course, as far as I am concerned, it is all about such topics as resourcing and talent planning, employee engagement, leadership and management skills, etc. Therefore, it has to do more with psychology and organizational management rather than hard science.
I hope it helped! Best of luck,
Milda

I have enjoyed my experience during the undergraduate years very much. It has introduced me to a wide range of possibilities and opportunities to learn new things, discover different cultures, grow as a person developing my beliefs and values. I have gained self-confidence and I simply did not want this experience to end. Moreover, I have always enjoyed enhancing my knowledge. These are some of the reasons why I had no doubts about deciding to pursue my studies and I am currently thinking about the possibility to study for a PhD.

It was a kind of challenge for me to study in English but I have always wanted to have the experience of studying in the UK, so after having considered all the cost, quality, commodity aspects I decided to choose the University of Birmingham. It is a worldwide well-known university, with highly qualified lecturers, good infrastructural and technological facilities. Therefore, I strongly believe that a degree achieved at University of Birmingham is highly valued in any part of the world, providing me with more career opportunities.

Although I haven’t decided yet about my plans after finishing my Masters degree, I have already been looking for information about PhD research at University of Birmingham. I found out that from time to time the university organizes information fairs about PhD degrees which I would like to attend next time to get more information about the research possibility.
On the other hand, I have been considering the option of going back to Chile, where I will try to find a job in Human Resource Management field while looking for the best option to continue with my studies a few years later.

Although it is difficult to talk about a highlight after such a short time in Birmingham, but I would probably mention the preparation of the first assignment for the university. Before having started writing my first essay it seemed to be something almost unachievable, as I have never written any of these kind of essays in English. However, I was surprised of how easily I could write it, because of a wide range of literature available in the main library, as well as the electronic resources, lecturers’ explanations and advice. It has helped me to gain more self-confidence and continue with my studies with more enthusiasm.

I like the combination of lectures and seminars, because we can strengthen the knowledge acquired in the lectures through seminar group work and discussions, which I found really helpful to understand the key materials better. Moreover, I like the idea of continuous assessment through essays, group work, presentations as well as exams, rather than one final exam at the end of semester. I believe it gives you more in-depth knowledge as you work throughout all the semester.
As a non-native English speaker I was concerned about the grammar used in my assignments but University of Birmingham offers a great facility for all the students, which is one-to-one tutorial where you can resolve any doubts about your essay, which I found extremely helpful.

Hi! People who study HRM come with a very different background, some of them graduated in Psychology, others in Finance, English philology, even Philosophy, so you really do not need to have any previous experience or knowledge in the HRM field. University provides you with all the necessary information, useful links to scientific journals and selected readings you have to read every week. Before I started my MSc in HRM I did some general reading but if you don’t that’s absolutely fine!

Best wishes,
Milda

Hi!
Basically, every week you have to do readings for each module, so you spend about 10 hours or more a week to prepare yourself for each lecture. If you do this you shouldn’t have any problems to follow the lectures and participate in the discussions and debates and therefore understand the materials and prepare yourself for the exams. Usually there should be one essay to write or a 2-3 hours exam at the end of the semester to pass a module. As the lectures finish one month before the final exams you have enough time to rest and also prepare yourself for the exams, so I wouldn’t say it is too demanding, you just have to organize your time properly and everything will be fine!

Best wishes,
Milda

Hi!

Before applying to University of Birmingham I had already studied in 3 different countries. At the beginning I thought it would be really difficult and the first weeks were a bit defiant as everything was new, there is a lot of reading to do every week, but you really get used to it and after a month or so you will see it is not too difficult. When I compare it with other countries’ university programmes, I would say there are less essays and tasks to do here at UoB.

When it comes to the funding, in my case I funded the MSc course with my own savings so I wouldn’t be able to give you much information about funding options. I attended an open day event at UoB to get to know more about the funding options but they made it clear that as I did not do my undergraduate studies in the UK I did not have funding options for my postgraduate studies so I had two options: ask for a bank loan or fund it myself. I chose the second one.

Best regards,

Milda

Hi! First of all, my apologies for the late reply. At the beginning I was quite concerned about my English level. As it wasn’t my first foreign language in the secondary school, I was never too strong at it. Therefore, I came to the UK a few months before the MSc programme started to enhance my English skills, mostly listening and speaking. In order to understand the lectures you should really need to have at least a band 7 in IELTS (I had 7.5). But University of Birmingham is a very international educational institution, there are plenty of foreign students so all the lecturers are aware of the fact that many of the students are not native English speakers. Moreover, the university offers some facilities for the foreign students to improve their writing in English (for instance, tutorials with some tips how to improve your essay writing, etc.).

When it comes to your second question, in my case (MSc in HRM) all the modules were mainly based on reading and writing. You need to read quite a lot every week and then discuss the main ideas with your colleagues and a lecturer during the class. Usually the main form of assessment are essays as well.

Best regards,

Milda