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Upgrading professional registration level

James Fox and Graeme McAllister

James:

I've previously spoken of my registration journey, but, as it turns out, that was just the first part of my story, and so a ‘new chapter’ is now available! This update describes my experience of upgrading my Professional Registration level from RSci to CSci, and includes the experience of Graeme McAllister, who undertook the same process during the summer of 2020.

I had been registered at RSci level for about four years, but during that time my job role had changed: I had taken on some extra responsibilities, and through CPD, job experience/opportunities, etc, I had added some qualifications and been able to utilise various additional skills in my new job.

With this in mind I had started thinking about whether I was professionally registered at the appropriate level? TechYork hosted a Science Council professional registration workshop in 2019 and, listening to the convenor’s advice, I became more convinced that I could meet the requirements of CSci and should go for it! I decided that I should look into the professional registration process and, after discussing with my line manager who was very supportive, I added it as an objective to my performance review.

I should get the elephant in the room out early: upgrading your professional registration level essentially means going through the (lengthy) application process again, as if from scratch; there is also a small additional administrative cost to cover this reapplication process and it usually means increased renewal fees. As such, it went on my to-do-list but never seemed to make it to the top!

However, as we all know, COVID-19 made 2020 a very different year and suddenly I had a little more time to commit to things like this, and my excuses not to engage with the process slowly disappeared! Coincidentally, the Science Council was also running virtual professional registration workshops, and so I signed up for the first one, and almost straight afterwards I started my application!

It took a week or two to write my application (to be honest it probably would have taken a little longer during normal working conditions) and I then asked Graeme and Lucy to look over it for some advice and ideas. They both made some great suggestions and I tidied up the application and hit the submit button!

I think my examiners were also in a position with a little more time available and my application was actually considered and approved very quickly, fortunately without any revisions required, and I managed to meet my aim of becoming CSci registered! Be sure to discuss your application with your line manager as they have to write support as to how you meet the criteria, and it is also very much advised that you get someone else to read your report to avoid some common mistakes.

I guess to summarise: if you are professionally registered, be sure to check every now and then if you are at the appropriate level; if your job role changes or you take on extra responsibilities you might find you are able to demonstrate that you meet the criteria for higher levels?

The process is slightly daunting, but there is lots of help available from the Science Council and others around the University to make it as painless as possible - I was lucky, I knew Graeme and that he was planning on upgrading too, so we could encourage each other and I could return the favour of reading his application, which he might mention as I hand you over so you can also hear about his journey.

Graeme:

My route to CSci was very similar to James. I was awarded RSci in 2016 after the second attempt at applying (I used the Science Council online portal the second time as I found it easier). One of the pieces of feedback I received from the assessors was that "the applicant should consider his long term development in seeking to work towards applying for Chartered Scientist at some time in the future." While there was no more detail than that, it was still very encouraging that CSci was not out of the question.

As James has mentioned, changing level means starting the application from scratch, whereas renewing an existing registration is pretty straightforward. For that reason, I stayed at the RSci level for the next few years, during which time one major change in my role was that I took online management responsibility. This is by no means a prerequisite for CSci, but it did provide me with more relevant, up-to-date examples for certain sections of the form (in particular Section C - interpersonal skills).

Likewise, I found my involvement with the Technician Commitment and TechYork to be very beneficial in giving me suitable examples, especially in the areas involving communication and interactions with others.

Like James, I attended one of the Science Council workshops which provided me with a lot more ideas of the sort of thing they were looking for in each section of the application. Interestingly, I also discovered that the word count of the form was 5,000 words, not 15,000! This is also the case for RSci.

One very useful tip is to make sure you write what ‘you’ did, not what ‘we’ did. There is a temptation to write about a team effort or project, and that in itself is fine if it is a relevant example, but make sure to emphasise your contribution and the outcome directly from that. We as technicians have a tendency to write about the collective effort or outcome, but on this occasion, we need to get out of that mindset (as uncomfortable as that may make us!) and put the spotlight directly on our own faces.

It’s a bit of a cliché, but I did find that once I’d started the form and gained a bit of momentum, it got easier: I had the mentality of how to write the kind of things an assessor would want to hear.

James returned the proofreading favour, and he spotted a few places I could flesh out my answer and suggested other examples that might be suitable. It’s worth reiterating that a great way of going through this process is to have an application buddy - proofreading, bouncing ideas and suggestions for examples, and the knowledge that someone else knows what you’re going through are all extremely helpful.

Good luck!