Seeking a PRA For CEng Registration (Military Engineer Logistics Specialist)

Billy Piper said:

I am seeking a PRA with military engineering or engineering logistics experience to help ensure my CEng evidence aligns with UK SPEC and reflects the technical depth of Royal Engineer logistics practice.

Hi Billy,

Hopefully you'll find someone suitable - actually if you any approach any PRA through  https://pra.theiet.org/search-advisor they will all be able to help, however I do agree that it can help to have one who has particular experience of working with applicants from the services as there can be specific issues - typically being because of the rank structure there is a particular art to demonstrating that you personally hold sufficient technical responsibility. And also they may have more experience of the service specific routes to registration.

However what I mainly wanted to comment as a start was that "reflects the technical depth of Royal Engineer logistics practice" is not the best way to look at it: your application is about you personally. You mustn't say "a Royal Engineer does this" you need to be saying "I do this". It's something almost all applicants struggle with, as engineers we're not used to thinking like that, but it is particularly an issue in the services. However this has given you a good start for a conversation with your PRA!

For the purposes of the application enjoy the opportunity to be proud of what you personally have achieved, and how you personally go about your work professionally. The assessors aren't auditing the Royal Engineers processes, they're trying to understand how you work as an engineer, and what level of technical responsibility you actually take (irrespective of who you happen to be working for). Not "I hold this position therefore I have this responsibility", but "I have this level of knowledge and understanding and take this level of responsibility therefore I am competent to hold this position".

As a hint (based on how you've written your post) which might help your first meeting with your PRA, try to think of a couple of specific cases where you've had to apply your own engineering judgement. You don't need to go into why your judgement was needed (I've never found security clearance to be an issue as we don't need to know what you were actually working on), but what you need to show is how you used a level of engineering understanding and experience to solve, or take responsibility for, a serious decision where there was no book to tell you what to do. It's much easier for a PRA to help if they have these concrete examples to work with, they can then give you the steer as to whether these are, or aren't, showing the A and B competences at the appropriate levels.

Oh, and final thought: do be kind to your assessors and explain the 1001 acronyms that will be in your application! Most engineers are bad at this, but applicants from the services take this to a whole extra level...that's something that you will have to watch if you have a PRA from the services helping you, they'll be able to give you the best support on everything else, but just watch that you're not both assuming the same knowledge when it comes to jargon.

Hope that helps, and good luck,

Andy 

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the detailed and clear guidance, really appreciate it. Your point about keeping the focus on what I personally do rather than describing Royal Engineer logistics as a whole is spot on, and I’ll make sure my application reflects that. I volunteer with the Institute of Royal Engineers to assess EngTech applications and come across this often.

I’ve already pulled together a couple of strong examples where I had to apply engineering judgement in the self-assessment, so I’ll take those into my first PRA meeting. I’ll keep the acronyms under control, we in the military are dreadful for using them too!

I did approach a few PRA's though the IET Portal, but wanted to target someone within my expertise. I previously found the service specific routes to registration challenging due to reduced volunteers, but have been working with an IET Mentor to get my ducks in a row.

Thanks again for the steer.....very helpful.

Billy

Holly,

Thank you for getting in touch and for outlining the support available. I’m intending to apply via the standard CEng route rather than through DERS, so any guidance aligned to that pathway would be appreciated. I actually found the defence route quite restrictive when pursuing IEng a few years back.

I’d welcome support from someone familiar with military engineering logistics, but it is quite niche so a Royal Engineer (serving or veteran) may be workable. 

I will drop as message to profreginfo@theiet.org  if that's ok?

Kind regards

Billy

Hello Billy

As one of the originators of the DERS Routes to registration I would be interested in following up on what you found restrictive or difficult withthe DRS Process (then or now). You experience would provide useful feedback which will help suggest where improvements may be made. In the meantime very best wishes for your further application for CEng.

Kind regards.

Franck (aka DrChips!)

Dr Chips (great name)

It wasn’t the DRS process or IET, it was another institute, who I fully respect and just put it down to their size and a smaller pool of mentors etc.  The main challenge was more about getting my engineering discipline recognised alongside roles like Clerk of Works and Garrison Engineers. At times it felt like I was starting behind the line, and the process moved slowly, but it helped me understand exactly where my experience sits and what I bring to the table. I’m keen to be assessed by someone who understands my role without viewing it purely through a military lens or pre-conceived evidence, ideally an Royal Engineer IET member in their own right rather than through an organisational affiliation. That balance of professional insight and neutral perspective would make the whole journey feel far more constructive.

Happy to chat in more detail, but thank you for replying to my discussion.

Regards

Billy

Hi Billy

I cannot lay claim to being a PRA but I went through my IEng professional registration last year and began my career in the Royal Signals so I have some insight into both worlds. I also continue to work in an environment which functions in a manner not dissimilar to military engineering. I would be happy to read your application and have a Teams chat if it's of benefit to you. I think sometimes just bouncing your ideas off another person and see at what point they lose interest can be a really valuable experience even if not in the guise of formal mentoring.

Let me know if I can help

David

And David Evans , if you fancy volunteering to become a PRA I'm sure the Registration and Standards Unit would love to hear from you! I can strongly recommend it as a role, you can commit to as much or as little as you feel able to at the time.

David,

That would be great thank you. Any support is appreciated and it’s always good to get different points of view. 

More than happy to set up a teams chat