Regulation 2 – Professional Interview & Report

GUIDELINES FOR PROFESSIONAL INTERVIEWS ON ELECTION OR TRANSFER TO THE GRADE OF PROFESSIONAL MEMBER

Note: It is assumed that candidates are familiar with the relevant clauses of the Institution's Articles of Association relating to eligibility for applying for election or transfer to the grade of Professional member of the Irish Institution of Surveyors.

1.     The Professional Interview

1.1.     The purpose of the Professional Interview is to assess whether or not the candidate has acquired sufficient competence as a result of education, continuing professional development and experience to enable him/her to function as a professional in the surveying or geographic information industries. Experience is defined as the knowledge, perception, understanding and skill required in undertaking tasks and assignments by following correct procedures over an extended period. The Professional Interview is intended to provide an opportunity for the candidate to satisfy the Council that, in addition to academic qualifications, he/she possesses the necessary professional competence to justify transfer or election to Professional membership of the Irish Institution of Surveyors.

1.2.     Candidates are required to submit four paper copies and a digital copy in .pdf or MS Word format of the Professional Report to the Institution. This is intended to provide the Interview Panel with comprehensive information concerning the candidate’s professional development and experience. The Professional Report should incorporate certification from the candidate's employer(s) as to the required period(s) of professional experience as laid down in clause 2.15 of the Articles of Association.

1.3.     The Council will examine each candidate's Professional Report and determine whether or not the continuing professional development and experience being claimed and presented is of sufficient merit to justify being granted a Professional Interview. The principal criterion of such assessment is to establish that the information provided in the Professional Report is a satisfactory basis upon which the Interview Panel can make a judgement as to the professional competency of the candidate.

1.4.     Initially the candidate will be asked to speak about his/her career for approximately fifteen minutes. Subsequently, via a question and answer session, the Interview Panel will set out to establish additional details of the candidate’s practical experience and the degree of responsibility given to the candidate in their career to date. Candidates should assume that the members of the Interview Panel have read and are familiar with the content of their Professional Report. Candidates will be expected to be familiar with the Institution's Code of Professional Conduct. The Interview will extend over a period of not more than one hour.

1.5.     The Interview Panel normally consists of three senior members of the Profession, selected by the Council of the Institution, who act on behalf of the Council and are, as far as possible, from the same broad area of expertise as the candidate. All members of the Interview Panel will be Professional Members or Fellows of the Irish Institution of Surveyors.

1.6.     Candidates will be given reasonable notice of the arrangements for the Professional Interview, which will normally be held three times per year in various locations throughout the country. Candidates will be notified of the outcome of the Interview as soon as possible, normally within four weeks.

2.     The Professional Report

2.1.     The Professional Report consists of (a) a Summary of Career Details, (b) a Report on Continuing Professional Development and Experience.

2.2.     The Summary of Career Details should set out in chronological order, and in tabular form, details of the candidate’s surveying or geographic information education, continuing professional development and experience. The summary should commence at the date on which the candidate completed secondary education and give details of third level education together with the inclusive dates of each period of continuing professional development and experience. It should include any period(s) devoted to surveying or GI-related work, to holiday or practical employment involving surveying or GI-related work and to any post-graduate study or research.

2.3.     The Professional Report on Continuing Professional Development and Experience should be between 1000 and 1500 words in length. It should be in chronological sequence from time of graduation, should be written in the first person singular, and should fully detail the surveying and/or GI tasks undertaken by the candidate during his/her career to date. It should explain clearly the precise job function(s) with level or grade which the candidate has held in each post and the degree of personal responsibility assigned to him/her. Individual reference should be made in the Report to the candidate's employers or immediate supervisors who have been responsible for supervising or monitoring his/her practical training, giving their names, positions held and their grade of membership, if any, in the Irish Institution of Surveyors (or in a related professional body or institution).”