Development: marketing managers’ overview of CIM qualifications

When you manage a marketing team, you’re providing direction, support and motivation to ensure your organisation achieves its strategic objectives. Along the way you’ll recruit new people and train your team to master the marketing skills and know-how that’s vital to meet the challenges you face. Whether you’re considering sponsoring members of your team to complete their CIM studies, or you’re keen to raise the capability of the team through recruiting CIM-qualified staff this overview provides a straightforward update on the current options.

CIM qualification options

Foundation Certificate in Marketing: This Level 3 (Foundation) qualification is for those that are new to marketing. It’s ideal for apprentices, those starting out in a marketing career or those who have switched to a marketing team from a non-marketing role and now require a basic understanding of marketing principles. Find out more.

Certificate in Professional Marketing: This Level 4 (Intermediate) qualification is designed for marketers who want to learn, develop and progress. It’s ideal for those working in marketing support roles, such as marketing assistants, or whose current job encompasses elements of marketing. Find out more.

Diploma in Professional Marketing: This Level 6 intermediate qualification is the equivalent level to an undergraduate degree and it’s the core operational marketing qualification for marketing professionals. The course provides the required knowledge and skills required to take a strategic approach to marketing at management level. As well as being ideal for Marketing Managers this qualification is also suitable for team members in roles such as Account Manager or Business Development Manager. Find out more.

Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing: The Postgraduate Diploma is a Level 7 two-stage advanced qualification which is the equivalent of a Master's degree. It’s ideal for experienced marketers and senior business people who want to contribute at a strategic level and gain a professional qualification. Find out more.

CIM Marketing Leadership Programme: This Level 7 advanced qualification is equivalent level to a Master's degree. It’s been designed for experienced marketers working at a strategic marketing or management level or aspiring to do so and recognises the essential role of leaders in directing and galvanising the organisation to succeed. As such it’s also suitable for consultants. Unlike our other qualifications, it’s only offered within the UK. Find out more.

Seven things you may not know

1. The Foundation Certificate, Certificate and Diploma qualifications are comprised of distinct modules or units. Each unit that’s passed is an Award in its own right. This enables your company to sponsor team members to complete specific Awards or to motivate them through their learning journey to complete their full qualification.
2. Each unit is based on our unique Professional Marketing Competencies, a well-researched framework amongst employers and employees, which sets out the skills and behaviours expected of professional marketers at different levels of their career. 
3. Qualifications are delivered by accredited study centres, and there’s between 10-20 in Greater London depending on which professional level your staff member will study.
   
4. Whilst traditional face-to-face learning remains popular with classes held outside of the working day at study centres, many people choose online learning or a blend of the two instead. That’s because this provides maximum flexibility around their existing work commitments. And with online learning, accredited colleges outside of the capital also become accessible as a qualification provider.
5. Where your team includes graduates with marketing degrees, our Graduate Gateway enables them to complete CIM qualifications by supplementing the marketing learning which they have already acquired at University with further applied marketing know-how expected of a marketing professional. University courses are benchmarked and accredited within the scheme.
6. We have an easy Graduate Gateway look-up tool where those who have already graduated can check whether their University and course exempts them from certain CIM modules. 
7. The Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing is equivalent to a Masters. It’s a two-stage qualification which includes a work-based assignment taken over nine-months, which when chosen and executed well, can deliver significant value to the business.

Tell me more

If you’d like to understand more about how CIM qualifications can boost your team’s capability, you’re welcome to get in touch with our CIM training and qualification advisors at qualifications@cim.co.uk.