Abstract
How did you get your professional qualifications as an engineer? Would you like to help your work mates get theirs? Would you like to contribute to the Institute’s efforts and activities as a professional qualifying body? Would you like to join those members who volunteer their time, professional experience and expertise so that the currency of the professional qualifications which you hold is maintained? How could you do so?
First, there is an ongoing need for qualified members to evaluate individuals’ experience and competence. This process is the Professional Review and Interview, and it is key to the eventual registration of members as Engineering Technicians and Incorporated and Chartered Engineers. Second, the Institute is constantly looking for qualified members to participate in the accreditation of degree and diploma programmes and in the approval of employers’ training schemes. Whether in an academic or industry context, accreditation and approval provide individuals who are aspiring to become professionally qualified with assured routes for achieving this. Whatever their context, all assessments are made against set criteria and in keeping with established procedures. Finally, the Professional Registration Committee which oversees all registration with the Engineering Council constantly needs volunteers to participate in its deliberations and so help its decisions.
Becoming an Assessor in anyone or all of these activities is neither difficult nor mysterious. All it takes is an enquiry to the Institute. Fresh faces, fresh approaches and fresh skills are always welcome.
The training of Assessors normally comprises a shadowing induction process – that is, new Assessors observe, and increasingly participate in, assessment activities – and workshops, run by the Institute, other engineering institutions and the Engineering Council, which focus on new processes, best practices and sharing experiences. Most, if not all, workshops are informative but relaxed occasions, particularly those that are held in the evenings. All training is recorded by the Institute and, with the assessment activities themselves, is recognised as a significant area of members’ continuing professional development.
There is no financial remuneration for Assessors, the only payments by the Institute being those for any reasonable travel and subsistence costs that are incurred. That said, involvement with the activities described above brings other rewards. There is the satisfaction of knowing that you are supporting the development of others who are aspiring to reach the same professional standing as you. Also, you become an ambassador for, and the face of, the Institute. In particular, through contact with new peers and ideas and through the exchange of knowledge and experience, your own professional development gains further dimension. Whatever the activity, Assessors invariably find their involvement fulfilling and stimulating.
If you are interested in supporting your profession by becoming an Assessor and would like to know more about this, please contact Peter Martindale (
So what are you waiting for?