Writing Tips For CPEng ECC (Engineering Competency Claims)

Writing Tips For CPEng ECC (Engineering Competency Claims)

The engineers who dream of being a Chartered Professional Engineer or CPEng in Australia have to go through Stage 2 Competency Standard assessment. Here, they prove their work experience, skills and knowledge to attain the Chartered status.

For engineering competency assessment by Engineers Australia, the engineer has to submit many documents. One of those necessary documents is Engineering Competency Claims (ECCs). Here, we will tell you how to prepare an excellent ECC. However, before we familiarize you with the ECC, we find it important to familiarize you with the pathways to become an Engineers Australia CPEng.

CPEng assessment pathways:

The ECC report has 11 to 16 claims, determined by the Chartered assessment pathway you choose. The following are the four pathways leading to Chartered Engineering assessment:    

Professional Development Program (PDP) Engineering Competency Report (ECR) Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) Matured Experienced Engineer (MEEE)

If you decide to get evaluated through an Engineering Competency Report (ECR), you will be required to submit 16 Engineering Competency Claims in total. It’s wise to describe completely the

engineering contribution you made in technical projects in your career as an engineer in all ECCs.

Tips for writing an excellent ECCs:

Some key points to be kept in mind for a perfect ECC to become a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng): Preparing the claim: As you need to provide clear proof in the ECC, you should start by thinking of a minimum of six main career episodes to which you contributed. For example, you may mention the engineering problems and activities in the Stage 2 Competency Standards or you may consider your CV, any reports, specifications, proposals, attainments you have made in these career episodes.

After having the information related to your major career episodes, you need to identify the competencies regarding these episodes. Therefore, consider the 16 competency elements provided by EA and take note of where you find that you have applied these competencies. There can be more than one capability that has been used in one career episode.

There will also be certain competencies that have not been utilized at all.

If it happens, then just start again and try thinking of a career episode that includes all those left competencies.

Now, through these career episodes, you have to pick the work experiences that can help you show your competencies in the best way as proof of your capability for assessment.

How to write an ECC:

Follow the tips for writing an ECC given below to become a CPEng (Chartered Professional Engineer): 1. Each claim you make must be at a maximum of 700 words. It should have details about how you competently practiced the competency elements. An ECC with less than 500 words can be taken as insufficient by the assessor.

2. EA wants to know what you have done in your career, how and why you did. Therefore, you should write in the first person.

3. You may utilize bullet points to refer to the activities, but you must ensure that the sentences you use to make sense and are free from any grammatical mistakes.

4. You can show the use of more than one element in a single career episode. However, you should refer to at least 5 career episodes that cover all the elements.

5. Always remember that you should have clarity about your writing.

Ensure that you are giving clear and concise information to EA. 6. Consider some engineering competency claims examples before you write your own. It will give you a clear idea of how you should proceed and the things you need to pay heed to.

7. You are not required to explain your project or how your team did in that project. Instead of them, pay attention to your decisions, projections and actions.

8. Utilize strong career episodes if possible. Never leave anything for the assessor to assume. Apart from a low word count, a weak or poorly prepared career episode can also be considered as an insufficient ECC.

Components of Engineering Competency Claims:

The following are the four main components of an ECC: Personal Commitment Here, you need to show your capacity to recognize and improve your skills, deal with ethical concerns and demonstrate that you are responsible for your job.

Community Application Here, you must show how you have worked to improve the community throughout your career, and how you have produced long-term solutions by having a clear understanding of the stakeholder’s needs. You also need to show that you are familiar with the legal standards, regulations and codes related to your employment.

Workplace value Here, you need to show that you can develop and maintain connections in the workplace, express your ideas influentially and enhance the quality of your work through using tools and processes.

Technical Proficiency Here, you need to show your ability to apply technical knowledge, sort out engineering problems, propose innovative solutions and evaluate the consequences and impact of those solutions.