Having worked in the rail industry for many years, mainly in track maintenance, I wanted to move into asset management and, as such, it was important to be professionally qualified.

I had been a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers for many years but always felt that it wasn’t really relevant to what I actually do.

In 2016 I heard of a new route through the Permanent Way Institution, more closely aligned to the industry I work in, and progressed through to IEng in the same year.

At my interview I was asked by a representative from the Engineering Council why I hadn’t progressed to full Chartership? When I said it’s because I don’t have a degree, he said that I didn’t need one! Since then its been on my ‘to do list’.

One of my colleagues at work completed his Chartership through the Experiential Learning route and offered to support me, and the rest is history! The Chartership process was really straight forward with loads of help on-line and from the PWI.

I feel a huge sense of achievement and hope this completes a sizeable gap in my CV for future progression. I have also been active in getting trained to help others to become professionally qualified, firstly completing assessment training and now starting to review professional submissions.