IEI Membership

CathalMc

Hi
I'm about to qualify (WOOHOO!) with my BE (Microelectronic Engineering) this Summer, and the IEI are in touch with us pushing membership. Any of you current/past members that would recommend this? Or actually, to open this up a bit more, what professional organisations would you recommend membership with? I will be pursuing postgraduate studies.

cerebus

CathalMc wrote:

the IEI are in touch with us pushing membership. Any of you current/past members that would recommend this? Or actually, to open this up a bit more, what professional organisations would you recommend

Don't know if I would be bothered with the IEI. (Though I seem to remember they did offer some kind of cheap car insurance deal to members, so maybe that would be of interest if they still provide it?)

I think the IEEE is well worth joining. Depending on what area you end up specialising in, the ACM may also be of interest.

Nukem

YA been a member for a while and tell ya the truth its not all its cracked up to be. Handy if you have a genuine bitch bout engineering in Ireland,nice to deal with but unless your in contact with them ya dont get much,maybe a card or an e-mail every once in a while.......................of to IEI.ie now.

Nukem

Dundhoone

Wait till you get a job, your work should pay the IEI sub. Im a member, and did get a better car insurance deal by using my membership. But apart from that, the IEI is of no use at all.

I mean they organise a lot of golf outings and presentations (for your continuing professional development if you dont mind) but i remember being disgusted at wasting a day at one when i was just out of college because you'd have gotten the days worth of IEI organised waffle in a single college lecture. Now i go cause its a day outa work and I'd say that the motivation for a lot of folks!

You get a few quid off the entry fee to the above if you are a member
plus you get a nice plastic card and you get to put MIEI after your name but just remember the well known engineering principle that the more letters you have, the shorter your mickey is.

I think I may have some issues with my membership. I'd really like an organisation that were getting off their arses to improve working conditions , pay and benefits for their members, but a union it aint!

blondie83

If your planning on working in Ireland you'll probably be better off joining the IEI. If your planning on working in England you'd want to join the IEE (Institute of Electrical engineers - English organisation), and if your planning on working anywhere else in the world it would be handy to be a member of the IEEE (Institute of electronic and electrical engineers - American organisation). I'm graduating this Summer too, got my IEI one sorted, and am gonna do the other two as soon as exams are over. Can't hurt to be a member of all of them like.

CathalMc

Ya, I have given quite a bit of thought to joining the IEEE as I will hopefully be crossing the big puddle in a year or two's time. Apart from the sort of ancillary benefits, VHI reductions, car insurance etc, there doesn't seem to be much to warrant joining the IEI quite yet. The jobs market for us seems strong at the moment and Ireland is so small that I imagine the ordinary membership doesn't mean anything to the average employer. And as far as I can ascertain, if at some later stage, with several industry feathers in ones cap and all prerequisites met, you can apply directly for status of chartered engineer (at which point the membership has become an accolade with industry recognition, and perhaps worthy of actually paying for).

Of course, as stated before, if you're getting it paid for by your job, then this is a mute point, and blondie83, if you are intent on working then I think joining several can't be a bad move at all, certainly for a while to gauge how actually useful they are, and as suggested by some other posts, to improve your golf game .

Dundhoone: I think the issue of engineering unions (or lack thereof) is an interesting one. I remember reading an article on eetimes.com a while back about this, but it was a bit short of conclusions. It seems a tradition for engineers not to have a union. I'm aware some of the power engineering guys can have it rough sometimes, but it seems like elec eng'ers in general rarely get too screwed by the industry. To my knowledge neccessity has never driven us to produce a union anywhere (I'd be interested if someone knows differently), so perhaps it's a culture thing?

a_ominous

My primary degree is electronic engineering. I've been a member of both IEI and IEE. Joined IEI when I worked in ESB, but was of no real use. Most people I knew who joined it got their cheaper car insurance (wasn't cheap then, still isn't). VHI: there's plenty of group schemes, in work, credit union, etc. so no real use there.
IEE was of more use in the early days as they published magazines more related to my area of study, but since I've been in the software business for years now, neither is of any use to me. When I was in ESB, there was recognition of the IEI and some people pursued the CPD (Continuning Professional Development, I think) to get the C.Eng.
Anyhow, I've gone to the dark side and am doing an MBA now. A few people in my class have gone down that route.
I think if you were in a discipline like civil or electrical, IEI might be of some use, especially if you're working on your own doing contract work.

Oh even if the job doesn't pay the subscription, professional membership fees like trade union subs are tax deductible.

daveirl

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midnorthfourzer

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

join as an ordinary member? that's a hefty 210 euro - hope your potential insurance savings are way in excess of that. Just in general, isn't it a bad reflection on a society whose main selling point is cheaper insurance-the magazines are woeful though-when I was getting them (gave up membership years ago), they were mainly focused on civil eng and mixing frickin concrete. On the health insurance issue, did you try Bupa? The age profile of VHI subscribers in Ireland is much older than Bupa's which will probably result in even higher premiums in a few years as the claims start rolling in even faster.

toiletduck

i joined free as a student and didnt renew my membership (because the IEEE are much better for electronic engineers such as myself imo) but i still keep getting their awful magazine, which is full of civil engineering articles and ad after ad for building suppliers!

aodh_rua

If you're a postgrad, membership is only €20 so it's not exactly a fortune. I'm a member, but as I can't say there's much professional gain to be had from it unless you're a civil or a mechanical engineer. I'm also a member of the IEEE and I think access to their materials is probably more appropriate for your field.

themole

i joined the IEI and IEE while in college doing elec and Compe eng at nuig.

i am now doing a postgrad in UCD and have also joined IEEE.

The IEEE is by far the best of the three and student membership is only $25, they have lots of good publications etc.

the IEI id the governing body, for elec at least, in ireland. you need to join to get chartered status, as mentioned before.

but you have to be a member for several years to get this, you can't just join show them your experience and get a C.Eng.

chartered status is valid all over the world, including the states.


so, in closing. if your in college its worth joining all three. i intend dropping the IEE when i'm finished in college, will deffo remain in IEEE, may stay in IEI. could also join ACM,
oh, ya, am also a member of the IEEE computer society, again only cost around $15.

A Dub in Glasgo

Joining any organisation is only worth it if you are interested in the periodicals/papers, attending the talks or working towards Chartered Status. I am a member of IEE and got my CEng last year. I am also a member of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers as that is the most relevant to my job.

toiletduck

Can i just ask whats the big deal with chartered status? im going into final year but im just wondering what does it actually mean, what are the advantages (if any)?

copacetic

chartered is useful if you are civil and thats it, need to be working for a few years before you can get it anyway.

in the iei and it is feckin useless, i really begrudge paying them every year but do it as 75% of people do for the cheap insurance(the other 25% are civil).

This year it looks like finally it will work out as cheap not paying IEI membership and getting seperate insurance, but it did sort it out for me when I started 6 years ago.
At the time on a 1 year old focus with a provisional my best quote was 4k and glennons gave me it for 1600, so it was a life saver...

copacetic

just a comment on the IEE and IEEE, imho unless you are planning on lecturing or doing special research they are useless, of no practical value when you actually start working. You soon learn that most of what you learnt in college was useless too!!

I'm doing some sifting of CV's at the moment and the people who make a big deal out of being BE, MSc, MIEI, MIEEE or whatever are not helping their cause, do people not realise that anyone we are looking for can have all these letters after their name???

themole

daveym wrote:

I'm doing some sifting of CV's at the moment and the people who make a big deal out of being BE, MSc, MIEI, MIEEE

the advantage of being MIEEE is that the employer knows that the IEEE recognise your degree/qualification.

this is of more importance if you are applying for a job/position in a country in which you did not do your degree and hence may not have heard of your university/institution before.

A Dub in Glasgo

daveym wrote:

just a comment on the IEE and IEEE, imho unless you are planning on lecturing or doing special research they are useless, of no practical value when you actually start working. You soon learn that most of what you learnt in college was useless too!!

I'm doing some sifting of CV's at the moment and the people who make a big deal out of being BE, MSc, MIEI, MIEEE or whatever are not helping their cause, do people not realise that anyone we are looking for can have all these letters after their name???

You cannot just blythly be dismissive of these things. The importance of Chartered will depend on the employer and the industry. Some industries will place the requirement for Chartered on a much higher agenda especially for senior Engineers where their decisions can impact safety or high risk projects.

Chartered is the professional recognition of your skills as an Engineer. It is meant to show that you have attained a level of professionalism/integrity in the your work and you use Engineering judgement wisely. Some companies have respect for that, some do not. Do not forget that any man and is dog can call themselves an Engineer when in reality they may be technicians. Becoming Chartered will mean it is easier to work across industries and companies as you will have attained that level.

It is similar to Accountants who wish to get their Chartered status although the Accountancy companies do recognise Chartership a lot more than the Engineering companies. I would say it is a small minded company who will not interview based on the candidtates use of formal qualifications and professional memberships.

If you have an interest to professional development during your working life, work towards chartership. If you want to be professionally recognised as an Engineer, work towards chartership. If you are not fussed either way...



JK B.Eng C.Eng MIEE MIRSE

copacetic

thats all rubbish unless you are civil....

absolutely no company employing an electronic engineer could give 2 craps
whether you are chartered or not. No matter what the level.
I never said I wouldn't interview based
on formal qualifications, but professional memberships mean nada..

A Dub in Glasgo

daveym wrote:

thats all rubbish unless you are civil....

All rubbish? That is, of course, in your opinion. I have a different opinion. Did you miss the words I have put in bold?

'The importance of Chartered will depend on the employer and the industry. Some industries will place the requirement for Chartered on a much higher agenda especially for senior Engineers where their decisions can impact safety or high risk projects.'

absolutely no company employing an electronic engineer could give 2 craps
whether you are chartered or not. No matter what the level.

Absolutely no company? I know plenty of companies who require their senior Engineers (Electronics/Electrical/Telecoms) to be Chartered or actively working towards Chartered especially if their decisions impact on safety.

I never said I wouldn't interview based
on formal qualifications, but professional memberships mean nada..

Again, I said it will depend on the employer and the industry. Your employer and/or industry obviously does not place any relevance to them.

copacetic

as you say we all have our opinion, i made the point myself in the original
post that civil was different and that it was my 'in my humble/honest' opinion.

well all i can say is that i would consider myself an expert on electronics and none of the companies I know in this area in Ireland care about chartership, and I know them
all.

Dundhoone

i'll back that up, I might think the IEI is a pile of old socks but getting the chartership is worth while. It is still something thats looked for on the cv of an engineer whos out 5 yrs + . In the world of Civil Eng anyway.

copacetic

totally agree as far as civil is concerned, my mate stayed an extra year in ireland
to get chartered before he headed to oz, interesting point though for working down under
on full visa, they didn't care that he was in IEI he had to submit his qualifications for
approval that he was a valid engineer..

joe.

I hope the OP does not mind me hijacking this thread temporarily but I got my application for IEI student membership in post today. The only reason I am interested is to access the Institute library online as it may come in handy for projects. The thing is I need to have a current member of the IEI as a supporter to send the application. If anybody could do me a huge favour and be that supporter I will be very grateful. Pm me if you are willing.

Thanks

memeryd

Well obviously I must be strange fish as I'm a member of both the IEI and the IEE and I much prefer the IEI. I originally joined the IEI to gain chartership while in college, the IEE was free as a student. The IEI seminars and presentations can be interesting and its sectors and divisions have expanded to cater for more branches of engineering, I'm electronic and computer engineering from TCD.

And then when I finally finished college and got a real job I discovered that my boss wanted all new entrants to join IEI and eventually gain chartership, strong supporter of CPD and training. So at least that is one employer who appreciates professional recognition.

CathalMc

Thats pretty interesting memeryd. Could you tell me/us what specific field you're in (ideally the company you work for if you're comfortable with that) and what motivation your boss has for this?

toiletduck

at the multinational im working at for the summer, nobody seems to give a rats ass about being chartered or not