Trends preventing engineers from obtaining professional registration with ECSA in the required time

Graduate engineers in South Africa are expected to operate as professional engineers within a timeframe of approximately 3 years after graduation; however they do not achieve this. It is vital that engineers are able to operate at the expected levels of a professional engineer in the required time to promote the growth of the engineering sector. An industry survey was used to investigate the trends why professional registration is not obtained within time. It was confirmed that engineers do not achieve professional registration within the required time. Secondly it was highlighted that they do not always operate at the expected levels of responsibility in the workplace as suggested by literature. Ensuring that engineers operate at the suggested levels of responsibility could further assist them in obtaining professional registration within the required time. The research identified self-development and training needs of engineers in South Africa to enable registration within required time.