At the IET we often hear from those applying for Professional Registration that they've been meaning to apply for years, but haven't quite got around to it for a variety of reasons.
If you've been meaning to apply but haven't yet, tell us what's holding you back.
Forgive me but engineer is like leader. An unprotected title.
'Chartered Engineer', 'Incorporated Engineer' and 'Engineering Technician' are, however, protected iby legislation and Royal Charter..
Could you share whether attaining the status of Chartered Engineer has provided tangible benefits in your career , or was it primarily pursued as a personal achievement akin to my own aspirations.
That is, for me, really difficult to answer.
It's made things easier in some cases - in reality, I think, CEng and EurIng have been more recognizable internationally, and in certain specific sectors in the UK, but not all. In fact, in some sectors of the industry, there's an extra burden of proof to "work on the tools" if you are CEng (regardless of how you got there ... like an "inverted snobbery").
Post Grenfell, who knows?
When CEng, IEng and EngTech stopped being considered a "qualification" (by legislation - prior to that, it was consider a qualification legally and professionally) was a really bad day for industry in the UK, and at the time I don't think our UK Institutions:
(a) helped fight for the value of what we had; and
(b) realized what we would lose (and now, sadly, have lost).
Your message contained a reference to Grenfell (Tower Fire) and indirectly to Dame Judith Hackitt proposals to fix the construction industry.
What is the name of the UK law (so I can review it), that disallowed people who are CEng, IEng and EngTech from being considered qualified.
How did it pass muster at the IET - did Dr. Joanna Cox (IET Head of Policy) approve it?
On another topic mentioned in another of your messages- Has the IET obtained a new extension of the Royal Charter from your new King?
Peter Brooks
Palm Bay Florida
Could you share whether attaining the status of Chartered Engineer has provided tangible benefits in your career , or was it primarily pursued as a personal achievement akin to my own aspirations.
Initially for the latter reason, I have a pretty awful degree and I thought being CEng might distract recruiters from that. I don't actually think that works, recruiters who are only worried about tick boxes for qualifications won't get distracted from them by anything, and engineers involved in recruitment are (quite rightly) usually more interested in actual track record. Still, since my employers were paying for it it was worth a try.
However, nowadays the first part applies - it is a requirement for my job that we are Chartered. Why? Because I work in a consultancy, and it's part of our credibility that those at Principal level have been accredited by a third party as showing professional competence. I possibly could have got my first consultancy job without being Chartered (I possibly could have got it just on my industry reputation), but possibly not, and in any case they would have needed me to get it asap.
What is the name of the UK law (so I can review it), that disallowed people who are CEng, IEng and EngTech from being considered qualified.
Hi,
I don't think that's quite what Graham said? But I'll admit I didn't know these ever were considered a "qualification". If they were I'll admit that (and this is very rare for me!) I'd have to disagree with Graham, I don't think they should count as a "qualification". My IEE certificate says that I am a "Chartered Electrical Engineer", but I do not have any competence in electrical engineering and should not be considered qualified to do any electrical engineering work. Since the broadening into the IET this is even more true, CEng (or IEng or EngTech) doesn't give any indication of your competence to do any particular piece of engineering, what it does (hopefully) do is indicate that what ever your skills and knowledge are you will apply them professionally. And that really is quite useful.
P.S. I'm pretty competent up to 50V ac and 75V dc, above that I don't want to know...it bites!
Thanks,
Andy
Hi,
who do not achieve the necessary benchmarks in certain competencies, for example E1 and E5 in my situation to undergo the full application procedure.
Yes, it's a bit of a pain that these are mandatory "fails". What ideally should happen is that this is identified at pre-interview assessment, and further documentary evidence is requested then, or if that fails that it's requested at interview. I think the point is that because multiple opportunities should be given, as much has been done as can be done and if it still fails then it is a reassessment. This is why, as a PRA, I always make as certain as as I can that my applicants firstly have the E competences coming through as clearly as we can in their application, and that they also have clear examples to give as interview - the IET try to make sure in PRA training that we're aware of the criticality of these. And the E competences are actually pretty easy if you know what to look for, they are mostly about "I am aware of..." rather than "I can demonstrate..."
I am intrigued to know which musical instruments you play
Oh gosh...there's a saga. Originally classical piano, and then other keyboards (synthesizers and accordion), then (because I found that if you turn up to a jam with a keyboard people expect you to clever things) switched mainly to bass guitar, then learned classical guitar, then wrecked my shoulder partly through too much guitar practice and partly through poor DSE practice (competence E2!) and had to stop playing for a few years, then home constructed mini-basses (U-basses), then tenor guitar, Irish bouzouki, and Tenor Mandola (basically anything bigger than a mandolin which has 4 or 8 strings), then a couple of years ago melodeon, and as of last Christmas chromatic button accordion. In public I mainly play electric bass and Irish bouzouki, but I'm starting to occasionally dare to play the squeezeboxes in public. I'd like to get back to occasionally playing the synths in public if someone would let me - sadly in the world I play in even just having the amplifier on the bass gets the occasional comment!
One piece of safety advice about playing around with voltages over 75 V dc - Keep one hand in your pocket .
The first place I worked at in the UK the electricians were not issued with meters. In order to check if a circuit was live (440 volts) they would wet the tips of two adjacent fingers then touch the bare wires or terminals, to see if they experience tingling.
Peter
In case anyone is tempted to try...
I'd expect a tingle even at 75V. I'd expect to burn away chunks of finger at 220 or 440 between adjacent fingers, indeed while at school I managed a mains 230V shock that left impressive burn marks in my hands and got me the afternoon off. (school play and stage wiring....)
A dry skin brushing contact may be 'high resistance', but is often more than enough enough for muscular convulsions - please do not lick any body parts you may enliven.
A single point touch of 240, completing the circuit through the capacitance of the body to ground, maybe aided and abetted by slightly conductive footwear from sweaty feet, is quite enough for sensation - and if there is any risk at all, use the back of the hand, so the muscle spasm disconnects, rather than makes you grip tighter.
I think they were probably winding you up a bit.
Mike.
Hi Peter, just to clarify but Dr Joanna Cox is not the Head of Policy at the IET? And King Charles is indeed Patron of the IET as recently reported in IET Member News: https://www.theiet.org/membership/member-news/member-news-2024/member-news-april-to-june-2024/hm-the-king-becomes-iet-patron .
What is the name of the UK law (so I can review it), that disallowed people who are CEng, IEng and EngTech from being considered qualified.
I believe the Apprenticeship, Skills and Learning Act is the one that brought in regulation of qualifications: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/22/contents
(although some colleagues in the Education sector may know better).
Legislation clarified what "qualifications" were, and around that time, CEng, IEng and EngTech became "protected titles" by EU legislation (rather than just Royal Charter).
So, it's a little bit complicated.
There's also the distinction regards "qualifications" from a legal perspective - perhaps better-termed "credentials" (given the regulation of "qualifications") of an expert witness, for which Professional Registration is of course wholly appropriate.
The IEE (apologies using this acronym, but it's a "back in the day", so no reflection on current IET) used to talk about CEng as a "qualification" ... no longer is that language used to the best of my knowledge.
I seem to remember at the time, C&GLI provided a "read-across" Masters-equivalent qualification that could be claimed by those holding CEng (for a fee), for those CEng who did not have a cognate Masters Degree. I'm not sure if that's still possible to register for, if you obtain CEng without an accredited Masters?
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