Providing your work experience for APER

To demonstrate you have the work experience, competence, and commitment, you will need to prepare a detailed resumé that provides:

• Name of your employer(s)/organisation(s);
• Summary of the services/products provided by each employer/organisation;
• Job title;
• Length of employment;
• Brief description of your role;
• Examples of your work activities at each employer/organisation; and
• Demonstration that your experience has resulted in competence in the four defined areas (outlined below, under competence and commitment).

Your work experience should outline your use of theories, concepts, and practices to solve real-world problems related to your discipline.

You will need to show that you:

• Have the required professional experience of the law, codes, and standards;
• Can identify, assess, and manage risks;
• Know and can apply engineering principles;
• Can analyse problems and develop safe and sustainable solutions; and
• Can work with others and make sound decisions.

Your competence and commitment should demonstrate that your experience has translated into engineering competence and that you are committed to high standards of professional and ethical conduct.

You will need to provide evidence that you have gained adequate professional experience in four areas, using examples from your own career. You will need to show:

1. Evidence you apply mechanical engineer – HVAC&R building services technical knowledge and understanding to your engineering activities, specifically:
   1. Applying appropriate theoretical and practical methods to identify or define problems, opportunities, or projects;
   2. Combining ideas and contributions to different people and disciplines to arrive at appropriate engineering and technical solutions;
   3. Developing creative and innovative solutions, designs, and technological approaches to engineering problems;
   4. Undertaking technical evaluation and optimisation to address the brief you were given or requirements you identified;
   5. Planning and execution of technical work and projects.
2. Evidence you can handle the wider implications of your work as a mechanical engineer – HVAC&R building services, specifically the ability to handle:
   1. Health, hazard, and safety aspects and meet legal and legislative requirements;
   2. Sustainability and resilience aspects and to work effectively with other disciplines to achieve optimum outcomes for the built environment;
   3. Commercial and economic aspects.
3. Evidence of your interpersonal, leadership, and communication skills, specifically:
   1. Managing interpersonal relationships;
   2. Demonstrating leadership in a professional role;
   3. Communicating ideas and plans by report writing and oral presentation.
4. Evidence of your personal commitment and of working to high standards of professional and ethical conduct, specifically:
   1. Undertaking continuing professional development – a diary of CPD activity must be provided in your application as a separate document;
   2. Working in an ethical manner – complying with the APER Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct.

Adhering to the APER Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct demonstrates your responsibility and commitment to society and professional engineering. The Code is not a behavioural guide or rulebook. It provides the foundations of an ethical culture, sets ethical benchmarks, and inspires the public’s confidence in engineers on the APER.

View the complete APER Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct

In summary, the APER Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct states the following:

• The welfare, health, and safety of the community shall at all times take precedence over sectional, professional, and private interests.
• Individuals shall perform work only in their areas of competence.
• Individuals shall apply their skill and knowledge in the interest of their employer or client, for whom they shall act in professional matters as faithful agents or trustees.
• Individuals shall at all times act honestly and faithfully on behalf of their employers and/or clients, and equitably and fairly in dealing with others.
• Individuals shall develop their professional reputation on merit and shall act at all times in a fair and honest manner.
• Individuals shall continue their development throughout their careers and shall assist and encourage others to do so.
• Individuals shall be mindful of their responsibility towards preserving the environment of the community.
• Individuals shall strive to avoid all known conflicts of interest and to keep employers and/or clients fully informed on all matters, financial and/or technical, that could lead to such conflict.
• Individuals shall prevent conflict of interest wherever possible.

In your application for APER accreditation, you must provide contact details for two professional referees. These individuals are required to verify that the work you have outlined in your resumé is true and accurate. They must meet strict eligibility requirements.

Applicants must ensure the professional referee details are accurate and current, and that the referees are aware of their nomination and that they will be contacted in relation to the application.

Professional referees must satisfy one of the following requirements:

1. Be registered on the APER, be an AIRAH Registered Professional Engineer (ARPEng) or hold RPEng, CPEng, CP, RPEQ, or equivalent professional status.
2. Be an engineer with a bachelor’s degree (or other historically or internationally recognised equivalent or higher qualification) in the discipline or similar discipline to which the applicant is seeking accreditation. This referee must also have more than seven years of work experience in the discipline or similar discipline in which the applicant is seeking accreditation.
3. Your referees do not need to work with you, or be in the same organisation/country, but they should be sufficiently familiar with your work and career to support your application. They should not be a family member.

For each referee you will be required to provide the following information:

• Name
• Company
• Position
• Phone (business and home/cell)
• Email
• Accreditation status (e.g., APER, ARPEng, RPEng, CPEng, RPEQ, CP)
• Academic qualifications
• Work relationship (e.g., manager, supervisor, colleague)
• Period of relationship (minimum of 12 months required).