Engineering and Technical Qualifications Benefits

Technical Qualifications:
Personal and Business Benefits

Career Management for Engineers

 

There are a number of distinct advantages of obtaining formal technical qualifications, both for the individual and for the business. The benefits listed below demonstrate why it’s well worth engineers striving for formal qualifications.

 

Engineering and Technical Qualifications Benefits: Tangible Advantages...

Individual Benefits

• Greater pay – whether through a paid salary or the amount you can charge as a contractor or consultant.



• Increased employability, as skills and expertise are perceived as superior to those competing against you.



• Greater opportunities and the ability to take advantage of possibilities, should they arise.



• Increased range of jobs and positions you can apply for within your current employer and externally.



• Greater job satisfaction due to the above.



• Increase your personal network of experts and contacts through the people you meet and those teaching you.



• Possess valuable technical knowledge and therefore able to make a tangible difference to employers.



• Understand research methods and undertake investigations to benefit the team, the project or the business.



• Opens the door to more senior roles and potentially different career paths



• Strengthens your case during pay negotiations (and indeed for the total employment package).



• Demonstrates commitment, time management, organisational and study skills.



• Improved personal knowledge, increased contribution and respect during teamwork.



• Personal sense of satisfaction and achievement.



• Strengthens your position in the event of redundancy or recession.



• Increases progression along career path.



• Increased possibility of branching out or specialising in other areas.



• More scope for alternative business options in the future, such as consultancy or starting your own business



• Post-nominal letters after your name, demonstrating you have attained a certain level of academic achievement.



• Feel more confident and comfortable when dealing with academics, academic opinion or other highly-qualified people.



• Be comfortable researching academic papers as a key part of R&D and understanding intellectual property.

---

 

Engineering and Technical Qualifications Benefits: Tangible Advantages...

Business Benefits 

• Better qualified employees produce better quality products and services.



• The knowledge, experience and know-how to add value and make the organisation more competitive.



• Access to technical and business expertise, through academic networks, contacts and facilities.



• Knowing specifically how to transfer knowledge into something valuable and sellable.



• An improved company reputation due to the calibre of the personnel employed.



• The business is more likely to take advantage of new technologies and ideas, as the individuals are more likely to be faster, more flexible learners.



• Businesses with a reputation for recruiting and supporting highly qualified staff are more likely to attract and retain motivated ambitious employees in the future.



• Companies can increase competitiveness, through new ideas and innovation.



• The learning process opens your mind as you have to think differently than for business as usual. As such, employees are more likely to innovate and look at making improvements, by doing things differently



• Save time and money, whilst reducing frustration by having suitability qualified employees in-house to solve problems, rather than the inconvenience and cost of continually contracting out.



• Make better-informed business and technical decisions by ensuring you have appropriately qualified people internally, who can provide informed recommendations.



• Companies who routinely recruit the best freshly qualified graduates often have the pick of the very best young minds every year, due to their links with  universities, colleges etc.



• The best young graduates’ minds can be moulded into your business’s way of doing things, without having worked anywhere else.



• Young qualified people are often extremely enthusiastic and dedicated to work. This can have the knock on effect of driving up productivity in others.



• Young qualified people can be used to kick start projects which have been on the books for a while, but perhaps have not had the resources or staff to get going. Likewise, they can often be used to complete lower priority projects which have been delayed or put on hold.



• Typically young qualified people cost less to employ than those further on in their career.



• Young qualified individuals often bring fresh beneficial skills to the workplace such as social networking, app knowledge and web skills. These can all be exploited for marketing and commercial gain.



• Those who are studying as well as working, often undertake valuable research and development projects.



• Companies can learn how to commercially capitalise on research and learning

 

Engineering and Technical Qualifications Benefits: Final Considerations....

You may wish to weigh up some of the above points if you are considering undertaken a formal qualification, yet require justification, before your employer will pay for it.  To do this most effectively, firstly think about specific challenges or opportunities facing your team, department or organisation. Alternatively, are there any new areas set out in strategies or plans you are aware of? Following this, match the advantages a suitable qualification would bring. To help you, look at the qualification course content and the potential tangible benefits. Quantify all this with costs as best you can.

Technical Qualifications Benefits

---

Next...  Qualifications Explained 1: Intro, GCSE, A Level, NVQ

---

Back to Your Career Management  

---

---