Daisy Hooper
Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Chartered Management Institute (CMI)
Have you thought about studying a degree or apprenticeship accredited by a professional body? As part of National Careers week, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is raising awareness of the different career paths available.
What is professional accreditation?
Professional bodies, such as the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), accredit many courses including degrees and apprenticeships at all levels.
This accreditation demonstrates that a course’s content is relevant and that students on these courses will develop the skills and attributes they need to thrive in the world of work.
The importance of management skills
Many people don’t think of ‘management’ as a profession. However, in your lifetime you will likely need to manage many projects, people and situations.
If you’d ever thought that you might like to manage projects or people, or even lead a company one day, CMI accredited courses can provide that employability focus, and enable you to demonstrate that your subject expertise can be applied effectively in the real world, to deliver results.
Who is CMI?
The CMI (Chartered Management Institute) is the only chartered body in the UK for management and leadership.
We have over 130,000 members worldwide and we exist to turn ‘accidental managers’ into conscious managers and leaders, while championing the highest professional standards.
Professional standards that align with the world of work
Like many professional bodies, CMI has a professional standard that lays out the skills and competencies that we expect good managers and leaders to have at different levels.
It is developed in consultation with employers and leaders across sectors and industries and is reviewed and updated with industry annually.
Studying an accredited degree or apprenticeship gives you an additional qualification. It also usually gives you membership benefits with the associated professional body, which can open up networking opportunities and additional expertise alongside your course content and education provider’s library. CMI has thousands of templates and expert videos to support your study, for example.
Future employers can see you working on the job – while you’re studying
At the start of your career, it’s not only important to perform well, but also to be seen doing so by others.
Work-based learning allows you to work alongside and learn from more senior managers. This exposure to people working in your desired field of work, drives up opportunity for future careers and employability.
We see this demonstrated in the employability outcomes of our graduates. Recent research shows CMI-accredited courses deliver business critical management skills: 95% of graduates reported they gained key management competencies from their CMI-accredited degree, with nine skills gained on average.
The top competencies gained were achieving results (88%), making decisions (85%), and leading change and innovation (85%).
Our research also suggests that studying a CMI accredited business degree means you are more likely to progress after graduating. After six months, 58% of graduates from CMI accredited courses were in professional roles, compared with 48% from non-accredited business courses.
For those interested in a less traditional route post compulsory education, we also accredit apprenticeships – from Team Leader (Level 3), Operations Manager (Level 5), the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship (Level 6), and the Senior Leader Master’s Degree Apprenticeship (Level 7). Through these routes you can earn while learning and put into practice the new knowledge you’re gaining through your study from day one. If this sounds interesting, check us out.