From students to leaders
“Choosing a CMI Dual Accredited course means that learners not only gain a BSc Engineering Honours degree, but they also graduate with a CMI Level 5 management qualification. This is a great benefit when entering the job market,” explains Curriculum Leader, David Harrison CMgr, who’s been involved in the CMI development pathway for 14 years.
David believes the main advantage of learning management techniques alongside engineering skills is that students are better prepared when entering a professional environment, as many of them lead teams and manage complex projects early in their careers.
“Young engineers, particularly once they’ve got a degree, enter the engineering industry very quickly. They’re managing a team and people come to them with problems” explains David. “How do they solve these problems?"
CMI is there to hold their hand as they start to learn to be a manager and if they’re not sure about something, they know where to look for support.
Lily Turner, a part-time Engineering Management student and Maintenance Engineer at Nissan, agrees that her CMI Dual Accredited course will enhance her leadership skills and help her stand out to future employers. “I chose a CMI accredited course because the extra qualification is always helpful for career progression and it looks good on my CV. The additional knowledge and experience I’ve gained alongside helps as well. Attending talks from CMI and using the information on their website and other resources was really beneficial.”
Confidence boost
Lily also feels that CMI has helped her gain confidence in a typically male-dominated industry. “I think it’s really important to get more young girls into engineering. I’ve always loved building things and problem solving! One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced as a woman in an engineering environment is not having the confidence to stand up for my opinions in complex meetings.
Doing this course has allowed me to gain that confidence by increasing my knowledge and my leadership and management skills.
Engineering student Justin Rochester agrees that the CMI qualification enhances students’ confidence and credibility. He found CMI’s study support particularly beneficial, saying, “CMI’s learning resources provide real-life examples, showcasing different methods for managing people. There’s also an online library of tailored information which really helped during my assignments, plus access to career advice which helped me work on creating a stand-out CV, emphasising the soft and hard skills I’m learning.”
Pathway to Chartered Manager status
An additional advantage of studying a CMI Dual Accredited course is that students graduate with Foundation Chartered Manager (fCMgr) status, setting them on the pathway to full Chartered Manager (CMgr) status - the highest professional accolade awarded exclusively by CMI.
For David, this is more than just a title, it’s a mark of professional recognition for his students. Becoming a Chartered Manager himself empowered him to make a big impact on the companies he worked for prior to his role as Curriculum Leader at Newcastle College.
Reflecting on his own journey to Chartered Manager status, he views this accolade as testament to his credibility and professional growth. “I’m pleased I went through the assessment process,” he says. “I had to identify where I’d made tangible business improvements and provide evidence. I had to talk about where I’d implemented a strategy and how I’d improved the culture in the companies I’d worked for."
When I started to actually write it down and talk about it, I realised that even though I made lots of mistakes as a manager earlier in my career, becoming Chartered is professional recognition that somewhere down the line I got it right.