After 4 (or more) years in school, you’re probably enjoying being out in the workforce as an Engineer in training. You’re starting to think ahead to your P. Eng., but it still seems like a long time away. Besides, how are you supposed to keep working on one application for years? To answer that, we need to understand the application, let's break down the major requirements. For a detailed list of requirements check out our complete guide to the P. Eng. application in Alberta.
First, to be eligible to apply applicants need 4 years of eligible work experience. After the infinite years of University, this may seem like an eternity, but time starts to speed up as you get older. During these 4 years, applicants must gain a variety of experiences to fulfill 22 different competencies ranging from technical skills to communication. To demonstrate that they satisfy the competency, applicants will need to write summaries that draw on their real-world experiences, and it needs to be specific about the applicant's contributions or they risk their application being deferred. It’s no joke and overwhelming to get started.
You might want to procrastinate, and that’s completely fair. 4 years seems like plenty of time to get all 22 competencies. But the reality is that you want to start compiling your experience for your application as soon as possible. This will make it easier for you to go through the application process, and increase your chances of getting your designation on the first try. It will also help you identify any competencies that you might not be able to achieve with your current role.
When to Start Your P.Eng. Application?
As the saying goes, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time to plant one is now. The same goes for your P.Eng. application: if you’ve been putting it off the time to start is now.
The advice may be cheesy, but it will genuinely make your life easier to start early. The format of the application is like answering questions at a job interview. Think about the last time you interviewed. When answering questions, how many examples were from your most recent job? Probably most of them. It’s much easier to recall recent events in detail to demonstrate your competency than to remember work from 4 years ago. But there were probably some curveball questions touching on skills you simply didn’t need at your last job, and that’s where key experiences from other roles come in handy.
The application competencies are more stringent in their scope than an interview question, and that’s why starting early and documenting the details of your work experience along the way is so important. It’s challenging to remember specific details of competencies you demonstrated in the first few months or years as an E.I.T. And if you don’t remember, you’ll be spending hours reading old log books and emails to jog your memory.
Starting Early = Spotting Opportunities
Taking time to compare your experience to the application requirements is essential to ensure you’ll be able to achieve all of the competencies. It’s common for EITs to find that the role they’re in simply does not fulfill every competency. This is only a problem if you are paying attention, then you might find yourself needing more experience even after four years, or worse having your application deferred by APEGA requiring more time. If you start early, you can turn this potential problem into an opportunity that benefits your P. Eng. application and your overall career development.
If your current role simply can’t fulfill a competency then this is an opportunity to grow. Discuss career development with your manager and mentors. You’ll be surprised at what opportunities can arise if you simply ask. While EITs at companies with robust rotation programs may have no trouble moving around to fulfill competencies, smaller firms will likely be happy to facilitate cross-functional training without leaving your current role. Working in operations? Ask to design or assist a designer on a project that interests you. Someone working in a highly technical role might ask to be the project manager for a small construction project while continuing their regular duties. These creative and complimentary opportunities won’t just help satisfy the competencies, you’ll grow your network along with your career.
For those who absolutely can’t find opportunities internally, that’s probably a good sign it’s time to move on. A rule of thumb for internal or external moves is to change roles every X years based on the number at the front of your age. So every 2 years in your 20’s, 3 in your 30’s, etc. It’s not a strict rule, but if you’re starting to feel stagnant after a couple of years then consider making a change.
PYPD isn’t just for becoming a full-fledged engineer. Understanding your experience and what skills you have developed provides essential insight. See how you can use our tool to explore your career, beyond becoming a P. Eng.
How to Start Your P.Eng. Application?
The simple fact is: the sooner you get started on your P.Eng. application, the better. But where to start? You’re in the right place! PYPD offers several solutions to support you while working on your P.Eng. application. With email reminders, application templates, writing resources, and a dashboard for managing your experience and application, PYPD will save you hours of research and frustration.
Not ready to apply or just getting started?
• Read through the competency requirements to get an idea of what you need
• Start tracking your work now with PYPD’s work experience log
Ready to write your application?
• Leverage the work log as a planning tool to organize what experience you will write about for each competency
• Use PYPD’s application template to structure your application the way APEGA wants it