To get the Candidate master title (or almost a master :P), you need to achieve a rating of at least 2100. This is similar to the National master title (NM) only it is given by FIDE, not the national federation.
To get the FIDE master title (FM), you need to achieve an oficial rating of over 2300.
To get the International Master (IM), you need to be a FM and achieve a rating of over 2400 and get at least three IM norms (meaning, you need to participate in tournaments involving other International Masters and get enough points... the number of points vary depending on the rating average of the tourney).
To get the Grandmaster title (GM) you need to be an IM and achieve a rating of over 2500, plus you need to get at least three GM norms, which are similar to the the IM norms, except with GM's playing and, thus, harder to attain.
I'm hoping against hope to get my FM title soon... but first I need to find somewhere to play rated tourneys in Mexico :P
Anyway, mate, hope this helps :D
how one player gets the grandmaster title..fide master,international master