Myth 1 - Age matters
It doesn’t – what matters is that you meet the competences for your registration category, which are set out in the Engineering Council’s UK-SPEC and ICTTech Standard documents.
Myth 2 - Academic qualifications are necessary
You don’t need a Master’s to become a Chartered Engineer (CEng), nor a Bachelor’s Degree to become an Incorporated Engineer (IEng). While academic qualifications are a great way to demonstrate your technical knowledge, many successful registrants have other vocational qualifications and/or work-based experience.
Myth 3 - You can only gain Engineering Technician (EngTech) or ICTTechnician (ICTTech) with an apprenticeship
An IET approved apprenticeship is a streamlined route to EngTech or ICTTech, but it’s not the only route. Again, it’s all about whether you meet the relevant competences.
Myth 4 - Professional Registration is not for Academics
Academics who’ve become registered with us would disagree. They say that registration is recognised by peers, allows them to take on more departmental responsibilities and get work abroad.
Myth 5 – You must work in innovation to become CEng
You don’t have to be working in innovation, you could have technical responsibility for complex or high-risk systems.
Myth 6 - You must line manage people to become IEng/CEng
You don’t have to be managing people, you could be demonstrating strong technical leadership or controlling other aspects of projects.
Myth 7 – You must manage a budget to become IEng/CEng
Managing a budget isn’t the only way of showing that you’ve had financial responsibilities. Experience with mergers and acquisitions, contracts, tenders, legacy and end of life parts replacement and experience from running your own business counts.
Myth 8 - A long application with lots of technical jargon shows your competence best
Assessors want you to get to the point in your application while giving them enough information to make a decision. As for jargon, assessors won’t necessarily see it as a mark of your competence, even if they’re experts in your field.
Myth 9 – You should talk exclusively about your day job
Assessors expect you to provide the most detail on your current role, but you can also draw on previous roles, placements and voluntary work.
Myth 10 - Questions on ethics and sustainability don’t count
You will fail if you show disregard for ethics, so make sure you have examples ready.
Myth 11 – You don’t need help with your application
We encourage candidates to get support from experienced, registered engineers to help them both with their development and with their application.
Mentors help candidates who want to develop competences and professionalism, and Professional Registration Advisors provide advice on ensuring candidates make the best application they can.
You can also download our myth busters as a PDF below.
For more information on any of the myths mentioned above or for anything in regards to Professional Registration please contact us by emailing profreginfo@theiet.org.
Interested in applying?
Apply to become Professionally Registered via Career Manager, our online skills and development recording tool.
Alternatively, you can apply offline by requesting our paper application forms from our website.