If you are applying for Corporate Membership (Associate, Associate Member, Member or Fellow) you will normally be invited to attend a Professional Review Interview/discussion.
The Professional Review is an assessment of an applicant's professional competence and commitment and is based on evidence provided in the application form and written report, and during a structured interview/discussion. The aim is to present evidence to the Institute showing that you have satisfied the criteria for the category of membership you are seeking.
Broadly, there are five key areas that the professional review will investigate. You may hear these referred to as the 'A to E competencies'.
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Your technical/scientific knowledge and understanding (A)
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Your ability to apply this knowledge and understanding in practice (B)
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Your leadership, management and supervisory skills (C)
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Your interpersonal skills (D)
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Your professional conduct (E)
Purpose of the interview
The purpose of this meeting is to provide you with an opportunity to give a short presentation about your initial education, training and subsequent career development.
You will be expected to highlight key aspects of the activities in which you have been involved and identify the responsibilities and accountabilities that you have had as you have progressed through your career.
During the subsequent discussion you will be assessed against the IMarEST's competence criteria for the category of membership for which you have applied.
Your application form, your written report and your Professional Review Interview provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate your skills in these areas.
What will happen at the interview?
At the interview, there will always be at least two assessors who will have appropriate knowledge in your specialist field. The interview will be in private, at a mutually convenient venue, will normally be conducted in English and last for approximately one hour. Interview by telephone conference is permitted in cases where a face to face interview is not possible.
The Interview Assessors need to prepare themselves for this demanding and important task. Their preparation is dependent upon yours. They have a limited period of time; they are volunteers taking time out from their normal work and may have several candidates to see in a session.
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They must make valid, reliable and honest judgements, based on the evidence placed before them by the membership administration team (from your documents) and by yourself during the discussion. They have no other evidence on which to make a judgement. They cannot rely upon conjecture, for example, on what they think a person with a particular job title normally does. If they do not see or hear the evidence, they do not know.
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The Interview Assessors will read your application form and any notes made by the Membership Committee. They will study your written report carefully in order to decide how best to cover the full range of your work and where it may be necessary to probe for further information.
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You should bring to the interview any further information or item that may add to the pre-submitted documents in order to substantiate your case.
Making your presentation
The interview/discussion is a formal process, but the Interview Assessors will aim to make it as informal an occasion as possible, and to help you feel at ease.
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You may bring appropriate, additional evidence to support your presentation.
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You should not rely upon visual aids equipment being made available although there is no objection to it s use.
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You can expect to make your oral presentation without challenge, but with the occasional question for clarification.
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Your interview assessors will move on from your presentation to wider issues, especially if you have not addressed all of the areas of competence and commitment in your written report. You will be asked both objective and subjective questions and be challenged to defend points of view. This provides direct evidence of communication skills and the ability to work with others as well as eliciting technical and scientific knowledge and reflection upon professional ethics.
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At the end of the interview you will be invited to ask any questions and make any further relevant comments.
The interview report
During the interview, you will see the Interview Assessors making notes on an interview report form. This is for your protection and benefit and ensures the process is equitable and can be audited effectively.
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The interview report form lists the competence criteria against which you are being assessed. The Interview Assessors will try to direct you towards those areas that have not yet been covered, to ensure that important evidence is not omitted.
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There are no trick or catch questions, but neither can any further evidence be elicited, once you have left the room. Make sure that you take advantage of any 'final' questions to ensure that you have said all that you wanted to say before you go.
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Once you have left the room, the Interview Assessors will confer on strengths and weaknesses observed, and come to a recommendation about whether you have demonstrated evidence of competence and commitment at the appropriate level. The recommendation is then returned to the Membership Committee for ratification. For this reason, whilst the Interview Assessors are required to come to a firm recommendation supported by reasons, they are not able to advise you about the outcome.
All of the documentation used by the Interview Assessors is treated as personal data in accordance with the UK Data Protection Act 1998. The judgements made by the Interview Assessors are made in the full knowledge that the Institute is acting as a public authority in determining fitness of candidates for membership and registration, and for mutual recognition under European Directives and other international agreements to which the Institute is a party. Equally, you are entitled to see the Assessor's interview report documentation under the UK Freedom of Information Act 2002. The Institute also operates an internal but independent appeals process.
