Louise Chapman said:

Being on the Engineering Council’s register also backs up that credibility and professionalism. Standing out in the industry opens up more opportunity for progression either within your organisation or in a new role elsewhere.

Louise Chapman said:

Becoming professionally registered is really a personal choice. It may not always be required in your role, however is is a personal achievement to be proud of. I hope this help to encourage your engineers to think about becoming professionally registered in the future.

I'd better start by saying that I'm a PRA, and was an IET mentor for very many years. But further than that, my day job is as an Independent Safety Assessor, which involves me checking organisations for the competence of their staff, and part of the evidence its most definitely useful to see is evidence of Professional Registration.

BUT.

I would have to agree with the points made here that professional registration is simply not recognised across the majority of the engineering industry. I don't know if it's still the case, but certainly many years ago it could even be seen as a hindrance in a number of industries and organisations - a mark of someone who was more interested in getting letters after their names and "pen pushing" than doing actual engineering. My take on this is slightly different to some of the comments made here, I think this is an extreme shame for engineering as a profession. (As will become clear I disagree with that view, at least as it's assessed today, but I understand totally where it came from.) I honestly see the process of working towards professional registration as one that achieves raising standards in the profession - having spent very many years recruiting and manging engineers and technicians at all levels imaginable I find the standards in UKSpec to mark exactly the professional approach I would want to see in those staff. Whether in the very "institute friendly" industry I work in now or in the very "institute sceptic" industry I worked in for the first part of my career.

I think we have a challenge, and we need to recognise as an industry that we have a challenge. So I think we do need to be honest that the letters "CEng" or "IEng" or "EngTech" might not in themselves help your career (as others have said, it so much depends on which industry, and which branch of that industry, you work in). But going through the application process, and therefore being forced to think about what it means to be a well rounded engineer or technician who will actually add value to a business and be a pleasure to work with, really will help your career. And if individual engineers and technicians can see that then when they in turn become managers then they are more likely to look for it in the their staff.   

Thanks,

Andy

Hi Karen. This is a common worry and there are some helpful responses on here. 

Competence C (management & Leadership) isn't just about 'people' you may be leading projects, responsible for resources, budgets/finance etc..

Many people still struggle to find this in their  day to day roles however as you said, activities outside of work can be used. For example, STEM activities, Scout Leader, managing local sports groups, IET volunteer (Local Network Organiser), community committees, work committees. These type of activities all demonstrate accountability, managing, leading - venues, health & safety, budgets, papers etc. Many of these activities will also feed into other competences too in the C, D & E in particular. 

I hope this helps.

Most Engineers I work with say the same. Most find it hard to talk about 'I' rather than 'we'. Few people are really comfortable with it as most of us work in teams.

You will have played your part in that team and your individual actions would have produced great results & outcomes. 

Replace the word bragging with evidencing. You're application is all about what you have personally achieved to reach such a high level of competence. Providing evidence of your achievements is what is required - not something you are choosing to 'brag' about. Be proud of your achievements Karen and remember there is lots of support at the IET should you need it.

Hi Robin. Our Professional Registrations Engagement Manager, Lucy Byrne, is there to do exactly that. Lucy will support, guide and encourage you through the process. She actually describes it as 'holding your hand through the process' herself. 

Feel free to drop her an email & she will get back to you to give you the 1-1 support you need. 

profregengagement@theiet.org 

All the best

Louise Chapman said:

Many people still struggle to find this in their  day to day roles however as you said, activities outside of work can be used. For example, STEM activities, Scout Leader, managing local sports groups, IET volunteer (Local Network Organiser), community committees, work committees. These type of activities all demonstrate accountability, managing, leading - venues, health & safety, budgets, papers etc. Many of these activities will also feed into other competences too in the C, D & E in particular.

Hi Louise, this is interesting as my understanding is that when you apply for registration you need to submit a career history to demonstrate how you have met all of the competences in the UK-SPEC. The examples you have given, by definition, fall outside of someone’s career history, so how do you suggest that they provide evidence of these non work based activities in their application?

AS an experienced assessor, I see this all the time. Applicants readily describe work as school governors, trustees, STEM activities etc etc.  It can simply appear as a career segment in Career manager. Start with an introduction that it is a personal role/responsibility etc. 

I got my ICTTech, which wasn't too painful.

I joined the IEE in 1994!

I was them involved with various Branch committees for a long time before minor things like having a family. My CEng is primarily based on the back of that experience more than technical responsibility in my job role.

However, these days I'm more involved with INCOSE UK (or IfSE as it will be), which has more suitable publications and events for Systems Engineers like me.

But why keep my membership and CEng?

I have found that my CEng has got my CV a second glance or filtered up the pack (although I could transfer my CEng). I put a lot of work into my CEng, so dropping it feels very wrong. A lot of companies won't pay you extra for a CEng, but the actual engineering managers know what it is and many do value it.

I wouldn't mind achieving FIET at some point which is definitely influencing me to stay.

Ultimately, although I work in Systems Engineering, its microcontrollers and related technology that actually perk my interest the most. So I am still an electronics person at heart.

Reading these does make me smile.

It's true that in the UK, qualifications are not as valued as they should be - why, I don't know. When it comes to further development most engineers either stay technical & specialise or disappear into Finance & Management - as I remind the younger placement students - an engineering degree doesn't mean you have to do engineering for the rest of your life but it does prove you have the ability to do difficult stuff. Most recently I spoke with some marketing graduates about engineering and my career to date, failed to use the screen sharing software and end up answering questions using a dry wipe marker on a window. Their feedback was the presentation 'made engineering seem fun'.

A lot of the issues with how engineering is perceived is coming from how it's not a protected title (anyone can call themselves an engineer) because what we do is so wide and varied and it's misunderstood (send for the coffee machine engineer when it breaks rather than a technician, service agent or whatnot).

All I know is, I'll not be bored until the day I exit this world, and until then I'll continue to inspire the next whether they wish to have letter after their name, be the greatest plumber that's ever lived or just want to invent things in a shed. It all adds colour to the tapestry of life.

But what is really needed is a software version of the old T9 keyboards which never needed advanced AI to carry out spelling & grammar checks on phones.

I joined the IEE in 1958 and worked in three countries for multiple high tech companies before retirement. No one ever asked or inquired about my association with an engineering organization. This also includes my membership in the IEEE, which I joined in 1960.