Senior Professional

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Senior Professional
31 Jan 2013

To encourage greater diversity and recognise career achievement, RICS offers a route to membership specifically designed for senior professionals.
Senior professionals may be either:
leaders, operating at a senior level within an organisation, exercising extensive leadership and management skills, or
expert specialists, recognised for their depth of knowledge and expertise in their specialist area.
You may be both senior in management terms and an acknowledged expert in a technical field. However, your application should identify which one is your particular strength.
If you are senior in terms of high-level leadership and management, your assessment will focus on management skills.
If you are senior in terms of specialist expertise the focus of your assessment will be on your technical specialism.

Are you eligible to apply?

Check the following criteria.

Experience and status

10 years of relevant experience, and now in a senior industry position, either in terms of management responsibility or acknowledged expert
specialist status
With an undergraduate degree or equivalent professional qualification and a relevant postgraduate degree (masters level or higher) the
experience requirement is reduced to five years

In addition, you must be working broadly within one of our defined professional roles. The RICS qualification covers many different professional disciplines in land, property and
construction.
We have identified the competencies required for each of these disciplines. Each set of competencies is known as a pathway. You must select the pathway that reflects your
role see the pathway guides section for guidance. Please download and read your pathway guide, which will give you an understanding of the competencies. If you are in any
doubt, contact RICS to discuss this with a representative.

What does senior mean?

There is no simple definition of senior. Much depends on the world region, market or technical area you operate in, and the nature and size of your organisation. For this reason,
each application is evaluated by a review panel. Review panels use their experience and market insight, common sense and discretion, and come to a balanced decision on the
individual merits of each application. They look for indicators such as:
leadership and management of people and resources at a strategic level
career progression
if you are a sole practitioner, the size and type of your contracts/client base.
The two checklists below will help you decide whether you are likely to be regarded as 'senior' by a review panel. They are not exhaustive lists, simply examples to help you
ascertain whether this is a suitable route for you, and help you prepare your application.
Note: you should not expect all of the following to apply to you.
Checklist 1: senior management position

Indicator
Position in the organisation structure
Managing resources (extent, amount, type)

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Decision making (level, impact)

Managing people (level, numbers)
International dimension
Client base (type, profile)
Recognition (peers, professional organisations, etc)
If none of the above, are there other indicators specific to you?

If you are an expert specialist, your application should show outputs that demonstrate this, and/or third-party confirmation. Examples of an expert could include someone with
exceptional technical knowledge and expertise relating to a particular building material or construction method, or a valuer acknowledged as the authority on an unusual asset
type. In some markets professionals such as architects, engineers or consultants who are operating at a high level in RICS pathways may be considered experts.
Checklist 2: expert status

Indicator
Position in your organisation (title, function, who else in the organisation has your level of knowledge)
Publications (articles in journals, technical authorship)
Record of specialist consultancy work
Record as expert speaker at high level conferences
Used by other professional bodies as an adviser, author, board member
Expert witness, court or other official appointment as an expert
Record of (guest) lecturing
Degree qualification beyond masters level (PhD or similar)
Dispute resolution in a specific technical area.
If none of the above, are there other indicators specific to you?

How do I apply?
If you feel you meet the criteria and would like to apply for the senior professional route to membership, the first step is to send us your CV. A dedicated administrator will make an
initial assessment.
Your CV must include details of your academic qualifications, membership of any relevant professional organisations and a brief career history. Please use the senior professional
rsum template at the bottom of the page. We ask that you keep your CV to no more than five pages. When completing the template we recommend that you refer to the Senior
Professional brochure at the bottom of the page to ensure you meet the requirements of the route.
You must attach a structure chart of your organisation to your CV when it is initially submitted. In addition, clearly outline your position within the organisation and describe your
roles and responsibilities. These should cover leadership and managing people and resources, as described in the senior professional characteristics.
Please send your CV and organisation structure chart to contactrics@rics.org for an initial assessment against the basic criteria of the Senior Professional route.
The next step
Once your CV has been checked it will be forwarded to a review panel. They will form a judgement on whether you are in an industry position that meets the criteria of 'seniority'
as detailed above, and carrying out work that fits within a recognised surveying discipline.

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If the panel agrees you meet these requirements, a dedicated administrator will telephone you to explain the senior professional process step by step. You will be asked to send
in a number of written submissions by email. The final stage will be a professional interview, using these submissions, conducted by our interviewers.
If the review panel does not consider your experience suitable for the Senior Professional route, you will be given a full explanation in writing. We will advise you which of our
other routes to membership might suit you better. Applicants do have a right to appeal against the review panel decision.

Assessment information
If your CV is approved by the review panel you will be asked to submit a comprehensive document containing all the information on which your professional interview will be
based. Senior Professional interviews are held on a quarterly basis (wherever demand dictates).
You must complete and submit the comprehensive interview submission electronically to enable you to come forward for interview. The comprehensive interview submission will
include:
Forms to be signed by your proposer and seconders (one of whom must be a Fellow)
Your up-to-date CV and organisational chart
Competency table identifying the technical competencies you will be assessed against
Summary of experience demonstrating how you have achieved the technical competencies of your chosen pathway
Professional development record from the last 12 months
Three 500-word case studies
Proof of your academic and professional qualifications
For further details on any of the above submissions, please refer to the guidance for applicants in the downloads section below.
Your dedicated staff contact will confirm the exact deadlines you will be required to work towards, as well as the date, time, and location of your interview.
The table below though provides an idea of when senior professional interviews in the UK will be held and when your supporting documentation would need to be received by us.

Interview

Application Deadlines

Mid March

Last working day in January

Mid June

Last working day in April

Mid October

Last working day in August

Mid December

Last working day in October

Your 60-minute professional interview is conducted by a panel of members experienced in interviewing Senior Professional route applicants.
Your interview will cover your professional experience and the technical competencies of your chosen pathway, as well as your knowledge of Rules of Conduct, ethics and
professional practice.

Background reading
You should also take the time to carefully read the documents about the Senior Professional route to membership found in the download section below.

RICS Fellowship - the next step

Applicants who successfully become members through the Senior Professional route may apply for Fellowship immediately after election to professional membership. Fellowship
is awarded on the basis of special achievement. Find out more.

Read the next page in this section

Professional Experience Route guidance and forms

Download
Routes to Membership Table 2013
31 Jan 2013
DOC 945.31kb

Senior Professional Route Guidance for Applicants

31 Jan 2013
PDF 130.86kb

Senior Professional Resume Template

05 Mar 2013
DOC 192kb

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Senior Professional Submission Template UK

14 Feb 2013
PDF 100kb

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