Coronavirus (COVID-19) advice and support for members

To help our members during these challenging times, we’ve pulled together a range of resources that we hope will be of use to you. As more information becomes available we’ll update this page, so ensure you revisit over the coming weeks.
New benefits for members
MyDevelopment
Stand out from the competition when making your next career move by utilising job search support from CIM’s latest member benefit, MyDevelopment. Packed with interactive tools and e-learning content, MyDevelopment is a personal development platform with a wide range of resources covering personal, professional and social topics to help you achieve your goals. With a CV and cover letter builder and checker as well as practice aptitude tests and an interview simulator, MyDevelopment prepares you for your next opportunity. Access MyDevelopment by logging in to your MyCIM account to get started.
Graded member offer
Marketers will receive 90 days access to an online CIM course of their choice from the day they join as a graded member. There are three courses to choose from:
- Marketing and Brand Strategy: aimed at marketers looking to develop their strategic marketing planning skills and becoming more equipped to responding to changing business challenges
- Marketing Fundamentals: helping to develop skills and knowledge needed to plan and measure an effective marketing communications campaign and to develop other core fundamental marketing principles
- Planning and Optimising Marketing Campaigns: providing insight on effective campaign planning and execution as well as understanding and evaluating performance
The Marketing Fundamentals online course is worth £249 whilst the Marketing and Brand Strategy and Planning and Optimising Marketing Campaigns online courses are worth £399.
View offer terms and conditions.
COVID-19 communication report
Thank you to all our members who submitted evidence as part of the COVID-19 communication report from the Government Communication Service (GCS). The full report, which contains insight and analysis on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the communication profession, can now be viewed on the Government Communication Service website.
Government Communication Service career support
CIM has been working with the Government Communication Service (GCS) as part of their advisory panel to provide career support to communications professionals whose roles have been impacted by COVID-19.
You can access the new portal on the GCS website.
Support includes:
- Listings of communication roles in government available to communication professionals with government and non-government backgrounds. To register via the portal for relevant “day-rate” work within government please go to the registration page
- virtual career support, including mentoring and CV guidance
- a virtual professional development offer (free and paid-for webinars)
- facilitating secondments, shadowing and pooling resources where appropriate.
For more details, please visit the CIM Newsroom.
Business and personal legal advice
As a CIM Member, you have access to free legal advice through Law Express, one of the UK's leading providers of independent telephone advice. Available 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday, they can help you with any business and personal legal advice including insolvency, data protection, taxation, commercial law, employment, debt, family law and consumer rights.
Before calling, please have your membership number to hand and be mindful that due to high call volumes, there may be a delay in receiving a callback. To find out more, visit the free legal advice section within MyCIM (login required).
Career support
With both challenges and opportunities ahead, browse here to find a selection of practical resources to support you, whether you are looking for a new role or considering a career change. You can also search the latest vacancies from across the industry by visiting CIM Marketing Jobs.
For information on updating your CV or preparing for your next interview, visit MyDevelopment.
Further resources
- Redundancy fact sheet from Law Express
- The 7-second CV: how to land the interview
- Why you?: 101 interview questions you'll never fear again
- Starting an online business all-in-one for dummies
- Key words will get your CV past the algorithms
- 8 ways marketers can improve their resumes
Please note that Ebook Central resources can only be accessed via the tile on MyCIM. You must also be logged in to MyCIM to access EBSCO.
Mentoring Programme
Our mentoring scheme is a flexible and open platform designed to match aspiring and developing marketing professionals to the experience and knowledge of a mentor to suit them. How your mentoring relationship works is entirely your decision and can be tailored to fit around your busy schedule or learning needs. The scheme is exclusively available for Affiliate Professionals and graded (ACIM, MCIM and FCIM) members.
Find out more about what you could gain from mentoring in the article below.
To sign-up to our mentoring programme first log in to MyCIM then select the 'Mentoring Programme' option on the page.
Catalyst magazine
We regret to inform members that we are currently unable to send the latest edition of Catalyst magazine to the following countries:
Albania |
Cayman Islands |
New Zealand |
Taiwan |
Armenia |
Guyana |
Philippines |
Tanzania (DAR) |
Barbados |
India |
Russia |
Ukraine |
Bermuda |
Jamaica |
South Africa |
United Arab Emirates (UAE) |
Bosnia |
Lebanon |
Sri Lanka |
Zimbabwe |
For those who are affected by these restrictions, the digital version of July’s brand-new Catalyst is available now via MyCIM.
Content hub
CIM has recently published a range of articles to help you navigate the unchartered waters of the coronavirus crisis:
- Find out how businesses are setting the standard for post-pandemic employer branding
- Discover why digital adoption as a result of Covid-19 is fuelling brand innovation
- Find out how coronavirus is impacting marketing recruitment and skills requirements in the CIM Marketing Podcast
- Grow your professional community and influence with tips on how to network virtually
- Identify key trends in customer expectations that are set to impact marketers in the next twelve months
- Learn how brand priorities will be impacted in the coming year in our latest survey data
We’ll be publishing more relevant features and webinars in the coming weeks, so ensure you regularly visit our content hub to keep up to date.
Continue your professional development
Virtual delivery for our training courses is now available, so you can continue to learn from the comfort of your home. We’re currently updating our course information, so please contact one of our Learning Advisors on +44 (0)1628 427360 or email training@cim.co.uk for information on pricing and dates.
Our new ‘Digital Marketing Channels’ online course developed in partnership with Target Internet, is for anyone looking to develop practical digital marketing skills. Learn how to drive website traffic, improve conversion rates and much more. For more information and a 15% member discount, please view course details here.
Also, remember that all Exchange content, including blogs, webinars and podcasts, is CPD eligible, so you can maintain your learning even if you’re not at work. Visit MyCPD or use the app to keep track of your learning and development activities.
Additional resources
Business advice from the UK Government
- Available financial support for business
- Check Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): employer guide
- Coronavirus business factsheet
Advice for small business owners
- Advice and guidance for small businesses and the self-employed
– Federation of Small Businesses
International Marketing Advice
International businesses advice
- Advice for UK businesses trading internationally
– Department for International Trade
Health advice
Advice for employees
- Guidance for employees – Gov.uk
- Your wellbeing - Mind