Associated Engineering’s Member-in-Training program supports the next generation of professionals

Dieter Diedericks, MIT Program Manager (back row, left) with some of the Vancouver office MITs

In 2018, Engineers and Geoscientists BC established an Accredited Employer Member-in-Training (MIT) program to streamline the processing and evaluation of applicants seeking professional licensure. As an Accredited Member of the program, our BC operation works with Engineers and Geoscientists BC to offer an MIT supervisorship environment. The program ensures our Members-In-Training can satisfy Engineers and Geoscientists BC’s experience requirements when applying for their professional designation. The Accredited Employer MIT program is based on Engineers and
Geoscientists BC’s Competency Experience Reporting System.

“The MIT program has helped me achieve a diverse skill set by allowing me to focus on a set of competencies and ensuring I get the proper experience in a select few at a time, rather than diving head first and trying to achieve all competencies at once.”

Building on the success of the MIT program, in 2019, Associated expanded our in-house program to include our MITs in all our offices across Canada, even though the other provincial/territorial Associations currently do not offer this type of program. The expansion of the MIT program was one of the company’s stated goals in our 2018 Strategic Plan.

“The MIT program has given me proper guidance/mentoring throughout COVID, when it was difficult to achieve proper mentoring due to the lack of face-to-face meetings. It helped me book meetings so that I may stay on track in gaining the proper experience.”

Our MIT program assists in outlining the various Associations’ requirements for engineers and geoscientists-in-training, as well as graduate scientists to gain their professional designations. Our program establishes an internal team support network and framework to assist our MITs in gaining the requisite experience to achieve all of the required key competencies.

Our MITs receive enhanced guidance in gaining necessary competencies for registration from scheduled meetings with their supervisors who understand the requirements that our MITs need to fulfill. We also have volunteer mentors who recently gained their designations and understand the competency-based program and are now helping guide our MITs.

“A crucial part of the MIT Program involves identifying the member-in-training’s competency levels in a wide range of areas. This has helped me to pinpoint the tasks that would be the most beneficial for me to undertake, with the goal being to build my competency levels overall.”

Currently over 100 MITs are enrolled in our MIT program, ranging in experience levels from recent graduates to those who are preparing to submit their licensure applications. Associated’s national MIT program is unique to the company, supporting our MITs in their path to professional licensure.