Recently I passed my CEng assessment. As a next step I might want to apply for FIET in a couple of years. However, I was wondering whether there is some sort of mentoring scheme of current FIET members that could help/guide potential FIET candidates. For example by having some sort of mentoring chat once in a while in order to see if one is still on track. A disadvantage I have is that I live and work in The Netherlands where there are hardly any other IET members (let alone FIET members).
Really good question. The simple answer is, no there isn't, but then it is rather different to CEng. CEng (and IEng and EngTech) is something you can definitely "work towards" in a structured way, it's a certification that you've developed certain competences in your career. FIET is quite different: it's a recognition that your engineering career has been in some way significant to the world of engineering and / or wider society. So it's not something you'd be deliberately working towards, rather it's checking in every so often to think "has what I've done in the last five years been significant enough to meet the FIET criteria?" It would be difficult to mentor someone towards FIET, because actually the only way I can see that you could do it would be to mentor their career. (CEng Mentor: "I'd suggest you look for opportunities to get involved in supporting staff development", FIET Mentor: "I suggest you look for a job as Technical Director of a small company"!)
I will say that I found the biggest challenge is knowing when you are likely to have met the FIET requirements and so knowing when it's worth applying. The official advice I was given was to apply and see what happens, which actually put me off for several years, slightly because of the cost, but largely because, let's be honest, most people who are around the calibre of FIET applicants are not going to want the hassle of applying without reasonable certainty that they are going to get through (and the potential embarrassment of being turned down). What I'd suggest is that it's well worth having a virtual coffee with one or two recently appointed Fellows if you can to find out what it's all about, and also as soon as you think you might be somewhere near talk to a Fellowship adviser. Of course the ideal is to do as I did and have a real drink in a real pub (thanks Alasdair!) but we have to adapt to different times.
I will say that you're getting there if:
You're an industry expert in your field, and/or
You're seen as holding a responsible position e.g. chair of a national / international technical committee, and/or
You've got a significant technically based business role e.g. Technical Director
but there's other ways as well that you could be having a "significant impact". And of course that's the point, it's in the IET's gift to decide "they've done stuff we'd want to recognise". (Of course have a look at the guidance in the Fellow application pack which expands on this.)
Hope that helps slightly. I look forward to seeing what other thoughts come up...I will say that it took me about 15 years between when another Fellow first suggested that I applied and when I did finally (and successfully) apply so I got to know the process quite well, but wouldn't put myself forward as a role model!!
