Chartered Engineers

NoseyMike2010

Any Chartered engineers here? Is it worth becoming Chartered?

annfield1978

chartered for about three years

back in the good days, companies offered bonuses for becoming chartered as an encouragement

i dont really see the benefit until Engineers have to sign off on drawings like they do in Europe and only chartered engineers can do this. Working on Polish jobs at the minute and 3 or 4 irish engineers are going through a lot of hoops to be recgonised as chartered over there

NoseyMike2010

Yeah ... I can't imagine companies offering many bonas's at the moment.

OCD

If you think becoming chartered is all about a few extra quid, then you've entered the wrong career. Being chartered is so much more than putting your name down on a form; it's about responsibility, knowledge, respect from your peers, design team colleagues and your clients. It's about personal and professional pride.

Ask yourself, assuming you've spent the guts of 8 years learning your chosen profession, why you wouldn't want to become chartered?

Why do you think this is a standard interview question? Employers want staff with self motivation and I would never take on someone that didn't show a drive for becoming chartered.

NoseyMike2010

OCD ... You make an awesome point. Thats got me thinking about it again. I am sure I will have some questions over the news few days that I hope you can answer!!!!

Thank you

OCD

No probs, ask away. I'm almost 15 years in the industry so hope I can help. If you don't get a response to something, pm me and let me know.

annfield1978

OCD wrote: »

If you think becoming chartered is all about a few extra quid, then you've entered the wrong career. Being chartered is so much more than putting your name down on a form; it's about responsibility, knowledge, respect from your peers, design team colleagues and your clients. It's about personal and professional pride.

Ask yourself, assuming you've spent the guts of 8 years learning your chosen profession, why you wouldn't want to become chartered?

Why do you think this is a standard interview question? Employers want staff with self motivation and I would never take on someone that didn't show a drive for becoming chartered.

If it was difficult to become chartered. , I would have alot more respect for it, Engineers Ireland is a joke, IStructE is a different matter however.
The title of Engineer is the problem, that any tom dick or Harry is able to call himself one.

dan_d

annfield, refer to the thread below.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055830714&highlight=meeting+engineers+ireland

I agree with what you're saying but OCD makes an excellent point. It's about a whole lot more than money.

Turbulent Bill

OCD wrote: »

If you think becoming chartered is all about a few extra quid, then you've entered the wrong career. Being chartered is so much more than putting your name down on a form; it's about responsibility, knowledge, respect from your peers, design team colleagues and your clients. It's about personal and professional pride.

Ask yourself, assuming you've spent the guts of 8 years learning your chosen profession, why you wouldn't want to become chartered?

Why do you think this is a standard interview question? Employers want staff with self motivation and I would never take on someone that didn't show a drive for becoming chartered.

Chartership is really just formal recognition for successfully demonstrating the range of skills and attributes an engineer needs. I don't think people deliberately change their mindset or become more professional in order to become chartered; it's just the natural evolution of a successful engineer. Responsibility, respect etc. comes through your actions and decisions rather than what title you hold, which should be self-evident to your colleagues and employer.

Whether you should become chartered depends heavily on the area you work in, and what your priorities are. In my field (mech) the vast majority of people (and employers) couldn't care less whether you are chartered of not, and there's no regulatory requirement - I understand civil is different.

For me chartership is a 'nice to have' title, and I may apply for it at some stage. If you're not a civil though there are plenty of other things you can do to show your expertise.

annfield1978

My point on the money is me being realistic, we work to live and live to work, the problem at the minute is that engineers are not being valued as much as other professions, banking/ legal/ medical etc, hence salaries are poor in comparison or maybe it is just a supply and demand thing ( ie pharmacists a few years ago as graduates were starting 70k) As I see it, the only way for a young engineer with a few years experience to engineer a promotion or salary increase is to become chartered. Unfortunately, I have a colleague who is my director and he is going around telling anyone that will listen how he doesnt see the need to be chartered even though he is very active within certain groups of the EI.

I do agree with some of your sentiments regarding someones own professional pride, I dont think clients worry too much about it, nor do colleagues. I am finding it interesting now, that my chartership has only become relevant because I am working on schemes in Poland, and no one can sign off on the drawings who are not a specialist in that field, so my company is going through a lot of hoops to get me and a few other engineers recognised over there, and so only now does the Chartered Engineer title I have gained become of importance.

NoseyMike2010

How exactly do you go about doing it. I mean surely if you work in a company office that material is confidential and you can't take it out.

What type of 'evidence' do you need to collect?? And how would you prove your work?

Ninja101

Check out these:

http://www.engineersireland.ie/membership/types-of-membership/professional-titles/

http://www.istructe.org/membership/grades/Pages/CharteredMember.aspx

OCD

annfield1978 wrote: »

If it was difficult to become chartered. , I would have alot more respect for it, Engineers Ireland is a joke, IStructE is a different matter however.

Depends on what your level of difficulty is. I did 34 hours of lectures per week with another 20-30 hours study/course work for 4 years, followed by 5 years of learning everything I could from senior engineers in an office, contractors on site and other disciplines, like architecture, m&e and quantity surveyors followed by a 5000 word report and essay and interviews. That's almost 10 years of my life and yet not everyone passes it first time.

Edit: there is a good reason the IStructE is a much tough experience and that partly boils down to it being an exam rather than a dissertation but mainly due to the fact that the IStructE is a very focussed body whereas the EI is a broad membership. Also, don't believe that because someone has the IStructE that they are superior to EI chartered engineers. In design, they probably are but there is much more to a project than design. They both have their merits and if you can go for both, then you should.

annfield1978 wrote: »

The title of Engineer is the problem, that any tom dick or Harry is able to call himself one.

True but not everyone can call themselves Chartered and that's exactly why I always refer to myself as a Chartered Engineer! It's up to us if we want to change the public perception.

OCD

annfield1978 wrote: »

Unfortunately, I have a colleague who is my director and he is going around telling anyone that will listen how he doesnt see the need to be chartered even though he is very active within certain groups of the EI.

A) don't listen to him.
seems like a conflicted person if he's active within EI but is preaching a different line.
C) is he chartered himself? If so, why would he preach the opposite? If he's not, then perhaps he has his own short comings.

In essence, there's absolutely no reason not to try to become chartered. It's all positive.

Dilbert75

OCD wrote: »

...not everyone can call themselves Chartered and that's exactly why I always refer to myself as a Chartered Engineer! It's up to us if we want to change the public perception.

Likewise, if only by putting it on my e-mail signature. Sometimes I feel a bit conspicuous doing it but then again I think its something to be proud of, so what the hell.:o

mikhail

annfield1978 wrote: »

If it was difficult to become chartered. , I would have alot more respect for it, Engineers Ireland is a joke, IStructE is a different matter however.
The title of Engineer is the problem, that any tom dick or Harry is able to call himself one.

You can say that again. My experiences with EI have been less than impressive. I'm eternally grateful that I'm not a Civil Engineer and don't have to put up with their nonsense. My uni qualifications speak for themselves in my field.

maximan

What sort of issues have people experienced with Eng Ire?

I've been working for 2-3 years now as an engineer, the most recent 2 years in the UK and am wondering whether to go for Chartership with EI or with ICE. I have an MSc also but am wondering what likelihood of my application getting accepted in 10 days time, anyone have any thoughts?

I'm not applying for remuneration but more for sense of achievement and pride in what I do. Have been working on a very intense repair novel project for last 16 months with escalating responsibility.

I know there's a great deal less paperwork to submit with the EI application which would lighten workload significantly but should I expect further problems with EI if I apply with them??

I also believe EI now carry out chartership interviews in London...

eoghan_85

maximan wrote: »

What sort of issues have people experienced with Eng Ire?

I've been working for 2-3 years now as an engineer, the most recent 2 years in the UK and am wondering whether to go for Chartership with EI or with ICE. I have an MSc also but am wondering what likelihood of my application getting accepted in 10 days time, anyone have any thoughts?

I'm not applying for remuneration but more for sense of achievement and pride in what I do. Have been working on a very intense repair novel project for last 16 months with escalating responsibility.

I know there's a great deal less paperwork to submit with the EI application which would lighten workload significantly but should I expect further problems with EI if I apply with them??

I also believe EI now carry out chartership interviews in London...

I know that in my own company that the Chartered status counts for nothing at all (working in Ireland) other than a sense of achievement, regardless of which institute has awarded the status. However, it will stand to you in lots of companies internationally where it is stipulated that chartered status is required. In that context, the EI status is internationally recognised and will provide with the platform to get through that hoop! However, personally speaking as an electrical engineer I know from a lot of my colleagues that getting chartered status with EI is simple to obtain and that they dont really care about having any technical knowledge whatsoever and instead are more focussed on wishy washy safety stuff or totally generic reports that have nothing whatsoever to do with the calibre of engineer that you are. From that viewpoint, I can't say that I would give any weight whatsoever to one's Chartered Engineer status with EI, but that's not to say that I would dismiss the person's ability either.
All said and done, if you're looking for an easy route to be able to call yourself a chartered engineer, go with EI. If you're going to try and go down a tougher more recognised route, then take a look elsewhere.

nogoodnamesleft

Im working as an electrical engineer with a multinational electrical engineering company in the UK at present. They are actively promoting engineers to become chartered even those with a number of years experience. The title for becoming chartered is "professional engineer" in the UK. I will be getting chartered hopefully in a few years as I have transferable skills from my previous employer.

There are benefits as many companies will pay a premium for chartered engineers as they are frequently required to have x many chartered engineers working on certain projects most of what we work on are (international projects as well as doing domestic stuff for the national grid). There are a lot of non technical criteria that have to be fulfilled such as promoting engineering to young people etc.

Its a requirement that to become chartered with the IET individuals must have a MSc or have significant experience in a related area.

It is nice to know after of going to the expense and time of getting a higher advanced degree there are other professional benefits associated with applying yourself.

2rkehij30qtza5

OCD wrote: »

If you think becoming chartered is all about a few extra quid, then you've entered the wrong career. Being chartered is so much more than putting your name down on a form; it's about responsibility, knowledge, respect from your peers, design team colleagues and your clients. It's about personal and professional pride.

Ask yourself, assuming you've spent the guts of 8 years learning your chosen profession, why you wouldn't want to become chartered?
.

I agree with this statement.

However I do think Engineers Ireland is a bit of a joke. I don't feel they protect the profession the way they should. Too many mickey mouse courses approved by Engineers Ireland and it just lowers the overall standard in my opinion.

Even the Engineers Journal is shoddy in comparison to its UK counterparts. It only comes out once every two months now and it lacks content.

Howandever, I am chartered for a good few years now and even though it doesn't really 'do' anything for me careerwise, I feel that seeing as I achieved the standard etc I may aswell keep the title...so I continue to pay the fees.

Certainly I know from an employer prospect when interviewing I would generally prefer a chartered engineer over a non-chartered if they were 4+ years out. It shows drive and a sense of accomplishment.

323

eoghan_85 wrote: »

I know that in my own company that the Chartered status counts for nothing at all (working in Ireland) other than a sense of achievement, regardless of which institute has awarded the status. However, it will stand to you in lots of companies internationally where it is stipulated that chartered status is required. In that context, the EI status is internationally recognised and will provide with the platform to get through that hoop! However, personally speaking as an electrical engineer I know from a lot of my colleagues that getting chartered status with EI is simple to obtain and that they dont really care about having any technical knowledge whatsoever and instead are more focussed on wishy washy safety stuff or totally generic reports that have nothing whatsoever to do with the calibre of engineer that you are. From that viewpoint, I can't say that I would give any weight whatsoever to one's Chartered Engineer status with EI, but that's not to say that I would dismiss the person's ability either.
All said and done, if you're looking for an easy route to be able to call yourself a chartered engineer, go with EI. If you're going to try and go down a tougher more recognised route, then take a look elsewhere.

Had honestly thought chartered status was all but impossible for Electrical or instrument engineers etc. with the EI. Was a member for a few years, with a long term view to going for Chartered status. For myself only as in my case also it counts for nothing at work.

Not being civil background (have freinds Chartered civil engineers so not knocking anyone), whenever I contacted them got the feeling they felt they were talking to a lower life form. Took a look elsewhere and now going down a tougher more recognised route.
As to the OP, chartered status obviously carries more meaning in some industries. Now planning for next year but other than maybe satisfying a personal sense of achievement, do not think it will make a difference professionally.

A fella called fish

I'm a civil/structural Engineer and it was always a personal goal of mine to become Chartered. When I first became Chartered with EI all I got in work was "Good man, IStructE next".

2 years later I sat the IStructE exam, passed it and got "fair play, well done".

So if you think that Chartership is going to get you rich, it wont. It will however satisfy a personal goal, give you more respect at meetings/when dealing with other Engineers and give you a good sense of achievement. If it's money you're after...then you're in the wrong game.

sparks82

Do you need a masters degree to become a chartered engineer with engineers Ireland? I have a first class honours degree (level 8) in electrical services engineering and 40 hours of CPD.

A colleague of mine is chartered and only has an honours degree, however on Engineers Ireland website it appears that a masters degree is required.

sparks82

sparks82 wrote: »

Do you need a masters degree to become a chartered engineer with engineers Ireland? I have a first class honours degree (level 8) in electrical services engineering and 40 hours of CPD.

A colleague of mine is chartered and only has an honours degree, however on Engineers Ireland website it appears that a masters degree is required.

Read the regulations, accredited level 8s are fine if you graduated before 2012.

godtabh

I'm not saying this will happen but if you present yourself as an electrical services engineer I think EI would be more than welcoming to get you chartered.

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