After the help he personally received when applying for Chartered Engineer (CEng) status with the IET, Ranjit was keen to return the favour and therefore decided to volunteer as a mentor to fellow engineers.
“When I was applying for CEng I received a lot of help with my application and the communications I had from the IET were clear and delivered effectively. I was given all the right materials and resources to refer to while I was planning my application and these positive experiences encouraged me to become a mentor and help other CEng candidates achieve their goals,” he enthuses.
Ranjit, a lecturer attached to Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka is currently pursuing the final year of his PhD studies at Brunel University London. His own work commitments mean that all his mentoring takes place via email, an experience that is both interesting and challenging, as he explains.
“Sometimes it might feel difficult to put across the right idea to the candidate [via email] but after exchanging a few messages it starts to feel right. And even though all our communication is through email I can still feel their urge to succeed, which I admire. That feeling is something special for me.”
Ranjit highlights that being a mentor is very subjective and the experience depends on the individuals involved, but he believes it’s important for engineers to support each other and volunteering in such a way can help strengthen the international engineering community.
“Sharing your experience helps the IET and can build a healthier engineering community and network that reaches around the world.”
Interested in inspiring others?
If reading Ranjit's story has inspired you to help others, then find out more about volunteering as an IET Mentor.
