Route to Professional Engineer - IEM Professional Interview (PI) Result

After 1 month attending the interview, I've been emailing IEM few times for my interview results. Having no reply, I made a phone call to follow up. The secretariat said that my result will be out on this particular date (which is exactly 2 months after the interview). Only then she can tell about my result. Since that date fall on Saturday, I've been trying to call then the friday before but still, they said I have to wait. I wait for the next working day to follow up.

And finally.........

Alhamdulillah.. I made it! I pass the interview and I can proceed with my Professional Engineer application with BEM once my Corporate IEM membership certificate is out. I am so happy that I manage to pass. The official email regarding my result and the IEM certificate will be ready in about 1 month from the date of the result. I have to wait patiently and hope that I will be able to get it the soonest possible.

IEM Professional Interview Questions - Essay Part B

In this entry, I will share with you the 13 questions that you will need to answer for essay

part B. Basically, all of these questions should be answered according to Regulations of Professional Conduct.

What is Regulations of Professional Conduct? It consists of points you need to study to be the basis for this essay. For example, engineers shall at all times avoid conflict of interest, only give advice on opinion in his/her area of expertise, and to always give the best opinion whenever asked. There are more points that you can refer from the IEM website. You can read the it on IEM website for your preparation.

Out of these 13 questions, we will be given only 2 questions, and we have to choose only 1 to answer.  Within one and half an hour, this essay need to be completed. In case you apply for interview under BEM (not IEM), the questions are irrelevant because the BEM question is not the same as the IEM question.

Please refer to those who have gone through BEM interview for reference.

Nursery @ Childcare @ Kindergarten review

I used to send my son to Taska Pusaka Ann located at Jalan Damai, KL when he was 4 months old. The kindergarten is placed at a bungalow lot at the peaceful Jalan Damai. It is an english based kindergarten owned by a chinese teacher. The owner has 2 assistants which will take care of all the kids there. Overall, it is a good place, easy to drop off and pick up your child, they provide logbook for the parents to monitor the child activities and development. The only bad factor that I decided to find other place for my baby is they always take long leave, for which working parents like us cannot afford.

After surveying for few places, I was then decided to enroll my child at Primrose Hill located at Avenue K (in front of KLCC). I was impressed when I went there for site visit. They allow parents to come freely at all time so we can at anytime see our child if we wish to. The fee is high, considering it's a frachise of a UK kindergarten, but I can guarantee you won't find any kindergarten in KL that can challenge their perfection. Diapers are provided, food (even puree for babies) are provided, and you will surely be happy of the kind of food they serve your kids. Fresh fruits, cheese, pasta, fresh milk etc. etc. etc. What I can say is, you get what you pay for with no regret.

At 18 months old, I decided to move my son to another kindergarten (due to economy crisis back in 2016). It was a sad decision to make. I found alternatives as to still get the best place for my child. I was then decided to send him to Graceful Hands located at Jalan Ampang Hilir. The fee is high also, but I take alternative to send him for 3 days/week on half day basis. I will pick up my son in the afternoon and send to baby sitter to take care of him.

I am also satisfied with Graceful Hands, as it provides the child with good activities including gymnastic class (even my child is not even 2yo). They have the schedule of letting the child play for 15 minutes at playground each day to start their session. My son really enjoyed the playground session, gymnastic class and dancing session.

In 2017, I got a job offer (short term) in Pasir Gudang, Johor. I send my son to babysitter at first until I found out that Brainy Bunch in Bandar Seri Alam can accept temporary student. I was then enrolled my son the BBIM Seri Alam. I was actually concern on my child english development because I used to send him to english kindergarten with the hope that he can speak english fluently. It was no regret that I found this BBIM. They are very strict in languange medium as they put a sign of 'English Speaking Area' at their entrance. It was a good experience for me and my son as he enjoy his days there. When it come to last day there, I was so sad to say goodbye as I feel that the teachers are really kind in taking care of my son.

Now we are back in Klang Valley, to be exact in Subang Jaya. My son is now in Real Kids. I am satisfied so far with his development. He likes the swimming class and dancing session. Cant wait for his first ever concert in October...

Route to Professional Engineer - IEM Professional Interview (PI)

Here comes the most awaited day, the Professional Interview day.  My interview was scheduled at Ingenieur building in Petaling Jaya. The 2 interviewers were already there when I arrived. They may be early because they have to discuss with each other regarding the interview session (my assumption 😊).

Then at 10am the interview starts. During the first hour, I was asked questions related to my work experience. Basically, all questions are based on my report sent to IEM. Alhamdulillah, I managed to answer their questions with flying colors (phewww). For essay writing, there are 2 parts. The first one is based on our technical experience. Another one is on code & ethics. I was given one and half an hour for each essay. To give a tip on how to answer the essay questions, we need to answer and describe as best as possible. Write a bit longer so that the examiner find it hard to fail you. Make sure you write the essay considering points of Regulations of Professional Conduct for engineers (refer to IEM website for details). 

In my next post, I will share questions for Part B of the essay so that you guys can make some preparation before the big day!

Route to Professional Engineer (Ir. @ P.Eng. @ MIEM)

So, you might come to a situation that you think you have to upgrade, from a graduate engineer to a professional engineer (with Ir. status of course!) In fact, you can start to apply to sit for the professional interview after 3 years working as an engineer (with the condition of being supervised by a professional engineer).

I’m going to tell you what we all need to know to apply for this professional certification.

There are 3 routes that we can choose from, either through BEM, IEM or by obtaining certification from international body to bypass IEM & BEM. Route 3 is to be avoided unless there are reasons that prevent you from applying through route 1 and route 2. If you go through Route 3, you will get the Chartered Engineer certification from international body, then you can go to BEM to apply for the Ir. title.

In my case, I choose to apply through IEM. Why? Because I am already a 'Graduate' member of IEM, so I am interested to upgrade the membership to 'Member of IEM'. Is it easy to apply through IEM rather than BEM? The answer is yes and no. What I mean here is, it seems hard at first, but once we get started, follow the requirements they want, we definitely can successfully go through the steps and finish all the procedures.

I send the application form together with technical & experience report in December 2017. After waiting for months, on 1st Jun 2018, I received email from IEM saying that my application to attend Professional Interview (PI) already approved. Then on 28th Jun 2018, I received an email from one of the interviewers to discuss on my availability for the date given. I replied and said Ok. Then later that evening he emailed the exact date to conduct the interview.

I will share my experience attending the interview in my next post..