Patricia Carrillo, an ICE Fellow since 2009, shares why it’s worth going the extra mile.
I decided to apply to become an ICE Fellow at the point I was promoted to director of post-graduate programmes.
I thought it was important for me to show professional leadership.
The ICE encourages those who teach on its civil engineering programmes to gain chartership.
But in academia – when compared to the industry – there’s no real push or obvious direct benefit to becoming an ICE Fellow.
I wanted to recognise my own achievements and add some kudos and status to my new position, so decided to apply.
Being at the pinnacle of your career
You have that stamp of approval from the institution. Coming from such a prestigious organisation, that’s really important.
Nobody’s pushing you to apply but that ability to use the post-nominals FICE after your name in letters and emails gives a sense of personal pride.
In the academic world, being an ICE Fellow signals to others that you have reached that status.
It means that you’re able to talk about and ‘sell’ the ICE at a general level.
Yes, you can do that as a member, but it’s a clear illustration that you’ve gone that extra mile. And, you get asked to sponsor others.
My advice for those applying
To anyone applying, I would say look at your achievements.
I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what you’ve accomplished.
Evidence it – once you’re at a certain level, doing that isn’t as onerous as you might think.
Think about the leadership role you’re taking in your organisation.
The process is straightforward
Coming from an academic background, which requires a lot of report-writing and reading, I found the written portion of applying to be relatively straightforward.
It still made good sense to have colleagues read my application and offer a sense-check.
I think if it’s easy to evidence leadership, then so is the process.
I had a good working relationship with one of my sponsors as they were the dean of my school, but I was also offered a lot of support by other colleagues.
For me, it’s similar to making sure you answer an exam question.
Make a series of bullet points and then set them aside to revisit and make sure you have completed them as required.
And because our normal days tend to be busy, it’s important to put aside enough time – you need to focus on your application away from the day job.
