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help required in understanding my next immediate step
#5
We don't always answer in stereo- we must have been typing similar stuff simultaneously in our lunch breaks!

I'll leave Peter to respond re the mechanics of getting a licence since he is far more involved in it than I am.
In terms of knowledge it is far easier to obtain an Assistant Designer qualification than pass an IRSE exam module. The problem however is the "chicken and egg" situation- to get a licence you really need evidence that you are already undertaking the role, albeit under mentorship.

However I gather from your description of the company in which you work that you probably do not have the opportunity to get that experience, because that category of task isn't the work that the company does to earn its money and that there are not licensed designers and checkers in your workplace. That may sound as if you are snookered but not necessarily. Your company may find it beneficial to negotiate with one of the companies with which you work to do a "staff exchange" so that junior staff from one organisation get a taste of working in the other- there can be mutual benefit and indeed can cement long term relationships and lead to less "interface issues" & misunderstandings in the future.

Also don't get too hung up about what companies say they want; it is an aspiration, but they may well have to settle for far less.

If you wanted to move jobs in a year's time and a company is recruiting because they foresee a workload which will need to be done, what choices do they have?:

a) poach an existing Assistant Designer from a competitor. Either they strike lucky and happen to find someone who wants to relocate for domestic reasons or else they must attract by offering some incentive. Perhaps this may just be "get away from existing boss" or "better long- term career prospects" but it may well have to be "more money". Also they might be suspicious if the existing company didn't seek to retain them- is the person actually worth employing?

b) get someone who has been made redundant from former employer and looking for re-employment. It will obviously depend on the circumstances (the industry is small enough that these are generally quite widely known), but often the good staff have no difficulty in gaining new employment reasonably quickly. hence if someone is still available on the job market a while later, then again one might be suspicious of why. Clearly if it is known that an employer made redundant a large number of staff at a site and industry workloads have been light then there is a rational reason for someone still looking; otherwise one might ask why that person was firstly one of those chosen for redundancy and secondly hadn't yet secured other employment...

c) seek to recruit someone totally new to the industry and accept the need to start training them from the beginning,

d) employ someone like you who has no licence but has been working in the industry for a year or two and has at least learnt the basics, the jargon etc.

So whatever the job advert says you actually would stand a good chance. If at the interview you can demonstrate that you are already self-learning by beginning to work towards the IRSE exam, attend the Younger Member or indeed main London or regional IRSE meetings then the lack of an existing licence will hardly be a handicap. Frankly an "Assistant" license category doesn't permit you to sign anything; I regard it more of a mark that you know longer need to be closely mentored for asic activities and then you are ready to work towards the main category of designer/ tester/ maintainer / installer etc. by beginning to do that sort of work under the control of a mentor; it is when you gain that category that you become a "useful asset". [This does not mean of course that your work is of no value prior to this; I am talking purely in terms of work that must be undertaken by a license holder.]







(05-01-2012, 02:07 PM)arsenal49 Wrote: Thank you very much for prompt replies which i am still digesting Smile

There was indeed a confusion in my head between passing an exam and gaining a license - which is now clarified.

Regarding my thought process behind achieving this licence...
I am starting to really like the subject of signalling design, in general, through my limited exposure so far in the field. So, i thought the next logical step would be to gain relevant certifications/memberships that would help broaden my career path!

I looked at few job opportunities advertised by different companies for "Assistant Signalling Designer" role and they all list Licence 1.1.100 as essential requirement. From that, i inferred it is something that needs to be done first and fore-most. So, i started looking into it.

Could you (peter and PJW) please tell me what should be my road map towards achieving this target of getting licensed. For example, if i pass Module 1 and 7 at least, and fail others... will it still be helpful towards gaining this license?

I am trying to iron-out my path towards achieving this license and any help will be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance.

PJW
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RE: help required in understanding my next immediate step - by PJW - 05-01-2012, 07:20 PM

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