On the up side though I see a lot of jobs that specifically ask for marketing qualifications and the CIM Diploma does seem to be highly regarded. It’s also a very applied course - I now find myself critically appraising TV ads/junk mail etc and trying to work out what sort of marketing mix they are using and how they could improve it.

I’m doing the course at the University of Salford - I started in September and you do two modules before Christmas and two modules from February to June. But you can also start in February and finish at Christmas. Obviously doing it from home is another option.

I have to confess I wasn’t prepared at all for studying this course - I’ve never studied marketing before - I used to be a biologist. I found the first few weeks really hard because all the terminology was completely new. I did buy a basic textbook recommended for the CIM Professional Certificate (Essentials of Marketing by Jim Blythe) which really helped - it gave me the basics and a nice glossary - I would strongly recommend reading this or something similar before commiting yourself to the course. If you find this textbook really dull then you’ll need masses of determination to get through the course - if you quite like reading it then that’s a good start.

The really tricky bit is trying to study whilst working full-time - there just aren’t enough hours in the day or energy in the tank. I’ve found that almost impossible to balance, but then I work a lot of overtime which doesn’t help.

Basically you have to learn everything in the workbook for each module. The workbooks contain between 8 and 12 units each and each unit probably takes about 6-12 hours to completely learn well enough to pass the exam (I’m not sure if you do exams or if you do it by coursework on the home study version of the course??). It’s a lot of work (10-12 hours per week per two units I reckon plus revision time). Strangely the units towards the front of the book seem much harder and longer than the units towards the back of the book. I’ve heard that you get lots more stuff to read on the home study version although I haven’t seen it for myself.

I confess I only did one of the exams before Christmas. I didn’t put enough effort in over the 12 weeks prior to the exams (I only did 4 hours per week - ie I turned up to lectures). I had to take a week off work to cram all the rest and discovered I only had time to learn one of the two modules. I’m now faced with taking 3 exams in June or sticking with 2 and doing the other next December. That is the one great thing though - you can resit each exam as many times as possible.

Now all this may seem very negative, but the problems I’ve had with the course have largely been of my own making - I underestimated how much time it would take up and how steep the learning curve would be. Now I’ve got to grips with a lot of the terminology and understand what I’m going to be faced with next term I feel confident that I’ll be able to to 2 if not all 3 of my exams next June. They do design the exams so that you have to learn everything though - it’s impossible to question spot.

As for whether it’s do-able by homestudy I wouldn’t like to say. Personally I don’t think I’d manage it - I’m far too lazy and besides it’s great to have the reassurance of classmates all confessing they don’t understand either and have a tutor on hand to answer questions and mark mock exams for you. I’ve done OU courses - but these are short and they are more of a hobby. I’m really glad I’m studying it with other people.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Let me know if you want to know anything more.