Support for your engineering career aims

The global business environment is notable for its intense competition and wide choice. The engineering construction industry now demands people who are more than just engineers. Of equal importance are employees who can work just as comfortably in related roles such as marketing and finance, and lead multidisciplinary teams. Training provided by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) should lead to engineers excelling in these roles.

The industry is fast growing

The fast-growing nature of this industry means that the demands placed on employees are changing. Smaller, fast-track projects and increased repair, maintenance and decommissioning work are a major feature of the market. There are fewer companies that solely undertake engineering design and construction and many that do also include wider business portfolios incorporating operational activities. Consequently engineers need a different profile than in the past, with this difference also comes greater opportunities.

How the ECITB helps engineers keep pace

The ECITB was created in 1991 and it is the centre of excellence for advice, information and skills development for the industry. It holds funds on behalf of the industry raised through a system of levies from companies within the sector. It designs, manages, funds and commissions training programmes and also distributes grants to help meet the cost of a variety of external training programmes for people of all levels. In all, the organisation annually supports the training of 50 per cent of the engineering construction workforce, through advice, free training and grants to employers.

Typically, the ECITB supports over 200,000 training days per year for industry members. It supports the engineering construction industry with approximately £15,000,000 of funding, focusing on improving craft and supervisory skills, together with design and project management. By joining the industry you will be able to benefit from the ECITB’s activities throughout your career, from short residential courses to postgraduate management degrees on subjects such as computer-aided design (CAD), project control, project and site management, business effectiveness and team leadership.

Professional training is a springboard for your career

Many graduates joining the industry see the chartered engineering (CEng) award as their major career goal, and rightly so, as the accompanying experience and training greatly enhances an engineer’s worth. Working towards chartered status helps an individual’s progression through regular reviews of career goals and objectives. From a company’s point of view, individuals who are working towards their future goals are more likely to perform well.

Achieving CEng status is really the springboard from which to launch the rest of your career. Lifelong learning and development is essential for progress, as is continued association with your professional institution to keep abreast of new developments. With commitment from both the industry and your company, your personal goals should not only be achieved but also surpassed. The ECITB is pleased to support you in your aims.

David Edwards is the chief executive of ECITB and Tony Featherstone is the director of customer services.