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Chartership Assessors

Extend your professional profile and career development, network with like-minded individuals and support the future of the geoscience community

Acting as an Assessor is a great way to demonstrate your seniority to your employer; showcasing your leadership and mentoring skills through your ability to assess candidates, facilitate effective professional discussions, provide constructive feedback and assist candidates with their applications.

Our experienced Chartered Fellows uphold professional standards across a broad spectrum of Earth science disciplines.

Assessors are a key part of the Chartership process as they review applications, recommend Fellows for Chartership and make the decision to proceed to interview stage.

The Assessors will determine if candidates have the necessary geoscience/science knowledge and Chartership competencies, including demonstrationg the use of these competencies in the design and execution of projects and problem solving.

This includes reviewing applications, interviewing candidates and recommending them for Chartership or postponing applications. 

Chartership application deadlines are four times a year and the Chartership Officer assigns the Assessors in pairs to each candidate. 

Most Assessors aim to commit to one review per year, or as many as you are willing to undertake. On average, the time taken to carry out an application review is ~8-10 hours including the evaluation of documents, completion of review forms and the online interview itself.

The validation interviews are generally carried out online and the Assessors pass their recommendation to the Professional and Chartership Committee via the Chartership Officer.

We are always looking for new Assessors to join our panel and also invite Assessors from overseas to ensure we find appropriate matches for our different applicants. Our interviews are mostly carried out online meaning they are now worldwide.

If you have any questions, please contact the Chartership Officer chartership@geolsoc.org.uk

 

  • Take the next step in your professional journey
  • Give back to the Earth sciences community
  • Demonstrate your seniority
  • Contribute to your CPD record to maintain Chartered status by reviewing applications
  • Expand your knowledge of the innovative work emerging throughout the sector
  • Gain valuable interviewing experience
  • Experience networking opportunities with other experienced professionals
  • Enjoy 75% off the list price of one Training Course per annum (50% off the member rate)*

*The Training Course benefit can be used once per year. All registered Assessors who undertake a Chartership volunteer role within the same calendar year are eligible. This role could be a Chartership application review, a defer review, taking part in the CPD audit or in the Chartership audit. Please contact us to take up the offer.

To apply, you must be a current Society Fellow and have held CGeol or CSci status for at least five years (but fewer for those very experienced prior to gaining Chartership).

Chartered Fellows with over five years' experience post-Chartership, or with a considerable number of years' experience pre Chartership, are encouraged to apply to join the panel.

Maintaining your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) records is a mandatory requirement to keep up your Chartered status, even if this was not the case when you originally attained Chartership. More information about CPD can be found on the CPD webpage.

Training is provided, including regular workshops with other Assessors. 

Be up to date with the current Chartership process

Make sure you have read the applicant guidance notes on the 'Thinking about Chartership?' webpage.

It may also be useful to join one of our Chartership Zoom events to provide insight and gain extra information into the process.

View the criteria for Chartered Geologists and Chartered Scientists by downloading the regulations below.

Regulation R/FP/2: Criteria and Procedure for Validation as a Chartered Geologist
Regulation R/FP/11: Criteria and Procedure for Validation as a Chartered Scientist

As a new Assessor, you will first undertake one or more observer roles during an online interview to become familiar with the Assessors' approach to the interview process. We also hold Chartership Assessor training events, in which we provide updates and guidance to our registered Assessors on the application review process, and give the opportunity for Assessors to convene to:

  • Share their review experiences
  • Discuss benchmark standards for Chartership within their areas of expertise
  • Highlight best practices and great examples
  • Exchange ideas on review and interview approaches

The next in-person Assessor training event is:


Please register well in advance of the event so that we will be able to issue you with any study materials in advance of the session, to help you get the most out of the training.

We welcome new Assessors to join our training. Please apply to become an Assessor and be approved on the register before signing up for training.

Have any questions about being an Assessor? Send us an email at chartership@geolsoc.org.uk

Once you have received the application pack, you usually have four to six weeks to complete the pre-interview form. During this time, there will be an interim deadline for requesting any additional information from the candidate if needed, to determine whether candidate is ready for interview stage.

During this time, we identify a provisional interview schedule within the interview window, which is usually three weeks. At the end of the window, the Chartership Officer collates the recommendations to present to the Professional & Chartership Committee.

Overall, assessors have approximately two months from receiving the application pack to completing the interview and reporting.

It is important that assessors adhere to the advertised review schedule when they commit to undertaking a review, in order to complete all reviews/interviews on time, and so candidates can be provided with sufficient notice of their interview slot.

The total time inputs by assessors for carrying out a documentation review and interview (one to two hours), as well as completing the pre-interview and post interview forms is estimated at eight to ten hours in most cases.

In your pre-interview form, following the review of the documents, you should be reasonably confident that the candidate is likely to be recommended for Chartership, scoring 'C' for each of the criteria.

If you think there are any gaps that might be readily addressed by the candidate, please ask the Chartership Office to provide a clear request to the candidate for them to provide additional information.

In the pre-interview form, you can list the information you are requesting in the relevant section, and the Chartership Office will pass it on to the candidate. Alternatively, you can email us, and we will pass this on.

We do not share the identities of the assessors with the candidate until the interview is arranged, for assessor safeguarding. Therefore, all communications with the candidate are undertaken via the Chartership Office.

You will be contacted by the Chartership Office to provide your availability during the interview window. A provisional (placeholder) time/date will be arranged whilst you are still completing your review so that everyone can plan ahead. If you decide to proceed to interview, the Chartership Office will set up the interview. If you decide to Postpone the application, we will advise the candidate and cancel the placeholder appointments.

Our interviews are now primarily conducted online via Zoom or Teams. If any candidate or assessor requires an in-person interview in relation to EDIA needs, please let us know at the earliest opportunity so that we can help facilitate this.

We aim to accommodate everyone's availability. If an interview has been scheduled and you can no longer make it, please contact us immediately so we can make new arrangements.

The Supporting Documents are the portfolio by which the candidate demonstrates their evidence for meeting the Chartership competency criteria.

The MLER is for those candidates who have not completed a Master's level qualification (UK QAA Level 7), and it aims to demonstrate that they have gained the same level of technical knowledge difficulty through their experience in their professional career.

Retrospective applications are those made by candidates within two years of being awarded a Geolsoc professional qualification i.e. CGeol candidate who previously gained CSci or vice versa.

These candidates do not need a further interview, and their competencies are assessed based on only their submitted information, some of which is updated material from the initial application.

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