The road to becoming a chartered engineer (civil)

breadmonkey

I'm just curious about how one actually becomes a chartered engineer.

Do you pick up the know-how purely from work?
What is involved in terms of exams?
Are the exams specialized (e.g. bridges, roads, water etc)?
How long does it typically take?
What is the average salary for a chartered engineer?

Thanks

Dundhoone

Google is your friend, dont be getting lazy now!

http://www.iei.ie/InternationalAgree/chartengineer.pasp


1. Yes , 4 years post grad minimum
2. No exams - professional report + essays + interview
3. see 2
4. 6 months from application to interview
5. No salary change in my experience public or private. Good for the cv.

Michael Collins

Dundhoone wrote: »

Google is your friend, dont be getting lazy now!

There's nothing wrong with asking for people's own experiences...:rolleyes:

http://www.iei.ie/InternationalAgree/chartengineer.pasp
1. Yes , 4 years post grad minimum

That's 4 years work experience i assume, as opposed to 4 years in a postgraduate qualification...

godtabh

Dundhoone wrote: »

1. Yes , 4 years post grad minimum

This isn't set in stone and is more of a recommendation than a requirement

aquascrotum

Do you pick up the know-how purely from work? - Yep. Get a decent emplyer who isn't afraid to send you on a few courses.

What is involved in terms of exams? - depends on your chosen institution - I started with ICE but have moved over to IEI. Generally speaking you'll produce a log/diary of experience accrued. You'll produce a project experience report detailing one or a number of schemes you#ve worked on. Then an interview. In ICE you then had to sit an essay exam, not sure if that exists with IEI.

Are the exams specialized (e.g. bridges, roads, water etc)? - any exam/interview panel will be tailored depending on what you put in your experience report.

How long does it typically take? Min. 4yrs post grad experience. You'll know when you're ready yourself like. Some do it after 4 but its quite rare in my experience.

What is the average salary for a chartered engineer? As far as I know about 55k+ - I've not been in RoI long but I hope to find out fairly shortly...

Beware though that you have an accredited degree - since 2001 (I think) you have to have an MEng to go straight for CEng after you've got your experience. If you're college neglects to tell you this minor detail like mine did and you have a BEng or BSc, you'll need to either sit a professional review for Incorporated Engineer before getting some more experience and another CEng review (ICE only), or do a postgrad Masters ("top-up qualification"), or else produce an experience report after min. 1yr for IEI saying how your experience to date is the equivalent of an MEng.

It's a ballache amount of work but in the larger companies its a huge glass ceiling salary-wise if you don't try and get CEng. Handiest way to get info is from ICE / IEI.

breadmonkey

aquascrotum wrote: »

It's a ballache amount of work but in the larger companies its a huge glass ceiling salary-wise if you don't try and get CEng. Handiest way to get info is from ICE / IEI.

Thanks that was very helpful but I can't figure out what the above means!

aquascrotum

breadmonkey wrote: »

Thanks that was very helpful but I can't figure out what the above means!

Sorry.....basically getting chartered is a lot of time, work and effort - but in many larger firms, unless you attain CEng status your career progression (and salary) will stall.

Dunno about RoI firms, but graduate civils in Belfast/NI generally start in consultancies around £20k stg. After say 4 years you could expect to earn 27-28k, which isn't bad - however after that you're increase would be pretty much in line with inflation only. To get into the next salary band (ie £30-35k stg+) you'll need some more letters after your name. Smaller companies - in my experience - tend to judge you on how well you do your job rather than how many letters you have.

bowsie casey

I qualified as a Civil Eng but have worked for 7 years in the oil business. The first 4 years were more mechanical engineering, but specific to the technology we were using, then 3 years in engineering management. Now I'm back in Ireland, would like to get the letters after my name, but am afraid that I don't fit into a box (civil, mech etc). In the UK I could probably pass myself off as a Petroleum Engineer, but don't think the IEI have such a thing.

Will I find it difficult to get chartered through IEI ?

Turbulent Bill

Engineers Ireland are running information nights on chartership at the moment; I was at one about a fortnight ago in Clyde Road. They said that others would be held around the country, check the site for details.

shakeydude

meeting on Chartership(???) in Cork, Tuesday the 6th of November at 18:00 Rochestown Park Hotel

Morgase

bowsie casey wrote: »

Will I find it difficult to get chartered through IEI ?

No, they are reputed to be easier to get chartered with than other associations.

You don't need to put yourself into a box; Engineers Ireland will do their best to have people from your field on your interview panel. Give them a call or e-mail, they are quite helpful.

Dundhoone

@Kearns - its very unlikely that someone with four years experience would have 2 years in full responsiblity of significant engineering works. Anyone who put a grad with 2 years in full charge of a project aint bright.
I've not heard of anyone becoming chartered with <4yrs , correct me if you have.

Also.
Engineers Ireland have a committee considering how to revise the chartership mechanism. They feel its not tough enough (though it did all of them fine when they were going for chartership!)

So apply soon if you are eligable!

david4791

Does anybody know where I could get a hold of past essays written when applying for C Eng Title?. I must submit 2 essays from the list below.:)The following are the essay titles:


PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT/THE ENVIRONMENT/HEALTH AND SAFETY/PROJECT MGMT/DISPUTE RESOLUTION/CPD/IT

godtabh

see response to your other thread.

Dont bump zombie threads.