Do CIM qualifications help get a marketing Job?

We think the short answer is Yes! If you agree or disagree post a comment!

A qualification from the world's largest and most recognised marketing organisation cannot be a bad thing. (After the CIM, the next largest marketing organisation is the American Marketing Association). With over 60,000 members and a recognised chartered route to marketing professionalism, you should be setting yourself up to become a chartered marketer, rather like an accountant or surveyor seeks chartered status.

(This article and subsequent comments were re-printed when this website was re-launched in June 2011. Original article was published in May 2009)

They say that finding a job is a job in itself, well, if that’s the case then market yourself the same way that you would market a packet of biscuits on a £80,000 salary! To market yourself you need to present yourself in the best light and having a qualification from CIM will illustrate to your potential employer that you are serious about your profession, have the latest skill set, and are keen to become chartered which has clear networking opportunities for yourself and by extension your organisation.

Marketing jobs appeal to a wide range of students that have likely just graduated. CIM offer four levels or grades of qualification the, Introductory Certificate in Marketing, the CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing, the CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing and the CIM Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing. Respectively these are level 3-7 NQF qualifications. Taking each of these in turn, the initial course that the CIM offer, the CIM Introductory Certificate in Marketing, is a course designed to train the absolute novice to marketing fundamentals and introduce them to marketing. Most reading this article will not require to pass nor attend this course, especially since it is a level 3 NQF course, i.e. similar to an A-Level and aimed at 16 year olds.

The next level, the CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing is designed to train those new to marketing or just starting their careers in marketing. Typically the CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing student would be a marketing executive. The course comprises of four modules: Marketing Essentials, Marketing Information and Research, Assessing the Marketing Environment and Stakeholder Marketing, subjects that contain skills required to make a good marketing manager. For more information click here.

The next level, the CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing, is aimed at marketing management, i.e. for those that would like to learn how to manage a marketing department. Typically the CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing student would be a marketing executive with several years of marketing experience, or a manager without a qualification. The course comprises of four modules: Marketing Planning Processes, Delivering Customer Value, Managing Marketing and Project Management in Marketing. For more information click here.

The top level, the CIM Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing, is a level 7 (same as a Masters qualification) and is aimed at senior marketing management. CIM recently, (January 2010) changed the entry requirements by making it more difficult to be accept onto the course. This has had mixed effects. Essentially this has pulled up the ladder and reduced the amount of students studying this level, (which surely has had a negative effect on CIM) but the logic behind this move was to make the qualification more "exclusive" which in our opinion, has not really happened: a level 7 is still a level 7 qualification. To expand on this change of entry requirement, in the past a student studying the CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing automatically was able to graduate to the CIM Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing without any additional work experience. That is no longer the case. Now they must have "senior marketing experience". For more information click here.

The CIM Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing comprises of four modules: Emerging Themes, Analysis and Decision, Managing Corporate Reputation and Market Leadership and Planning.

CIM marketing qualifications do help.

They train the latest marketing techniques, prove willingness and desire to learn, and by their association allow entry into a networking environment that can only being positive results.

Could with studying the relevant qualification listed above, a struggling job seeking marketer should also apply for holiday work, work placements, shadowing or volunteer work since this can really help boost your CV, as well as show your prospective employer that you're willing to put in whatever it takes to do your job well.

When it comes to actually applying for your graduate job or move into marketing, it's vital that you look in the right places to find the ideal marketing position for you. As a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, (a requirement of studying a CIM marketing qualification) means that you have access to their job database - this is of significant interest because whereas the a marketing position can be advertised on monster.com, and replied by millions of people, the CIM database is only for CIM members, i.e. employers have already filtered applicants, since being a member of CIM differentiates yourself form the multitude of other marketing professionals that are not members.

If there is any doubt to the importance of studying a CIM qualification, please ask recruitment consultants if they consider it important to have a marketing qualification. Often you will see that having a CIM qualification is a requirement. That in itself is the very reason why have a marketing qualification helps to secure you a marketing position.

(This article and subsequent comments were re-printed when this website was re-launched in June 2011. Original article was published in May 2009)