Firstly the leadership programs that are led, coordinated and run by the Graduate School are superb. They offer excellent variety of subjects, dates, transferable skills and contribute to 'Degree Plus'. Secondly, the Chartered Management Institute program has been excellent. It offers an exceptional professional qualification and practical skills to complement the academic studies.  The classes have been superbly taught, offering breadth of student experience, diversity of thought and good corporate examples, especially having a mix of candidates from all over Belfast attending.  The assignments have been challenging, an area of improvement is that the assessment criteria have almost been too prescriptive and offer little opportunity for originality in approach. Having said that, I have felt I covered every aspect of the modules, theorists, approaches and designs.  The positive was the depth and breadth of the case studies and examples in corporate, industry, private sector and some public sector business. This brought real flavour, interest and strongly advise they are developed. 

I have personally used my Graduate School and CMI experience to apply and qualify for Chartered Manager (CMgr) and 'Fellow' status (FCMI) through the 'Qualified' route. I would not have done this if the Graduate School had not encouraged it; I thank them (despite that extra 6,500 word essay!). This qualification was immensely useful in applying for future employment, it proved that I had pushed myself beyond just academic studies, attained a professional certification and studied Strategic Leadership, Strategic Management Project and Entrepreneurial Practice as extra tools to my leadership skills and understanding.  For hiring / job interviews, CMI was especially useful to frame my previous experiences through the CMI lens of 'Challenge, Action, Impact, Result' and adjust to key business language from either academia or previous bias of employments. I was successful in attaining a role as a Director in Google and I can honestly say that a day has not passed without using the lessons and learning from CMI. 

I strongly advocate that as an employer and employee CMI helps to build that portfolio and employability; it educates, trains and qualifies you for that final hurdle.

Simon Urry 2021

‘I have been in business for over 20 years, both self-employed and as an employee. I found the CMI course to be extremely rewarding and channelling, in a positive way.  It provided a safe environment to examine business ideas and models that are relevant to all business types. Along with that I feel the material cover is relevant to all roles within business and gives insight into what you need to practice to flourish and thrive. The knowledge of the material covered, and tuition provide by the staff in Queen’s was excellent. If you are preparing to go into the business world and are looking for a great place to start to accumulate business acumen, then I would highly recommend studying a CMI qualification with the staff at Queen’s.’ 

Pat Walsh 2022

“The CMI Programme allowed me to meet with and learn from a variety of experienced managers from public and private sector. It enabled me to see how I managed people, problems and projects, through the eyes of others and I feel it has made me a better leader and better manager. I had a great group to work with and enjoyed the personal exchanges in the group work. I’d do it again."

Roy McComb 2022

‘I highly recommend tackling a module outside of your comfort zone; CMI classes provide a uniquely friendly environment and facilitators will go out of their way to pair you with colleagues with skillsets that strongly complement your own. I can think of no better circumstances for shoring up the aspects of management that you are the least comfortable with’

Gonçalo Rosas da Silva 2022