Guidelines

Chartered membership application guidance notes

Before you begin:

• Please complete your application fully in Word, using this document as a guide.
• You must use the competency frameworks to ensure that you understand the level of experience you need to prove to achieve Chartered membership.
• Treat your application as a paper interview and use the form to promote your experience. Single line answers or blank sections will mean your application will not go to panel.
• You must include supporting documents that prove your experience and compliment and work to supplement and enhance your application. If you are using previous roles in your application and do not have access to evidence, it is advisable for you to recreate/mock up examples to provide the panel with context.
• Using referencing and naming when referring to supporting documents, otherwise the panel will be unable to see what you are using to evidence your answer. For example: see appendix one; see appendix two.
• All answers should include detailed evidence of your skills and how you have applied them to meet KPIs and organisational objectives: what, how, why, outcome. Or use the STAR method, situation, task, action and result.
• The minimum word count for sections B and C is 250. There is no maximum limit, however bear in mind that the panellists only have limited time to assess applications, so make sure your answers are to the relevant and to the point.
• Use spell check.
• Refer to yourself in the first person not the team, the application is for your experience and leadership/directorship not the team. Always use I not we.
• You will be scored between 0 and 5 for each answer. Successful applicants need to score at least 80% to be awarded Chartered membership.
• Applications that have not been completed fully or without adherence to this guide will not be forwarded to for formal panel assessment.

Section A – The Applicant

A1. Personal Details

Please fully complete this section. Please record your name as you would like it to appear on your certificate in the event you are successful.

A2. Adjustments

Please give any details of reasonable adjustment that you need to be taken into account with your application.

A3. Employment Details

Your CV should highlight your main job responsibilities and achievements in roles that are relevant to your application. However, your CV is not scored, so if there is any information you would like to be assessed, you will need to include this in the answers on your application form.

A4. Organisation

If you do not work for an organisation, use the statement option. If you wish to include an organisational chart(s) include as an appendix, however, ensure that you reference any supporting documents.

A5. Education

Please fully complete this section. Provide evidence of your qualification(s), ensuring that you use referencing for ease of panel discovery.

Holding one of the qualifications below allows you to complete the application without completing section B3.

CIPP Qualifications	External Qualifications
Diploma: Payroll Management Pensions Management Advanced Diploma in Payroll Management	CIPD: Level 5 Diploma in Human Resource Management Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Human Resource Management
Foundation Degree: Payroll Management Pensions Management	Payroll Alliance: Advanced Diploma in Payroll Management (Level 5)
BA (Hons): Applied Business and Management Applied Payroll Management BSc Leadership and Management	PMI: Diploma in Retirement Provision
MSc: Business and Reward Management Business and Payroll Management Payroll and Business Management Payroll Management Strategic Leadership	Payroll (Learn) Centre: Pearson Edexcel BTEC Level 5 Professional Diploma in Payroll Management

 

A6. Membership of other professional bodies

Please provide the name of the professional body, your grade of membership, and the approximate year that you were awarded that grade. Any supporting evidence must be named and referenced.

Section B – Technical Assessment

Here you will be demonstrating your technical payroll/pensions competence from two (three for experience applicants) of the five competency areas:

Payroll	Pensions
Supporting the organisation	Supporting the organisation
Producing the payroll	Managing the pensions function
Managing payroll staff	Managing the pensions staff
Managing payroll information systems	Managing pensions information systems
B3 only: Producing the payroll	B3 only: Administering pensions

 

You must select the competency for each answer in Section B by using the drop-down menu. The competencies are available online via the CIPP website.

You are providing evidence for the panel to assess you as a highly proficient payroll professional. Your assessment is based entirely upon the evidence provided within the application form; it is your job to make this clear. Evidence can be from previous roles, and redacted in areas, if necessary.

Presenting your evidence:

• Use projects, operations, challenges, opportunities in your career.
• You may wish to draw on one or more specific examples to demonstrate how you answer each question. Do not use more than three examples per competency area; it is better to expand upon specific examples as opposed to submitting a list that would not provide evidence.
• Using one project throughout your application is not advisable as it does not show enough experience.
• Be clear about what you did, why you did it, how it aligned with you/your organisation’s objectives and the CIPP values. Include the outcome including KPIs and skills used.
• Clarify the facts around examples and remember to use naming and referencing for any evidence supplied to enhance your answers.

Section C – Business and Management Assessment

Here, you need to complete all three sections: customer focus, commercial awareness, and results delivery. The competency framework for this section is available on our website.

You are providing evidence for the panel to assess you as a highly proficient payroll professional. Your assessment is based entirely upon the evidence provided within the application form; it is your job to make this clear. Evidence can be from previous roles, and redacted in areas, if necessary. Depending upon experience, it is acceptable for you to provide evidence relating to ‘stakeholders’ rather than customers.

Best practice for presentation:

• Ensure you have covered the sub elements within each competency area.
• Use projects, operations, challenges, opportunities in your career.
• You may wish to draw on one or more specific examples to demonstrate how you answer each question. Do not use more than three examples per competency area; it is better to expand upon specific examples as opposed to submitting a list that would not provide evidence.
• Using one project throughout your application is not advisable as it does not show enough experience.
• Be clear about what you did, why you did it, how it aligned with you/your organisation’s objectives and the CIPP values. Include the outcome including KPIs and skills used.
• Clarify the facts around examples and remember to use naming and referencing for any evidence supplied to enhance your answers.

Section D – Professional Commitment

D1. CPD

By ticking this, you agree to maintain 40 CPD points per subscription year.

D2. Code of Conduct

Chartered members are profession ambassadors and must read and adhere to the CIPP Code of Conduct.         

Section E – Supporter(s)

E1. First supporter.

Your supporter must be someone who can confirm that the details given in your application are true and accurate. They are required to provide the reason for their support. Examples of individuals who can sign your application include:

• Line manager
• Company director
• Full, fellow or Chartered member of the CIPP

E2. Second supporter.

For experience applicants only, please see the above on the requirements for signatures.

Section F – Applicant Declaration

F1. Signature

By signing here, you confirm that all information in your application is honest and accurate.