Have you ever wondered what the benefits of applying to become a Chartered Chemist are? Or what the process is? Here, some RSC members share their experiences of working towards this designation.

JOURNEY \’jər-nē\ (noun). Definition - Passage or progress from one stage to another; e.g. the journey to success.

I want to let you in on something I learnt the other day…. I can become chartered! I’m not special; I’m just your everyday, average medicinal chemist and this is something you can do too.
 
As a (relatively) recent graduate I’ve been in my current job now for a few months. Right from the start I’ve been hearing the phrase ‘CChem’ a lot, naturally prompting me to ask, ‘What on earth is a CChem and just why is everyone talking about it?’
 
Being fairly new I’d missed the departmental presentation a few months prior so I decided to do some research (i.e. Google it) and ended up on the following page:
 
http://www.rsc.org/Membership/join/CharteredStatus/cchem.asp
The reason it was such a hot topic at work was that our in-house CChem training scheme had just gained accreditation from the RSC (and that one of our colleagues had made a cameo in the promotional video).
 
The more I read about the CChem, the more I realised how valuable this could be for me. I wasn’t the only one; several members of the department were also going to sign up. Some of these were more experienced members of the department and some were, like me, relatively new. Some had post-grad qualifications and some didn’t. The great thing about working towards the CChem is that the scheme is flexible to reflect this; with less experienced chemists being mentored and allowed more time to obtain the knowledge and skills required for chartered status. As a bonus, I discovered that whilst on the road to becoming chartered I could pick up my MRSC and would be ready to go as soon as I became an associate member of the RSC.
 
Whilst I was waiting for my application to be approved I started to think about what was going to be required. If I was going to be getting all these letters after my name, what sort of work was I going to have to do? How much time would it take up? I was pleased to find out that working towards chartered status actually fits very nicely around your day to day work. Part of the process involves compiling evidence of various activities which you may already do and mapping them against the attributes (requirements) specified by the RSC (you can find a list of these by following the link above, along with lots more useful information than I can provide). These attributes pull in various aspects of your job such as awareness of health and safety, contributing to a team, evaluating and drawing conclusions from scientific data and also more general professional attributes such as reliability and organisational skills. It nicely links together your knowledge and experience with your professional attributes and is thus a great addition to any academic qualification you already possess.
 
Having a professional body recognise that you are working to a high standard provides a real sense of achievement. It shows that your skills are accepted and validated by your peers in the chemical industry and is evidence that you really know your stuff. At the end it will be really great to have confirmation of all that I have accomplished. I can also be proud that my company has confidence in my skills and professionalism and is willing to invest in its employees. If I could provide one piece of advice? Get Chartered!
 
So, have any of you been inspired to get involved? Do you think you will suggest the scheme to your company?
 
If you have already started the process to becoming a CChem, it would be interesting to know how particular aspects of your field map to the different attributes. It would also be great to hear any of your general thoughts, experiences and opinions.
Posted by Ellen Gallimore on Mar 29, 2012 8:20 AM Europe/London

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