Engineering is a key component of infrastructure and land development projects and whether you are starting out in your career or have years of experience, Chartered membership with Engineering New Zealand is an important and rewarding milestone to achieve.
Woods offers multiple pathways to achieve chartership including non-standard pathways for engineers who have not completed the Bachelor of Engineering degree.
Before joining Woods, I gained 10 years of knowledge and experience in the industry and had graduated with a Diploma in Engineering. The pathway to achieving chartership seemed difficult.
When I joined Woods in 2012 as a Senior Engineer, it was great to find a complete support network for additional training. I completed 3 Masters level papers and learnt a lot along the way before successfully completing the assessment to become a Chartered Professional Engineer.
It was exceptionally rewarding to achieve the benchmark having come from a non-standard direction that recognised my previous knowledge and experience. I then went on to help develop the Woods Chartership Development Programme in place today.
So, whether you are currently studying engineering or working in the industry, there is a pathway at Woods for you to help you achieve chartership.
Pathways to Engineering Chartership at Woods
The standard pathway to chartership requires completion of a Washington Accord 4-year Bachelor of Engineering degree before completing the Woods Graduate Development Programme. However, Woods also supports non-standard pathways for those who have gained knowledge and experience in the industry and completed the 2-year Diploma in Engineering, the 3-year Bachelor of Engineering Tech degree, or have an overseas engineering qualification that is not recognised under the Washington Accord.
An Overview of the Woods Graduate Development Programme
For graduates of the 4-year Bachelor of Engineering degree, the Woods Graduate Development Programme has been developed to lift graduate engineers to an intermediate level with the broad capabilities, knowledge, and experience needed to then apply for chartership.
Gain a well-rounded foundation of knowledge and experience
At Woods, our graduate engineers gain real-world experience in all areas of engineering. The Woods Graduate Development Programme also enables graduates to develop the soft skills required for projects such as running and documenting meetings, financial exposure (costs, invoices etc) project management, design work, consenting, detailed design including software packages, and all aspects of design related to land development, and general Civil Engineering.
A supportive network and a broad range of projects available
The scope of the projects at Woods and our full suite of in-house disciplines allows us to offer graduates the right project experience and support. Woods also supports extra training as required on the pathway to chartership.
Recognition of achievement
Woods is a Professional Development Partner (PDP) with Engineering New Zealand. This means that on completion of the graduate programme, Woods can recommend to Engineering New Zealand that the graduate is given full membership rather than graduate or student membership. This would otherwise require a formal application to Engineering New Zealand.
Upon completion of the programme, graduates may also be eligible for promotion.
An overview of the non-standard pathway to chartership at Woods
For engineers with industry experience who have completed the 2-year Diploma in Engineering, 3-year Bachelor of Engineering Tech, or a non-Washington Accord international engineering qualification, Woods supports non-standard pathways to chartership.
Knowledge profile and career assessment
The process starts by arranging an interview between the graduate and an independent advisor to understand the engineer’s knowledge and experience, and where they are in their career. The aim of this interview is to see whether they have an acceptable knowledge profile.
Mapping a pathway
From there, we will map a pathway including any additional training or experience they will need to gain. If any additional experience around complexities of work needs to be undertaken, we will find suitable projects within Woods and support our managers to provide those opportunities.
Support through the entire process
After completing the non-standard pathway and gaining sufficient knowledge and experience, an application for knowledge assessment can be prepared. This is reviewed by Engineering New Zealand assessors prior to a formal interview.
Woods conducts mock interviews to build confidence in presenting yourself and answering the type of questions you will be asked to give you the best chance of achieving Knowledge Assessment (Washington Accord Equivalency).
The standard Chartership pathway can then be followed with similar support from Woods.
Where a Chartered Professional Engineer membership can take you
Chartered membership is a benchmark recognised in the industry as a mark of quality, competence, and professional standing. It is the highest level of practising for an engineer and comes with recognition among peers and employers.
As an internationally recognised benchmark, Chartered Professional Engineers can transfer their competency to other countries around the world, however, they will need to gain local knowledge before they can apply for registration and practice at the same level.
Chartered Professional Engineers also certify designs, sign off construction works, act as expert witnesses in court proceedings, administer construction contracts, manage projects and teams, and are internationally recognised as trusted technical experts with high levels of ethical awareness.
If your goal is to become a Chartered Professional Engineer or you’d like to know more about working at Woods, visit the careers section of our website.
https://www.woods.co.nz/careers/
- Colin Dryland, Senior Associate Civil Engineer