IEMA asks two former students of the pilot Diploma course about their experience of studying for the DipSBP and how achieving the qualification has benefited their professional status
Jason Posner
Senior environmental adviser, Export Credits Guarantee Department.
Background: BA in business and economics;IEMA foundation certificate; IEMA associate certificate; 10 years’ experience at the Export Credits Guarantee Department.
Why did you want to do the DipSBP? I need it for my job. I conduct environmental due diligence for ECGD and make recommendations to management on projects’ compliance against international environmental standards. The DipSBP developed my understanding of the environment. An important part of my job is to build up my environmental knowledge and work towards Full membership of IEMA.
How would you describe your experience of studying for the Diploma? It was very tough; the assignments were very thorough and very time consuming, and I think they were very testing. But you get out of it what you put in. I tried to make the assignments as relevant to my job as possible and they proved to be very useful professional experiences.
What was the highlight of your time studying? The modules were all worthwhile. I really enjoyed the assignments on actual environmental impacts more than those on management theory.
If you had one word to describe the workload, what would that be? Heavy! But again, it was a fair reflection of the gravitas of the course.
Do you feel professionally more confident as a result of doing the Diploma? Doing the DipSBP has certainly given me a lot more confidence in my knowledge of the environment.
What are your future professional development plans as a result of studying with IEMA? Hopefully, I will get getting some extra letters after my name in due course which are recognised within the industry as I am certainly planning to apply for Full membership in the near future.
Adrian Garrity
Senior safety, health and environmental protections adviser, UK Hydrographic Office.
Background: Former police officer in the Metropolitan Police, now civil servant; IEMA foundation certificate, IEMA Associate certificate, five years’ experience in the environment and sustainability sector
Why did you want to do the DipSBP? It was mainly a professional development need. I had been going up through the ranks of IEMA membership and qualifications. I completed the foundation course in 2005. I was part of our facilities management team back then and as environmental issues had no “home” to speak of in terms of central coordination, I proposed it came over to me.
I then did the Associate certificate course. My organisation was doing a lot of good things but wasn’t formatting them into a system good enough to be considered effective, so my employer sponsored me to do the Diploma to learn what I needed to know to get us towards 14001. By this time, I had been moved to the safety, health and environmental protection team, which I now manage.
How would you describe your experience of studying for the Diploma? Despite the time pressures of work, family life, study time and all of the Harvard referencing, it was genuinely enjoyable. I was very impressed with the course notes, as they were very comprehensive, and the standard of tutorship was great. The course leader’s enthusiasm for the topic was a big boost and along with the out-of-hours and post-course support it’s been a thoroughly worthwhile challenge.
What was the highlight of your time studying? Learning and practising new things while trying to develop them in the workplace. What I particularly liked was the fact that the assignments were work-based; the topics of climate change or biodiversity were applied to my own workplace. Also, on a personal level, some of the people I met on the course are still firm friends two years later, which is excellent.
If you had one word to describe the workload, what would that be? I’d say “challenging”, but I appreciate that you don’t achieve anything without effort.
Do you feel professionally more confident as a result of doing the Diploma? Certainly knowledge-wise. I was particularly grateful for the final part of the Diploma. It covered working with the board, report writing, looking at change models etc, which was very enlightening and it was good to hear about everyone else’s experiences. I took something from that section that I could, and have, really used when working with senior management teams. The change models used in the course have proved faultless in practice.
What are your future professional development plans as a result of studying with IEMA? I am now making a concerted effort to achieve Full membership soon and eventually go for Chartered Environmentalist status. I am also planning to do an MSc in health and safety.
