Dear IET

I have seven years experience in the design and execution of process control and instrumentation systems in the power industry. I am currently assembling my application for CEng and have a query on the format of the latest edition of the application form (2011).

I would be grateful if somone can clarify which section the competency statements have to be entered in the application form. Traditionally, i beileve it was via a seperate 'competency report' which addressing each area of competency as a seperate area/question (20 Q's). Would the IEC accept a seperate competency report document even though its not catered for in the latest edition of the application form ?

Cheers,

Chris

Hello Chris,

I suggest you simply annotate section J with the relevant competence letters, on a paragraph by paragraph basis. This helps you to ensure that you have all 16 competences covered, and it can help the assessors to understand where you are coming from as they read through your form. Just add the competences at the end of each paragraph:

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah [A1, B2, C3]

If you need someone to give you individual advice, you can either contact a local PRA via the IET website, or alternatively send me a PM if you would like me to help.

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David Parr BSc.CEng MIET
PRA

David,

Thanks for the advice. Thats understood.

One last query, is their a word limit to be adhered to for section J if this is the area to enter the evidence ?

Regards, Chris.

I recently drafted a CEng application and based section J on my CV, which was relatively detailed (for a CV) and used active language, and was also effective in helping me to get a new job. I intended merely to add the competency references in brackets after each point, as David suggested, and felt that I had good coverage of most.

I had assumed that it would be necessary to keep section J within the defined size in the template. It all seemed too easy...

Turned out this was completely the wrong approach. The level of detail in my CV turned out to be completely inadequate to enable the necessary assessment. Apparently 15-45 pages is a "normal" length for section J!

This was a big surprise as ex-colleagues achieved CEng through the IMechE using the approach I took initially.

So I have started again, this time using Career Manager, which makes it possible to work on the application from both home and work, so I can add a couple of lines through the day as I get ideas. This is proving to be very effective at building up detail, but I have yet to see how it will transfer to the application form.

Through this experience I have learned that there is a big difference between what the IET is looking for, and what a prospective employer is looking for. A CV needs to be brief and punchy, but for a CEng application, the "strength in depth" of the written evidence seems to be the main priority. After all, scoring min. 2.5/4 (on average) across all the competencies cannot be achieved or assessed using single examples like a CV. It requires years of consistent effort (and opportunities) to be able to demonstrate the professionalism of a CEng candidate to the standard that the IET is seeking. For me, that's still a work in progress, but a worthwhile goal.

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Regards,
Geoff Kermode

2 to 3 pages should be an adequate length for section J. Post submission, you may be asked for a little more on one or more specific issues. This has been the approach for approx. the last three years.

The IET are about to launch a new version of Career Manager which is a much better integrated system. Career Manager is most useful when used from the start of your professional engineering career. Anyone actively using Career Manager now will have their data automatically transferred to the new system when it goes live.

Regards,

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David Parr BSc.CEng MIET
PRA

Thank you David, that would mean that I am not so far off. But I feel a little confused that such different advice can be given. I suppose it is just a matter of keeping going until the form meets the expectations of whoever is going to assess it, and these may be unexpected! I generally aim to keep my career under my own control. It is a matter of professionalism, after all. I'm looking forward to seeing the new Career Manager. I hope all the entered data will be preserved.

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Regards,
Geoff Kermode

Hi David,

Regarding section J, do you think it would be a nice to include a table to mention the courses taught by me in different semesters. Latter I will write a paragraph about my taught courses followed by a competence reference as suggested by you.

Regards,
Bilal

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Bilal, BSc, MSc, MIET

Hi Bilal,

A table might be useful if it helps the assessor to understand your competences - that is what is important. My only concern would be that the IET form might be broken by adding another level of embedded tables (Open Office can't cope as it is!).

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David Parr BSc.CEng MIET
PRA