Communications engineer: Training

When you enter the engineering profession, you are expected to show your commitment to the industry by regularly reviewing your skills, identifying your training needs and gaining new qualifications, experience and knowledge.

Training varies between companies and may be delivered in many forms, including on-the-job training, short courses, seminars and work shadowing. You should bear in mind that smaller companies may be unable to offer an extensive range of training opportunities.

Typically, large companies offer a development action plan tailored to each individual employee. This identifies areas for development and training to ensure you can effectively meet the needs of your job and to help you progress in your career. Time will be set aside for discussing your progress, performance and development with your line manager, and to update your plan as your needs change.

Some large companies run their own corporate university, which acts as a learning resource and provides employees with access to on and off-line training programmes for both technical and professional development.

You may be encouraged to work towards chartered engineer (CEng) status. Many large companies offer relevant training and support to help you achieve this, and some graduate-entry roles incorporate accredited training schemes. Participation in such schemes is likely to be highly valued by future employers as an indication that your training was well structured and included a wide variety of experiences.

In order to obtain CEng status, you must first satisfy the standard educational requirements for registration. If you are aiming at becoming a CEng, check before you accept a job offer that the position provides training and experience accredited by an engineering institution such as the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) or the Engineering Council UK (ECUK) .

Apart from engineering qualifications, you may wish to study for an IT qualification. Cisco offers five levels of general IT certification in seven different paths, as well as in specialist areas: Entry, Associate, Professional, Expert and Architect, the highest level of accreditation within the Cisco Career Certification program. These qualifications are widely recognised throughout the world and you can work towards them do them either independently or with sponsorship from your employer.

Advert disclaimer

AGCAS