Institution news
At the end of June, 16 engineers spent a day at Cambridge Design Partnership completing application forms and preparing for their IEng or CEng interview. On 13 July, 11 engineers were hosted by Pitney Bowes for a similar workshop.
The days were organised by Lara Mallett, the East Midlands and Eastern Business Development Manager. She explained how it works: “By the end of the day, individuals have usually completed about 70% of their application form. We can then get these applications reviewed for free and, crucially, before the formal submission to the Institution.”
Howard Canning, one of the Institution's Professional Development Advisors, and Tony Bielowiecki, a Professional Development Consultant, were on hand to answer questions and give advice.
Matt Schumann, a Partner at Cambridge Design Partnership and Fellow of the Institution describes the advantages of professional registration: “Intelligent high quality engineering is central to our business offering. We recruit engineers who are academically well qualified, and then we provide them the opportunity to advance their careers by immersing them in interesting and challenging product development projects.
“We feel that registration with the Institution is important in bringing recognition of capability as well as giving a clear framework for professional development. For the last two years CDP have hosted the Institution’s registration training for our own mechanical engineers and those in the local region. We have found it to be well structured, and Lara and Tony’s practical advice and constructive critique has been invaluable. We look forward to hosting next year's event.”
Lara Mallett, who is keen to help engineers in her region achieve professional registration, said: “People always say that they have no time to complete the form. A day like this gets them out of the office and gives them time to focus on their own development. Also, it gives them reassurance that they are writing in the style that the assessors are looking for.”
Gary Jackson, Mechanical Project Manager for Skanska attended the workshop at Cambridge Design Partnership. He said: “The day proved to be incredibly useful and invaluable in my progression toward achieving chartered status and full membership with the Institution.
“As an aspiring professional engineer, one of the challenges I have faced is how to communicate and demonstrate my experience and competence. So the opportunity to speak at length with experienced panel members and discuss my application has provided me with vital insight into both the application process and the standards required for professional accreditation.
“I am certain that the knowledge I gained during this event will strengthen my application. I would highly recommend that anyone applying for professional membership attends one of these training days.”
Andy Durnan from CDP also attended. He said: “I found the training day really useful. It provided a simple, structured approach to completing the application form, which was proving a bit daunting at first inspection. While there is a lot of useful reading material out there, nothing can substitute face-to-face discussions with members involved in the application process.
“As someone who has had quite a varied career so far, it was great to talk about which examples I should use and how to frame them for the most effective application; due to the varied work we do here at CDP I think that applied to most of us who were applying! I also believe that the deadlines have given more focus to my application, which I wouldn’t have had if I was left to my own devices. I also really appreciated the company allowing us to do it in work time as its often difficult to find time outside of work.”
These free training days are arranged regularly all over the country. They are not aimed at engineers who are on Monitored Professional Development Schemes. We are also happy to run internal free training days for organisations.
Find out about upcoming events in the East Midlands region.