"So, how did you achieve your MCIPS?"

It’s a frequent interview question, and one that can quickly determine your success or failure in a procurement job application. Employers care about your skills and qualifications, and they will ask you about them. But some ways of achieving MCIPS are better than others! Here, we provide a brief overview of the routes to MCIPS and their merits from a recruitment perspective.

What is MCIPS?

MCIPS is the designation that you are a Member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS). Membership is given to those considered to have achieved a minimum professional standard in the discipline of procurement and supply. As long as you pay your annual fees and abide by the Institute’s regulations, you can continue to be a Member of CIPS and maintain the designatory letters MCIPS behind your name.

There are other “tiers” of membership and these attract additional fees. Your membership can have Chartered Status added to it, and for those in senior positions within the profession, you can attain Fellowship status (FCIPS).

Unfortunately though, MCIPS is not a qualification. It simply means you are a member of a professional body.

If you do not pay your annual fees, you lose your membership status - and this could damage your chances in your next procurement job application.

Management Entry Route (MER)

The MER is the simplest method of obtaining MCIPS status. It is designed for more experienced professionals who missed the opportunity to study at a younger age. You simply fill in a form with your CV, complete a questionnaire, attend an interview and, if they like you, you are given MCIPS membership.

Many employers we speak to consider this to be the “cheats’ route”. That might sound harsh, but the reality is that few people completing the MER have ever had to study the discipline of procurement and supply and they will undoubtedly lack the depth of knowledge that is required in the modern profession.

The MER is an expeditious route for those who lack the stamina to study the discipline properly - and this usually says as much to employers.

Corporate Award

The Corporate Award is an expensive training programme that CIPS delivers itself. It has been a money-spinner for the Institute for the last couple of decades, and many have questioned the validity of it as an professional assessment.

The programme is aimed at large corporate clients who are happy to pay higher fees for their staff to go through a training programme that requires assignments, rather than exams. Once paid, CIPS sets its own standards, delivers its own teaching and marks its own assignments. It is a closed shop with zero external scrutiny or audit. Some in the industry have questioned the integrity of the programme.

Unfortunately, those completing the Corporate Award do not gain a formal qualification.

Ofqual (the UK Government qualifications regulator) does not recognise the Corporate Award and so the addition of this to your CV could be viewed as a bit of a limp achievement.

CIPS Diploma Qualifications

This is the exam route. Without a doubt it has considerably more rigour and professional respect than either of the above routes to MCIPS. To gain full professional standing, you need to progress through exams for study modules at Levels 4, 5 and 6 of the UK Regulated Qualifications Framework.

This means sitting professionally set exams that are scrutinised with integrity and impartiality. To be counted as an Ofqual regulated qualification, this means the CIPS Diplomas have university degree equivalent educational standing.

Employers know that job applicants who have achieved their MCIPS through the exam route are better prepared, more knowledgeable and possess far broader commercial understanding for a procurement role.

One major international corporate has told us that they will only interview candidates that have gained their MCIPS via the exam route! All other applicants get disregarded.

Apprenticeships

Job applicants that have gained their MCIPS through a Government-funded apprenticeship are the most sought after candidates by employers. This study route represents the blue-ribbon of education, and elsewhere we have reported on the significant salary advantages that procurement apprentices can gain.

On top of completing the CIPS exams and working through a rigorous qualification syllabus, apprentices are required to evidence a portfolio of knowledge, skills and behaviours from their procurement employment.

This practical application creates the fully-rounded knowledgeable and skilled procurement professional - and most employers are quick to acknowledge this!

Summary

If you are considering studying for your professional MCIPS membership grade and want to have those letters behind your name so that you can progress in an interesting, dynamic and rewarding commercial career, we strongly recommend you take time to consider which of these routes is best for you.

There are no short-cuts in life, and job interviewers know this!

We hope you found this article informative. Do please get in touch with your thoughts and questions. Maybe we can interest you in one of our MCIPS accredited programmes as a CIPS “centre of excellence”?

We would love to hear from you!