26th February 2008, 03:29 PM
I would see Chartered Institute status for the IFA working more like the Civil Engineers, accountants, IEMA, etc.
1. at an early stage in your career, you obtain appropriate qualifications/references/experience and join the institute;
2. you work through certain career-path requirements, including CPD requirements, to progressively upgrade your membership;
3. at a certain point, you can apply for Chartered status.
Many of the institutes have very strict rules on the quantity, nature and content of the CPD you do and how it is verified, and on the nature and quantity of the experience you gain before applying for Chartered status. Many of them require you to sit professional exams or undergo oral examinations at intervals, usually as part of the application for Chartered status. Some of them also require continuing CPD logs etc. for re-validation at intervals even after Chartered status is achieved.
For institutions that take this approach to Chartered status, it is generally something that is attained after quite a few years of continuous professional experience - rarely before your late 20s, generally some time in your 30s. In some professions, it is usual for clients to specify that certain roles may only be performed by Chartered individuals, while in others it may be a legal requirement (not 100% sure about that).
In archaeology, the type of roles that I could see being restricted to Chartered individuals might be the person in overall charge on site (i.e. Project Officers or equivalent) and Project Managers. I could see curators making enforceable requirements in this respect.
Although I am myself a MIFA, I would prefer to see the requirments for Chartered status being more stringent (or at least requiring a more stringent validation procedure, with periodic re-validation). However, it would be unreasonably time-consuming and costly to go through that process for all existing MIFAs, so I would see all MIFAs that were not self-validated being given Chartered status immediately, perhaps with a requirement to re-validate within a specified timescale.
Incidentally, although Chartered status for the IFA and restrictions on the employment of non-members might help boost salaries overall, that is not what it is principally for. It is much more about restricting access to the work to people that have been validated and that are subject to the disciplinary code. However, there is usually a salary premium for Chartered individuals.
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished
1. at an early stage in your career, you obtain appropriate qualifications/references/experience and join the institute;
2. you work through certain career-path requirements, including CPD requirements, to progressively upgrade your membership;
3. at a certain point, you can apply for Chartered status.
Many of the institutes have very strict rules on the quantity, nature and content of the CPD you do and how it is verified, and on the nature and quantity of the experience you gain before applying for Chartered status. Many of them require you to sit professional exams or undergo oral examinations at intervals, usually as part of the application for Chartered status. Some of them also require continuing CPD logs etc. for re-validation at intervals even after Chartered status is achieved.
For institutions that take this approach to Chartered status, it is generally something that is attained after quite a few years of continuous professional experience - rarely before your late 20s, generally some time in your 30s. In some professions, it is usual for clients to specify that certain roles may only be performed by Chartered individuals, while in others it may be a legal requirement (not 100% sure about that).
In archaeology, the type of roles that I could see being restricted to Chartered individuals might be the person in overall charge on site (i.e. Project Officers or equivalent) and Project Managers. I could see curators making enforceable requirements in this respect.
Although I am myself a MIFA, I would prefer to see the requirments for Chartered status being more stringent (or at least requiring a more stringent validation procedure, with periodic re-validation). However, it would be unreasonably time-consuming and costly to go through that process for all existing MIFAs, so I would see all MIFAs that were not self-validated being given Chartered status immediately, perhaps with a requirement to re-validate within a specified timescale.
Incidentally, although Chartered status for the IFA and restrictions on the employment of non-members might help boost salaries overall, that is not what it is principally for. It is much more about restricting access to the work to people that have been validated and that are subject to the disciplinary code. However, there is usually a salary premium for Chartered individuals.
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished