Engineering recruitment references — technical and professional references for engineering placements

What engineering sector references should cover

Engineering sector employment references should address technical competency in the specific engineering discipline, adherence to professional engineering standards and codes of practice, health and safety awareness and safe working practices, project management and delivery competency, problem-solving approach and technical decision-making, management of engineering teams and junior staff, and relationships with clients, contractors and technical stakeholders. For chartered engineers, references should also address adherence to professional body standards and CPD obligations. Standard employment reference templates generate almost no useful information for a technical engineering placement.

Chartered engineer status and professional body membership

Many engineering placements involve candidates with chartered engineer status through professional bodies — IMechE, IET, ICE, IChemE, IMECHE. References for chartered engineers should address professional conduct within the context of their chartered status — whether the candidate demonstrated the standards expected of a chartered professional, whether there were any concerns about their professional conduct that might be relevant to their chartered status, and whether the referee would have any reservations about the candidate continuing in a chartered role.

Engineering agencies placing candidates across multiple disciplines — mechanical, electrical, structural, chemical, production — benefit from RefAssure's discipline-specific template library. A template appropriate for a production engineering role in a manufacturing environment is saved alongside one for a structural engineering role in a construction consultancy. From 99p per reference with no subscription.