Quick Guide to Becoming IMI Certified
via the Experience Qualification Path
WHAT is IMI Certification?
IMI Certification enables users of commercial mediation services identify experienced competent mediators worldwide. IMI Certified Mediators are entitled to include their Certified Mediator Profiles on the IMI web portal. Via the IMI search facility, Users can then find experienced mediators who are most suitable for their particular needs in one place, compare Profiles and make a shortlist.
WHY should I become IMI Certified?
To maximize the prospects of being selected by any User seeking a mediator through the IMI web portal. You can include your IMI Profile in your own website, or link to it. The Feedback Digest and other information in your Profile establishes your experience-based competency and constitutes credible marketing for a very low cost. Also, you mark yourself out as an experienced, competent mediator at a high standard, remove the risk of reliance by Users on word-of-mouth and guesswork in selecting mediators, and help establish mediation as a true profession in today’s conflict-orientated world. In May/June 2009, all IMI Certified Mediators will be asked to provide comments, suggestions, improvements and refinements to the scheme.
HOW do I become IMI Certified?
Five simple steps:
- Determine that you come within one of the three Experience Qualification Path criteria.
- Appoint a Reviewer and provide the Reviewer with feedback from previous or current Users for whom you have mediated. Use the Feedback Request Form where possible. Ask the Reviewer to prepare a Feedback Digest summarising the feedbacks received.
- File for IMI Certification on the IMI web portal homepage. Click APPLY (live from January 1, 2009) to complete your Certified Mediator Profile online. You will be invited to select a Username and Password. The online procedure includes an automated invitation to your Reviewer to upload your Feedback Digest directly into your Profile. Click SUBMIT.
- IMI will confirm to you by email that you qualify for IMI Certification and that your Profile is complete. Your Profile will then be promptly included on the IMI web portal.
- In the Third Quarter of 2009, you will be invited to pay your annual IMI Certified Mediator Profile Listing Fee via Paypal. Details are included in the Experience Qualification Path section.
WHEN can I become IMI Certified?
On January 1st 2008, and for a period of six months. After June 30th 2009, stringent competency testing will be required.
WILL all Profiles follow the same format?
To enable Users to compare shortlisted Profiles easily, IMI has devised a general Profile format. Many of the Profile’s sections are optional. Some sections must be included (they are asterisked). You can examine a fully completed Profile for guidance by clicking on Links to Mediator Profile Examples.
WHICH parts of the Profile are not optional, and WHY?
The required sections of the Profile are:
Contact details
Personal Information
Main Mediator Practice Areas
Experience as a Mediator
Mediator Style
Indication of which Code of Conduct and complaints process applies
Feedback Digest
Profession Indemnity Insurance cover
All these sections invite free text, except Mediator Practice Areas and Style which ask the Mediator to select one, some or all from a pick-list). These sections are required because consultation with Users has shown that these are the areas of most interest to them in selecting a mediator and they are fields that are searchable by Users.
WHAT is the Feedback Digest and WHY is it not an optional part?
The Feedback Digest is a summary of feedback received from prior Users, prepared by a Reviewer (an independent person or institution of your choice) in line with IMI’s Guidelines for Preparing Feedback Digests. IMI has prepared a Feedback Request Form for your use. IMI has also provided examples of an actually completed Feedback Form and Feedback Digest.
The reason the Feedback Digest is not optional is that consultation with Users has shown that selection of mediators is a highly personal matter. Users have said they are especially interested in the experiences of others, and what prior Users have said in a short summary format, relieving them from conducting extensive research. They also want that information in a credible and independent form.
