8 Reasons Why the New Year is the Best Time to Start a Marketing or Management Qualification

Ah the start of a new year, supposedly a time of reflection and new beginnings but lets face it, more often than not consisting of dragging yourself out of bed into the cold and wishing away the rest of those pesky long dark winter days before spring.

But it’s not all bad!

The beginning of a new year can also be the best time to tap into that feeling of ‘fresh start’ inspiration and get inspired yourself.

What will your new year’s resolution be? It can be tempting come January to set those elusive, intangible targets that you never quite seem to hit, like ‘be more productive’ or ‘ring Auntie Maureen…’. 

This year, why not make your new year’s resolution a solid plan which will yield tangible results and help you progress in your career by signing up to a Marketing or Management Qualification with MMC Learning.

With thousands of students heading back to primary and secondary school, sixth form college and university, we sometimes forget that for much of our lives, the new year was a time to get stuck into our academic studies in earnest- so why not now?

The new year is an excellent time to commit to making decisive change in your career and personal development.

MMC Learning is an all year round enrollment marketing training and accredited CIM and CMI study centre but we see the biggest intake in the new year because it taps into that feeling of new growth and acts as a springboard for those stuttering to meet their resolutions.

Here’s 10 reasons why you should take the leap and sign up to a course for the new year.

1. You’ve just had some downtime.

You’re fresh off the buzz of the Christmas period and you’ve managed to take a break over the holidays to spend with loved ones and re-charge. Even if you didn’t get to travel, hopefully you’ll have had some time off from work. It may only have been the Christmas bank holidays themselves, but that time to rest, recharge and refocus makes all the difference and sets you up to establish or re-affirm goals you want to achieve – both in the short term and long term. Now is the time for action!

2. You can achieve great things this year and it’s barely begun! Commit to getting on track quickly and make the most of the year.

Rather than allow the seasonal blues to kick over the long months of January and February, you can shake off that winter gloom and be productive and achieve an incredible addition for your CV. If you’re looking to add a professional qualification and are prepared to work hard, you could complete a marketing or management course in under 6 months.

It may be that things have not worked as you’d like last year. Global events are moving fast and it’s easy to be paralysed in decision making when there is so much going on and so many pressures in the macro environment.

But if you’ve already decided to commit to your career goals by undertaking a qualification, why put it off? Sure you could wait until the start of the academic year in September, but why wait and put your dreams on hold for another whole year?!

3. It’s the start of the academic year - sort of…

While September is traditionally the start of the academic year for schools and Universities, many professional Qualifications base their courses more around January and February start dates as they know that this is a prime start time for professional people who are operating by the calendar year. 

Many course providers will carry out their reviews and course updates over the Christmas period and put revitalised, fresh content in place for January so you know you’re getting the best learning content and most up to date qualification available.

MMC is offers enrollment dates all year round for our Marketing and Management courses but even we have to admit there’s something special about the January intake.

January will usually see slightly bigger cohorts of learners on professional courses and the inspiration you can draw from your peers of all ages going back into education to either give them that career start or kick start is intoxicating. Knowing you’ll be in great company with many others looking to improve their prospects and learn at the same time is a powerful draw.

4. It’ll stand you in good for 6-month salary/ review discussions.

Many organisations have annual appraisals or reviews that take place in Decemeber or towards the end of the year where plans are made and budgets are set. However, some companies might conduct reviews on a 6 month basis rather than yearly. Often organisations will conduct a 6 month review if you are newer to the organisation and they want to look at your progress. Or they might review everyone annually on their joining anniversary which could be at any point in the year. In any of these cases you can bet a 6 month review will probably fall around the summer, so you’ll want to factor your additional study and learning into any conversation about where your career takes you next. If you start a CIM course in the new year you’ll have an impressive new Qualification sorted just in time for your next review.

5. Summertime is right around the corner- You could be practically half way through your marketing course by spring and finished in time for a holiday!

At MMC Learning, our marketing and management courses are delivered across three modules which means you’ll be entering into module 2 come March April time and could have your whole course completed in time to relax over the summer.

If you’re prone to procrastinating on big decisions and you’re thinking of leaving  studying to the summer, then consider that the holiday vibes will ruined if you’re still stuck indoors over your books and so any major career decisions or learning developments in the summer invariably end up being left to September when “all the schools are back” So you’ve lost almost an entire year because you didn’t start now.

If you’re already in the mindset of wanting to improve yourself and start studying, don’t procrastinate and wait until the summer or even September

Maximise the summer months by enrolling on a course now and getting it done!

6. Stay ahead of the competition- Your CV will look stronger in September!

The act of starting a course changes your mindset, shows your dedication and can be used in critical salary, promotion or new job interview situations. It marks you out as a person of value and we see lots of students negotiating future advancements long before they get their certificate.

If you’re one of the thousands of professional marketers or managers looking to switch from your current role or get promoted when September comes around and inevitably a lot of staff hiring, reshuffling and new job hunting is done, being able to say you’ve completed a qualification could be the differentiator in your interviews. It shows how committed you are to being more valuable in your current company and puts you straight in line for promotion or is a great selling point with prospective employers.

If you’re already minded to want to improve yourself and start studying, don’t procrastinate and wait until later in the year when it’s too late. That’s for big career decisions like switching jobs when you’re taken the initiative and already got your studying done!

7. Spring is often more productive than summer There’s more time to study

Let’s be real, when summer finally gets into full swing, your mind is going to be elsewhere and you’re going to be doing more with friends and family and may not have the time to put the focus and dedication you would want to into your learning. So why not get a massive head start now?!

Naturally earlier starts and lighter days without all the holiday hold-ups make Spring the best time to invest in yourself. Between January and May time, you’ll probably be more inclined to be at home, shut the curtains and hunker down. You might find Studying is harder because the motivation is so much lower, but actually, shorter gloomier days make the tail end of winter and spring time a perfect time to focus your attention on academic studies and achieve your goals, especially with an online course like CIM or CMI you can do from the comfort of your sofa!

And the period from late March through the Easter holidays and touching the start of Summer throws up a number of national holidays, long weekends and more opportunities to get through your work and move confidently through any course of study.

The long-awaited arrival of those longer, sunny days are the perfect time to put down your books at the end of your course, get out and enjoy yourself. Why put studying off to a ‘nicer’ time like the summer when realistically you’re going to want to be out in the sunshine?