#EngineeringRecognition – “It’s helping me to progress faster”
“After graduating, one of my biggest questions was - how can I move forward in my career?” says Jaspreet Singh, an Engineer at independent firm Arup, which specialises in the built environment.
Encouraged by Arup and the example set by his grandfather, a registered engineer and IET Fellow, Jaspreet decided to follow the route to professional recognition with the IET.
“I attained my IEng [Incorporated Engineer] status about four months ago,” says Jaspreet. “It’s helping me to progress faster.
“Just the letters IEng after my name shows my clients, colleagues and possible employers my knowledge and skills. When I am speaking to new people, they are aware that they can use certain terms with me and can depend on me to deliver certain projects and meet deliverable dates.”
For Jaspreet, achieving IEng has opened up further development opportunities. Within the next two years, he plans to apply for Chartered Engineer (CEng) status, which will require him to show evidence of other skills, including innovation, creativity, technical and commercial leadership.
“I would love to lead projects, looking at both the financial and engineering aspects,” Jaspreet says. “You have your credit managers and your financial advisors who look at profits and losses, but its engineers who then have to make the numbers work.”
To get started on a pathway to professional recognition, Jaspreet recommends that IET members look at the Engineering Council’s UK-SPEC, which outlines the knowledge, experience and skills needed to achieve each professional status.
“Also ask your company to help you reach your competence goals,” he says. “At Arup, we have mentors, and colleagues who are going through the same process, which means you have a good support structure as you move ahead in your career.”
For members who want to achieve professional recognition, but do not have enough support from their company, the IET provides several services that can help. These include mentoring and advice on completing applications. “It’s better to seek support, than to remain confused for several years and end up going for it alone,” says Jaspreet.
If you’re thinking of becoming professionally registered – now or in the future – send us your ‘intent to register’ via Career Manager.
Already registered or working towards professional recognition?
Just like Jaspreet’s grandfather, you could make an early career engineer more aware of their options for professional development:
- Write a post on social media explaining how achieving a professional status has benefited you (or how you think it will benefit you).
- Tag our handle @theIET and use the hashtag #EngineeringRecognition in your post, so that we can find it and share it with more engineers and technologists.