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Well it's only taken me 26 years of working in Engineering to finally get round to it.....
Started my application for Incorporated Engineer (IEng) with the IET November last year after continually putting it off or never quite finishing the application for the last 16 years.....
Due to COVID & stuff it took until late October this year for me to have my interview.
I wasn't sure how I thought it went as it was over Zoom and I had questions thrown at me during my presentation.
Was told it would be 4-8 weeks until I heard an outcome.
I had an email last night saying I had been successful and needed to send (more) money to the Engineering Council to make it all official.
Checked on the EC register today and I am indeed now a registered professional Engineer with letters and everything!!
This has given me a massive mental boost relating to work as when I was made redundant after 16 years at my last company I was basically slagged of and told I was a crap engineer as part of the justification process - which when you're already suffering from depression and anxiety isn't that helpful..... - so took voluntary as I couldn't work there if that's what they really thought of me after 16 years.
Glad I've got it done as it's been a tough couple of years with COVID, redundancy, failed (unrelated to Engineering) business and taking on a Senior role in a very small company.
Sorry for the self promoting post but I'm feeling quite pleased with myself.
Nice one.
Three-Seven or Four-Five?
I'm an Unprofessional.
Well done.
30+ years and never actually bothered to join the IEE / IET / whatever it's now called....
I've definitely got as far as starting filling some forms in, then just lost momentum....
Nice one - I too have been putting it off for *mumbles* years.
Hope you enjoy a nice celebratory beer tonight!
Congratulations and hope it enables you to put the difficulties of the last couple of years behind you and to move forward with a positive mindset.
Well done! You've made it to the backslapping club!
Excellent news, congrats.
I have letters I could use but don't as they are a bit too close to the truth...I've a Degree In Computer Knowledge - so it never gets used!
Been in engineering for 27 years, joined about 3 of the institutes and never really gone for CEng, even though work keeps pushing, did almost when they paid a bonus for it, but they stopped it, and I stopped the process at the same point 😁
Congratulations!
thepurist
Three-Seven or Four-Five?
That would have to be Four-Five as a fellow Brummie and Great Barr School alumni - although several years apart.
Congrats OP!
I'm in a similar-ish position, 13 years in, old company kept bringing it up, new company (only 10 weeks...) seem even more insistent.
Can't quite see what's in it for me except a hell of a lot of work, I have to go down the technical report route so first the core competency report (4000 words or so) then synopsis for a technical report which needs reviewed and accepted, and then the report itself (7500 words) then interview etc. etc.
But of course given how shitty my sector of the industry is becoming I'm expected to do that all in my own free time, on top of a job which demands most of my free time anyway...
Anyway, given how much of a mountain getting chartered appears to be to climb, congrats again OP, am impressed anyone manages it...
Congratulations OP. Good set of letters to get hold of.
Please can I ask that you only use short words if talking to me though as I'm only a Mechanical Engineer.
PS don't get too much of a shock when they send you the membership bill every year!
Please can I ask that you only use short words if talking to me though as I’m only a Mechanical Engineer.
He got a sticker saying "good boy"
I too send my congratulations, hard work and determination has paid off in a genuine endeavour.
As an amusing (I hope, aside) in my previous job as a Firefighter some of the officers - mostly Masons - started using dubious letters after their names, as did one of the advisors to the Grenfell Towers enquiry. I started using V.G.I.C. after my name on emails. It p****d them off more than you could ever imagine. Even when interviewed about what it meant they would not believe me … I’m sure they thought it meant something derogatory!
Congrats and good luck for the future - onwards and upwards!
You should be pleased with yourself.
I’m feeling quite pleased with myself.
And so you should be. Well done!
It's always good to get professional registration, as some jobs have them as essential requirements, i find aerospace seems to like them for specific roles, and slowly it's running through the other areas.
Well done though, and i hope your work is paying the fees!
As an edit to above… V.G.C.I! I cannot even get that right! Probably explains my lack of progression and the fact they didn’t believe me!
Crikey ... Congratulation. Never too late.
Two of my colleagues are Chartered Engineers (not sure what that means) but every time I asked them to help me change my car suspension they just come up with some weird excuses.
Good work Dirk.
Please don't go down the path that a consultant took with us a while ago however...when questioned on his design he slapped the table, stood up and ranted to everyone round the table that "he had chartered status and wouldn't be lectured by the likes of me".
Good going. I started the EngTech route about 2 years and it ground to a halt when I've not found the time at work to complete it.
…when questioned on his design he slapped the table, stood up and ranted to everyone round the table that “he had chartered status and wouldn’t be lectured by the likes of me”.
LOL! If that happens at my workplace I would be laughing the whole day.
So that's how Charted status works ... LOL!
p/s: actually 3 of my colleagues have chartered status ...
Congrats!
Nearly 2o years here post-degree and I really really should do mine
Congrats!!! Really well done, it's an achievement and you should be proud.
I finally got MIMechE CEng some 13 years ago and now it just feels like a way to give out several hundred quid a year :/
Welcome to the club of paying professional membership fees for nothing in return ! 🙂
Good work Dirk.
Please don’t go down the path that a consultant took with us a while ago however…when questioned on his design he slapped the table, stood up and ranted to everyone round the table that “he had chartered status and wouldn’t be lectured by the likes of me”
Unfortunately there are people like that....
I tend to take on board people's comments about my designs as every day is a school day - Engineering is a collaborative process and all input is valid.
👍🏼😎
Welcome to the craft
Well done. Took about 15 years for a few of us at work to finally get round to getting CEng. Had associate membership for a long while before that (made sure I got in at that level before they changed the rules to the MEng degree nonsense). Can't say it has made a big difference - maybe useful for credibility with foreign customers. And signed the odd passport application 🙂
I’ve been a chartered Chemical Engineer since 2006. It’s pretty irrelevant to the work I do these days although I still work in the engineering sector. What my institute does for £300 a year I can’t fathom, but as work pay for it I’ll keep writing the cheque every December. I wouldn’t bother otherwise, but if you are practising it’s almost mandatory in my sector in terms of ‘proving’ competency to clients.
Welcome to the club of paying professional membership fees for nothing in return ! 🙂
CMarSci here, if work didn’t pay the fees I’m not sure I’d keep it up. Apparently I’m supposed to keep a record of CPD but handing over my corporate CC details once a year seems to suffice…
Thanks all.
I've been paying membership etc since I was a Student (27 years....) and member of the IIE as it was back then, then it changed to the IEEIE and then merged with the IEE and then changed to IET - think I may have singlehandedly paid for all the name changes over the years lol.
Agreed that if work didn't pay it now I don't think I'd bother at nearly £250/year.
Relevance to me is personal achievement, relevance to the Company is they can charge me out at a higher rate - they'll get way more than the £250 back lol
Previous company paid a £1k (taxable) bonus when you got Professional Registration - new company don't but I might be cheeky and ask lol.
In all seriousness though I am grateful to them for getting me back in full time employment.
Congrats. A few more letters after your name can help open doors and gives you a warm fuzzy feeling.
Fair play op and well done for putting yourself forward to do something positive for yourself, not always that easily done.
I almost started the process but was struggling to understand true benefits to doing so other than the feeling of a personal achievement (which in this case doesn't do a right lot for me).
Few comments from others about no benefits, but what are you hoping to get from it over the long term?
Serious/curious question 🙂
Yeah you get to refer to yourself as a technician engineer on STW
Well done!
Chartered, eh? Join the club!
Fair play op and well done for putting yourself forward to do something positive for yourself, not always that easily done.
I almost started the process but was struggling to understand true benefits to doing so other than the feeling of a personal achievement (which in this case doesn’t do a right lot for me).
Few comments from others about no benefits, but what are you hoping to get from it over the long term?
Serious/curious question 🙂
Long term not entirely sure tbh.
It's something I've always wanted to do and had to go out of my comfort zone to do it.
I hate having to talk about myself, promote myself and do presentations - so I really had to push myself to do this.
It looks good on the CV, shows commitment but probably more benefit to my employer.
It's been a challenge for me and has helped me overcome a mental block where work is concerned and how I dealt with the 'bad press' from my last job - it's give me the boost to know I can do my job and I'm at least half decent at it.
Ha, finished my degree in ‘94 and registered my part 1 CEng in ‘99 (to ensure my degree was accepted as a suitable qualification).
I did start my membership application seriously two or three times (changed jobs, had other competing interests) but when I took on my current job advised that I’d get CEng within a year (it actually took 14 months). That was 2018, only 19 years...
All, bar the professional interview, was undertaken in my own time.
For me, it has given me the standing and authority to oversee external design teams work and be respected (I pay £300+/annum, I damn well use my letters esp on my email signature!).
My institution (CIBSE) provides a whole wealth of guidance documentation (available free on download) and during lockdown has provided a multitude of webinars to keep up to date on the ongoing developments regarding covid and ventilation requirements, how to make buildings ‘safe’ for (re-)occupation, Net Zero and the circular economy amongst a whole raft of other things. I’m averaging two or three webinars a month at the moment.
It is also helping me backfill my ‘knowledge’ of electrical matters (I’m primarily of a mech and public health background).
Ironically, pre-CEng days I was of a similar mind of the all that money for what brigade. Probably save me £3k+ in fees though... 🤪
So congrats OP on your personal achievement.
Well done OP, from the people I've supported through the process a few of them have said how it has made them more confident, or deal with some kind of (completely unjustified) 'imposter syndrome'. A decent workplace recognition step in any event.
What my institute does for £300 a year I can’t fathom, but as work pay for it I’ll keep writing the cheque every December. I wouldn’t bother otherwise, but if you are practising it’s almost mandatory in my sector in terms of ‘proving’ competency to clients.
Two good points in here. Once you hold memberships at a certain grade, you accept that you are subject to a code of conduct and can face investigation if you get something wrong. I think that's a good thing in many areas of work.
On the 'what you get' thing, I have two professional bodies I belong to, at chartered/full member. One is really good, fights for professional recognition, releases really good technical guidance and does loads of engagement. The other seems to do very little indeed, but guess which one costs more and has the nice HQ..? 😀
Pfft 10 years in engineering and I'm only just about to have BEng on the end of my name.
Much debate going on at the moment as the company only pays full chartership membership... And everytime they ask they look confused when everyone says no to any other professional status.
Well done OP. I actually quite enjoyed the application process, reflecting on all the previous projects I'd been involved in over the 20 years I should have been trying harder to become chartered. 😁
I'm also in the can't really see what you get for the money club, but don't let us cynical gits take the shine off YOUR achievement. 👍
PS, if your company don't pay the fees for you, you can get tax relief on them which gets you a few quid back.
PS, if your company don’t pay the fees for you, you can get tax relief on them which gets you a few quid back.
Thank @tthew - wasn't aware of that!
Once again thanks all 👍
Personal achievement is surely the best reason to do it in my opinion, bonus if you end up getting paid more ultimately.
My degree is accredited for working towards Incorporated status too, I think if work offered (Aerospace) then I'd possibly go for it.
I'd like to do my masters one day but that's only really because I enjoyed studying more than I realised at the time and it would purely be for the sake of proving to myself that I'm capable.
I almost started the process but was struggling to understand true benefits to doing so other than the feeling of a personal achievement (which in this case doesn’t do a right lot for me).
The answer is very little as far as I can tell. I've been in Electronics / Telecoms R&D for 30+ years and honestly can say I don't really see the point of it. If I was a consultant, selling my wares on the open market then maybe having more letters after my name might have some benefit; but that's about it.
I've been working in civil engineering for nearly 20 years and not yet professionally qualified. It doesn't help that every couple of years ICE change their requirements meaning previous work may no longer be valid, or different requirements are set out.
Also not helped by my experience that Chartered Engineers seem to have less of a clue about what is actually deliverable with the available resources, and consistently produce unfeasible designs. The best engineers seem to be those that are always too busy doing their jobs to chase after getting the right letters after their names!!