The fundamentals of writing any report are:

• understand the purpose of the report

• provide the reader with the information they want

• write in a language and style that the reader wants and will understand

Here is how these basic principles apply to writing career episode reports for a
CDR application.

Purpose of the career episode reports

The purpose of the episode reports in a CDR is to demonstrate to Engineers Australia
you can apply you knowledge and skills at a level of a professional engineer,
technologist or associate. The occupation you have nominated for immigration purposes

In Engineers Australia language - demonstrate your competencies.

IT IS ABOUT

Providing detail of what you have done to show the Engineers Australia assessors you
have the competencies given in the elements and sub-elements for the discipline and
level you are applying for recognition as. These competencies are listed in the
Appendices of the Engineers Australia Migration Skills Handbook.

IT IS NOT ABOUT:

• what the company you were employed by has done

• the size and market position of your company
• the technical details of the project or job you have done
• how well you were respected or your status
• your unsubstantiated claims of skills or knowledge

Provide Engineers Australia the

information they want
Engineers Australia want details.

• Details of YOUR thought processes and actions

• Evidence of your actions and the results
• Details related to the competencies
• Details for all sub-elements of all elements of all competencies

It is not enough to say ” We overcame a number of problems” Provide details, such as.
“After initial test of the prototype, the rate of response was outside the tolerances
required in the design specification. I analysed the circuit design and could not identify
a design error. I then devised a series of tests to identify the cause. The tests were
selected to isolate the effects of the different input parameters and the operating
environment. I identified that an input transducer was being affected by vibration. I
researched catalogues and replaced the transducer with a more robust component. I
redesigned the control circuitry to accommodate the characteristics of the new
components. I retested the system and it worked within specification.( PE 2.1)

You must be able to relate every paragraph in you CDR to a competency element.

If you look at the competencies required in competency element PE 2.1 for professional
engineers you will see there are four sub-elements To claim the element you need to
give evidence of actions which tell of things you have done to meet every sub-element.
In brief for PE 2.1 the sub-elements are about assessing assumptions, original analysis,
multidisciplinary factors and relating cause and effects.

Analyse each paragraph to be sure it provides the

assessors with evidence of things you have done to
demonstrate you have all the competency elements and
sub-elements.

Write in the language and style that

Engineers Australia want
There is the English language, the Australian language, and Engineers Australia
language. The Engineers Australian “dialect” for writing career episode reports is a
prescriptive writing style. It has the following characteristics:

• It is personal. The most frequently used word must be “I”

• It is active. I planned, I calculated, I measured, I obtained feedback, I researched
- I did it my way.
• It is simple and clear
• It is full of facts and detail - THERE SHOULD BE NO UNSUBSTANTIATED
CLAIMS
• Everything relates to engineering competencies

Many of your career episodes will be working as part of a team. That is fine. You need
to demonstrate you can interact and provide leadership and obtain support in a team.
Your episode must clearly write about what you did as part of the team. “I prepared the
technical scope for the supply of a new heat exchanger…..”

What is an unsubstantiated claim ? It is simply a claim with no evidence: for example

” I developed a good working relationship with the production team.” You need to add
evidence of the actions you took to develop this relationship to turn it from an assertion
into evidence. This could be done by adding ”…..by providing written progress reports,
holding weekly meetings, and getting their feedback on proposed design
modifications.”
With every sentence you write, ask this question - “Do
these words tell Engineers Australia about something I
have done personally; actions which show them I have
applied part(s) of elements of a competency?”
Don’t tell Engineers Australia what you know or how clever you are, tell them
what you have done. This provides proof you can apply your knowledge: you have
the competencies they are looking for. Engineers Australia assess your knowledge
and skills from what you have done.