MIRM-Aid Puts Case Study Panic in its Place
If there’s one thing MIRM (Member, Institute of Residential Marketing) candidates dread, it’s the long process of writing a case study. The case study is the final step candidates have to complete before obtaining their designation.  Candidates work from a detailed outline to create a finished study along with a professional profile. The process involves lots of research and, in many cases, plenty of panic.
So, to help others over this hurdle, Raleigh, N.C.-based, Gaye Burwell, of Coldwell Banker Neighborhood Builder Services, created MIRM-Aid ― an eight-week mentoring program. “I created it for my local association here in Raleigh,” explained Burwell, “and because of its success, MIRM-Aid is now offered nationally. In fact, since we’ve been doing the calls, we’ve had more people inducted at the MIRM breakfast than in previous years.” MIRM-Aid is designed to work like a study group in conference-call form. The entire case study writing process — from collecting data to submitting the study for review ― is scrutinized with each session or call broken down into defined, workable segments. The program is structured into individual sessions that address outlining case studies, filling out the candidate’s professional profile, focusing on the participant’s subject community and gathering and researching information. The teleconference is also a place where the host can answer a candidate’s general questions or concerns. More importantly, candidates learn the most common reasons case studies are turned down — so they can better prepare theirs appropriately. Rita Ralhan, the marketing director for D.R. Horton’s Continental Series in Denver, points to her MIRM designation as the main reason she was hired at DR Horton. And she credits MIRM-Aid for helping her complete the designation process. “The MIRM-Aid program and Gaye Burwell really gave me the structure I needed to get through the whole case study process from start to finish,” Ralhan said. “Having the weekly calls and knowing what needed to be done each week really kept me from feeling overwhelmed and getting off track. I’d recommend MIRM-Aid to all designation candidates. I can’t imagine that I would have been able to get my MIRM designation without it.” Jonathan Pink, of K. Hovnanian Companies, found MIRM-Aid invaluable when earning his MIRM designation last year. “It provides a source of support and encouragement from an emotional perspective in that you are among a group of applicants with the same needs and concerns as yourself,” said Pink. Not only that, all the assistance, expertise and functional advice he could glean from Burwell “was only a phone call away.” Burwell conducted her first national MIRM-Aid last spring. A fall teleconference is being planned. For more information about MIRM-Aid or the MIRM designation process, contact the MIRM Program Coordinator at 800-368-5242 x8154 or via e-mail at MIRMinfo@nahb.com. To learn about the benefits of a MIRM designation, contact the National Sales and Marketing Council at 800-368-5242 x8192, or visit www.nahb.org/nsmc. | 
