Consulting Certification (CMC)

Once an applicant has been awarded full membership and has accumulated the required experience in hours or years, the applicant may proceed to apply for certification.

The applicant must download and complete the certification application documentation. Once the documentation is complete and the relevant application fee has been paid, the documentation may be forwarded to info@imcsa.org.za.

The applicant must comply with all requirements of the application prior to proceeding with an assessment interview. The designated assessors will ensure compliance by means of a bench review of the application. If necessary, they will request further clarification in writing before allowing the candidate to proceed to the assessment interview. The assessors may reject the application due to incompleteness or due to the candidate failing to meet the minimum application criteria.

Once the bench review is complete to the satisfaction of both the assessors, the candidate will be invited to an assessment  interview. The candidate is required to pay the full assessment fee prior to proceeding with the scheduling of the assessment interview.

Upon successful completion of the assessment, the candidate will be notified in writing accordingly and a certificate will be issued for the year of the assessment.

All certificates remain valid for the calendar year of issue and must be renewed annually, in January, to ensure that the professional remains in good standing with the IMCSA.

The certification process is based on the following requirements:

1. Support by other certified consultants or reputable clients in the form of testimonials.
2. Evidence of bona fide consulting assignments totalling not less than 3 years.
3. Evidence of an undergraduate or postgraduate degree or 8 years management experience in lieu of the degree.
4. Sufficient management experience or line support experience to indicate competence in management and its principles.
5. Signature of the code of ethics.
6. A completed assignment study on a chosen project, mapping your experience in each of the required competency quadrants to the assignment, highlighting that you have understanding and experience of these.
7. Undertaking an interview with qualified assessors to confirm the details of your application and to perform a summative assessment of you as a certified management consultant.

Prior to submitting all the required application documents, you are required to pay the certification application fee.

The certification application fee will be waived if you were accepted as a full member not more than 6 months prior to your application to be certified. A completeness check is performed by the secretariat prior to the next step, which is to proceed to assessment. When the completeness check is complete, the applicant proceeds to pay the certification assessment fee. (here). Please note that the assessment fee is non-refundable due to the effort involved.

Your application undergoes a bench review by two qualified assessors, who determine whether your application meets all the requirements of certification. You will be required to pay the full certification fee, whereupon an assessment interview will be scheduled. You will present your assignment study and be asked questions about your portfolio. Subsequently, you will be informed in writing of the outcome of the assessment interview. 

If you are successful you will receive an electronic certificate and your full membership status will be upgraded to CMC. If you are not a full member, you need to apply for membership here.

Please note that if you have less than 3 years of bona fide consulting experience, you will need to apply for associate membership until you qualify for full membership. Full membership requires evidence of 3 or more years of consulting experience as set out in the  in the member application form.