Marketing, apart from being a management process, is a way-of-life. Thus even non-marketers opt to study the subject to gain knowledge to be successful in their professional and personal lives. 
CIM (UK) (The Chartered Institute of Marketing) is the ideal marketing qualification budding marketers could look up to, on their quest towards becoming fully fledged marketers or top managers with marketing oriented dispositions. CIM is an equal regulated qualifications provider accredited by the European Marketing Confederation. CIM’s goal is to develop the marketing profession, maintain professional standards and improve skills of marketing practitioners, enabling them to deliver exceptional results for organizations.

SLIM (Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing) being the national body for marketing is the longest standing accredited study centre in Sri Lanka for CIM studies. From time to time, SLIM students by winning CIM world and Sri Lankan prizes have added immense credibility to CIM studies at SLIM.
Yasitha Liyanage who is a Sri Lankan prize winner of CIM being a SLIM student has a highly impressive educational background. 

Currently being a Stage-3 CIM student, Yasitha is a Chemistry graduate with first class Honours from the University of Northumbria, UK and a Licentiate Chemist from the Institute of Chemistry, Ceylon. Employed at Chemanex PLC as a product executive, Yasitha is an Associate member of the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

“On completion of my degree in Chemistry, I decided to pursue a career in the technical marketing field with regard to chemical raw materials. Hence it was important to perk up my knowledge in marketing.Thus I decided to opt forthe CIM programme, since it is an internationally recognised marketing qualification”, says Yasitha.

“Marketing is a close-to-life subject. I yearned to gain an understanding of and exposure to marketing concepts and theories, which wouldbrighten up my career in marketing. I decided to follow CIM at SLIM, since it is the professional body of marketers in Sri Lanka and the institute that has been conducting CIM lectures continuously for several decades”, he adds.

Speaking of the CIM - Sri Lankan prize he was conferred with, Yasitha said, “Though I expected good results, I never dreamt of winning a Sri Lankan prize. I believe the main reason behind this achievement was selecting SLIM as the institute to follow CIM lectures. The institute is highly committed and well organized towards conducting CIM lectures”.

“The guidance by SLIM lecturers, having years of experience, helped me to understand and grasp the finer points inmarketing. The CIM syllabus makes emphasis on how marketing concepts could be applied for practical situations. Being a student with a chemistry background I had the challenge of understanding the concepts of marketing and how to apply those in practical situations inmy career and life. SLIM imparted me with the precise knowledge”, he also said.

On successfully identifying needs of students SLIM has recruited a CIM lecture panel with pioneers in CIM lecturing, who have immense exposure in the corporate sector.These lecturers have a balanced knowledge of both theoretical and practical aspects of marketing.

Yasitha’s advice to budding marketers is to follow CIM at SLIM and adhere to the guidelines set by the lecturers.

“Focus and constantly share your knowledge with your colleagues, as it contributes towards sharpening your knowledge”, says Yasitha.

SLIM has been promoting marketing excellence and elevating the status of marketing in the country since 1970 and was subsequently incorporated by act 41 of 1980 in the Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in 1980. 

Apart from CIM studies, SLIM conducts and manages its own certificate and diplomas, which leads to postgraduate studies offered by universities both in Sri Lanka and overseas. Marketing courses and tailor-made programmes offered at affordable prices have attracted the corporate sector, marketing practitioners and school leaving students towards SLIM.SLIM obtained both ISO 9001:2015 certification in recognition of its superior quality management system and ISO 2990:2010 for Learning Service Provider (LSP), proving non-formal education and training services, which enables SLIM to maintain the high standard of quality education to all its students.