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Is it important to have a Washington Accord degree?

Following up on a couple of threads here, does anyone here have experience on whether NOT having a Washington Accord degree (e.g. an IET accredited degree) makes it harder to get jobs in any particular countries?

Or, to put it the other way around, whether having one does actually make it easier in particular countries?

It's a question that frequently comes up here, and I don't ever remember seeing an answer.

Personally I don't remember ever hearing engineers saying they had a problem with mobility to any country, whatever their qualifications, (even to Canada, provided their process is followed), but I'd hesitate to say I have enough experience to say that this really isn't something to be concerned about.

Thanks,

Andy

0 Former Community Member over 3 years ago

There are plenty of restrictions in various countries. In the US, degree status does not matter. You cannot practice as an engineer without a PE qualification, issued by the state in which you practice. In Germany, you cannot open an “Engineer's Office” unless you have a German engineering degree (it actually has to say -Ing). (There are ways around it. I have a German colleague whose engineering PhD is from York. He became CEng through the IET, and Eur Ing, and started his solo engineering consulting company, but it is not an “Engineer's Office”.) On the other hand, none of my three degrees count for the IET (one British is too early at 1973; two US further degrees don't) I qualify through accomplishment. I have also supervised a number of engineering PhD degrees. But in Germany I am still not legally an engineer and cannot be unless I go back to school or someone gives me a hon. caus.
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0 Former Community Member over 3 years ago

Dear Peter,

I believe the Washington Accord is an instrument which may measure the Engineering degrees from any University and try to find the equivalence between them in terms of graduate attributes and knowledge areas. Not recognizing a degree from outside a country may have its own merit based on economics or political agenda to sustain growth and development of local Universities. But in some way with globalisation, it don't support mobiltiy of people or promote sharing of technological knowledge if local residents with foreign degrees are not recognised to be qualified to practise in their own country.

Regards

Kamlesh
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0 Andy Millar over 3 years ago

Peter Bernard Ladkin:
…none of my three degrees count for the IET….
Just to mention my usual two penn'orth: all degrees (and other qualifications) count for the IET! You can become a Member, IEng and CEng with any degree…or with no degree at all.
Anyway, I'm bad at enough at taking other people's threads in different directions, so I'd better not do it with my own as well…
Cheers,
Andy
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Is it important to have a Washington Accord degree?

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