PROFILE: My Journey to Professional Registration - Nadine De Mink

Professional Engineering Technician Nadine De Mink shares her journey towards Professional Registration

Initially I likened this journey to additional academic qualifications, and thought it was reserved for those who were deemed “exceptional”, but with more work and a more challenging road to a prestigious title.

It is definitely a lot of work and it pushes you to your limits, but I have learnt that if approached systematically , it Is more manageable than anticipated. This has enabled me to reframe my perception of the journey to focus on the intrinsic value, which also helped to change my views on the journey itself.

I am passionate about learning new things and gaining new skills, and this journey has been a helpful tool, enabling me to focus and achieve my passion. It has empowered me to walk into every new experience thinking “How can this assist my career as a professional?”

One of the obstacles I experienced on this journey is that I struggled to recognize the appropriate type of experience required. As a result, my application was partially rejected . This was hard personally, because the definition for my rejection was “does not demonstrate competence”. On the other hand the feedback helped me identify knowledge gaps that needed to be addressed. I took that for what it was and became even more determined to prove that I am competent.

I recommend this journey to all hardhatPROFESSIONALS because it is an independent demonstration of your professional capacity which cannot be taken away by anyone. To successfully navigate it, I would suggest hardhatPROFESSIONALS do the following

• View the journey as a tool for intrinsic growth.
• Find a strong mentor that is trustworthy who understands you and your journey
• Give yourself grace. It can be confusing and intimidating at times, but with time you can get through it

Nadine De Mink is a Professional Engineering Technician who completed her National Diploma in 2012, and has been in full time employment in the civil engineering industry since 2013. She has worked in civil, structural and now transportation engineering consulting services. The opportunity to be an ARE, has allowed her to grow substantially, while exposing her to a variety of real- world engineering problems. Within the past 10 years she has undertaken further study and has received a Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering, an NQF7 Certificate in Labour Intensive Construction strategies, as well as attended multiple short courses to remain abreast with industry trends, standards and practices.