The concept of the Career Management Guide was initiated 12 months ago to provide a comprehensive and valuable resource for younger engineers, not only in planning their career, but also to give specific guidance for acquiring the necessary competencies for entry into the class of Technical member (TM.IPENZ) or Member (M.IPENZ). "The development of this Guide has been quite an involved process" says Virginia Burton, Qualifications Manager, "however we are quite certain we have put together a package which will have significant value for our younger members. The responsibility for planning one's career is very much now an individual responsibility and we hope this Guide will assist our younger members in this task."

The Guide is divided into two sections. At the end of the first part - Career Planning - graduates should be able to devise a systematic plan of their career that includes a realistic appreciation of their present situation, a conceptual picture of where they want to be in the future, and long- and short-term goals of how to get there. This part will also include information and advice for job applications, job interviews and negotiating employment contracts.

The second section - Competency Development - should enable graduates to successfully track the career that they have planned in Section 1. It is intended that this will permit them to then identify gaps in their experience and competency profile, and assist them in planning their progression to TM.IPENZ and/or M.IPENZ.

The IPENZ Board decided to absorb the cost of the Guide (approximately $45.00 per folder) into the current Graduate subscription, meaning that this valuable tool is available to Graduate and Technical Graduate members this year at no extra cost. There may be a limited number of Guides available, at cost, to members in other classes.

We envisage that this Guide will also be useful for employers of young engineers, in designing their appraisal and development systems. IPENZ intends to liaise with employers to ensure that IPENZ members and their employers receive the maximum benefit from the Career Management Guide.

National Office staff look forward to receiving feedback on the IPENZ Career Management Guide. A fax-back sheet is included in the front of the Guide, or any comments can be forwarded directly to National Office, PO Box 12-241, Wellington - Attention: Qualifications, or via email (admin@ipenz.org.nz).

Index to Publications: The 1996 Index to Publications will be inserted in the April 1997 issue.