Recruiting Environment Professionals
Recruiting suitably qualified and competent staff is a difficult task, but there are a number of tools that will point you in the right direction.
Professional membership of a recognised professional body should always be requested in job descriptions as this enables employers to see that the candidates have proven knowledge and competences in their field of expertise.
All members of IEMA are kept informed of the latest issues, developments and important legislation updates, which are vital in supporting businesses in any kind of industry. Associate (AIEMA), Full (MIEMA), Fellow (FIEMA) members and Chartered Environmentalists (CEnv) have all demonstrated their knowledge and experience, making them ideal candidates for interview.
By stating that IEMA membership is a pre-requisite for an environmental position shows that your organisation is committed to ensuring that environmental standards are being administered to a professional level and that an organisation is committed to making a difference in the environment.
In addition, professional membership has important regional events that can be used for both networking and keeping up-to-date with the latest developments, news and issues in the environment.
Employers should now only be recruiting personnel that are members of a professional body like IEMA. The competence of employees affects both client and customer confidence, so it is a risk not to hire a recognised professional.
All of IEMA's professional membership levels demonstrate that these professionals are committed to their professional development. In addition:
- http://www.iema.net/associate membership (AIEMA) provides employers with the confidence that they have a professionally recognised, high-standard of knowledge in environmental management and assessment issues
- http://www.iema.net/full membership (MIEMA) shows employers, clients and colleagues that the holder has a very high standard of environmental management and assessment knowledge with the added recognition that they have used this knowledge in their work expereince to establish environmental best practices, increased environmental performance or other organisational benefit
- http://www.iema.net/fellow membership (FIEMA) of the Institute is the highest honour awarded by IEMA and shows that the holder of this qualification has made an outstanding contribution to the environmental field as a whole, including the attribute that they have excelled themselves in all areas of the environment utilising their standards of knowledge, professionalism, competence, innovation and influence
- A http://www.iema.net/cenv (CEnv) is a licenced environmental practitioner and has demonstrated to the Society for the Environment (SocEnv) that they have professionally recognised high standards of knowledge, attributed with high levels of experience and competence in environmental fields
At the entry levels of membership:
- http://www.iema.net/affiliate membership of the Institute shows that the member is committed to the environment and in receiving the most up-to-date news on legislation, issues and developments in the environmental field
- http://www.iema.net/graduate membership provides gradautes with a financially beneficial membership level that provides the stepping stone from Student membership to Associate membership. Graduate members of IEMA are showing emnployers that they are committed to their professional development as well as demonstrating to employers that they are committed to the environment
- http://www.iema.net/student membership shows to employers and tutors that they are receiving up-to-date news on everything that is happening in the environment in order to give them a head start in finding that all-important first position. This too demostrates that they are taking their professional development seriuosly at an early stage.
For a copy of IEMA's 'Developing an Environmental Professional - An Employer's Guide' please click here.
