Career change - is getting a marketing/digital qualification a good idea?

[Scooby99]

Hi all,

Can anyone offer advice on the CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing and Digital Mums Community Manager courses?

I’m a 38 year old full-time mum of 2 (with an exhausting 3 YO with sleep problems).

I worked as a BBC radio producer for 12 years but took redundancy in 2013 because of my son’s poor health. Once he starts school next Sept I’ll be able to get back to work part-time and I want to upskill and change career.

My aim is to find part-time employment in a digital PR/marketing/community management related role for a charity, social enterprise, small business or NPO.

I’m told I have lots of relevant transferable skills that will impress employers but, practically speaking, my commercial, digital and marketing experience is almost non-existent so at the mo I’m a total novice who’ll have to learn on the job.

Should I study the distance learning Digital Mums Digital Community Manager course or for the CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing qualification? Or is it likely I could get good work without either and by learning on the job (with perhaps less stress and expense)?

Freelancing long-term isn’t an option as my husband is self-employed and we need a mortgage and stable income. DM courses seem designed for aspiring freelancers so may not be the right fit. I may be wrong!

As I feel isolated and out of touch and have only basic digital and SM skills the positives of DM would be the sense of community and working/networking remotely with peers who also have family commitments.

Is it too late for me to get into PR/marketing and digital at 38? Happy to take on a junior role initially but, having already worked so hard to build my former career, I’d like to progress quickly towards a reasonable salary.

Any advice appreciated!

I went into digital after uni with a history degree and progressed well. It's definitely do-able without specific qualifications. The digital landscape changes all the time so it can be a difficult thing to study. The basics of marketing are useful though.

Happy to chat if you have any specific questions :)

I did the CIM CAM diploma several years ago instead of the full CIM diploma. I already had several years practical experience behind me and felt this course was more relevant to me. Having a qualification along with the experience definitely helps when looking for jobs. Hope this helps and good luck

I am a qualified Digital Mum. I can't comment on the other course you mention but the DM one is excellent.

Caveat. I graduated more than a year ago when the course was still in a pilot phase so it was not full price. Also I did the course when you are paired with a small business. I am not sure if this is what you are looking at as the course titles have changed.

I now have part time work but didn't find this through the course or their 'talent' arm. There is no doubt that I wouldn't have got this without having done the course but the process of getting employed wasn't straightforward. Very few of my cohort walked straight into work after the course.

It was fantastically structured. The course material was up to date and very accessible. There was a lot of work but the support of my fellow DMtobe was fantastic. We worked through things together and the post course community is a constant and ongoing help in the work I now do.

Hi - I did the Digital Mums course (I am also a Mumsnet editor). It has helped me in my work as a local editor for Mumsnet and I have worked for such a variety of clients from live tweeting about Brexit with kids in the houses of parliament to a national newspaper, a forest school and a toy company. All working from home, with roughly 5 face to face meetings over the last year. I did plenty of research before the course. I have a business management degree and specialised in marketing, but felt like I wanted to add to my skills rather than improve on existing ones. I have such a huge network now through Digital Mums, that is one of my favourite things, especially when working from home. Good luck. Kate

Hi Scooby99 ( and others ) just wanted to know how you are all getting on with this? I am currently finishing history degree and interested in digital marketing as a postgrad would love to work for charities etc . currently my only experience running a twitter account!