The Summary Statement (SS) is the part of your CDR that maps each competency element to the paragraphs of your Career Episodes where you demonstrated it. This guide brings together our tips on all three parts of it.
The Summary Statement is divided into three parts:
- Knowledge and Skills Base
- Engineering Application Ability
- Professional and Personal Attributes
Before you start
Before you start working on your Summary Statement, read the description of all indicators relevant to your Occupational Category. Engineers Australia sets these out in its guide How to write career episodes and a summary statement.
When reading, check whether there is any major piece of information you are not covering in your Career Episodes. For example, if you don’t make any reference to the standards you used in your work (technical standards, safety standards etc.), this is major missing information. Add it to your Career Episodes before you carry on with your SS.
The general rule set by Engineers Australia is that you demonstrate all competencies in your Career Episodes jointly, but we advise you to cover as many indicators as possible in each of your Career Episodes.
Except for the very first element, we advise you to have at least two indicators covered (with their reference paragraphs) in the first and the third parts of the Summary Statement, and at least three indicators in the second part (Engineering Application Ability). Don’t take the risk of writing just one indicator in an element intended to demonstrate your engineering design activities (PE2.3), for example. Such an approach can lead to your entire CDR failing.
Part 1: Knowledge and Skills Base
The first part of the Summary Statement is the most general part. It does not need to go into the details of your engineering or design work. It is dedicated to demonstrating that you possess the required engineering knowledge and are able to apply it in your work on various projects.
In this part you don’t need to refer to your design experience in detail, or to particular calculations or specific problems you have resolved. Keep the details for the second part of the Summary Statement and keep the first part general.
Many people find the very first element difficult because they don’t understand what Engineers Australia wants to see in it. The first element is the most general element of the SS. It aims to demonstrate that you have the fundamental knowledge required to be an engineer. We suggest the following example wording for your first element. It is the only element in the entire SS that would be OK with only one indicator plus its reference paragraphs:
“For all three projects, I demonstrated my engineering knowledge and skills by applying engineering fundamentals to systematic investigation, interpretation, and analysis where I also introduced various innovative solutions to the complex problems.”
Part 2: Engineering Application Ability
This is the core part of the Summary Statement and should be well covered to pass the assessment. It is intended to demonstrate your capabilities as an engineer, which especially applies to Professional Engineers. This part includes four elements:
- 2.1 Application of established engineering methods to complex engineering problem solving
- 2.2 Fluent application of engineering techniques, tools and resources
- 2.3 Application of systematic engineering synthesis and design processes
- 2.4 Application of systematic approaches to the conduct and management of engineering projects
In this part you can and should go into the details of your engineering work, especially your engineering design activities (most relevant for PE2.3).
Before you fill in this part, read the indicator descriptions for the entire second part first, and then for each element separately. This shows you how they differ from one another.
The first element concentrates on problem situations and the solutions you found. The second element is about the application of tools (such as software tools) and techniques. The third element is about design experience: list all the design experience you described in your Career Episodes. The fourth element is about overall project management.
Write as many indicators as possible to cover as many competencies as possible. We recommend a minimum of three indicators for each element in this part of the SS.
Part 3: Professional and Personal Attributes
This part has six elements that are not directly related to your engineering work but cover other sides of your competencies as an engineer. It is easier to understand and cover than the other two parts. Still, two of the six elements are quite confusing: 3.1 “Ethical conduct and professional accountability” and 3.3 “Creative, innovative and pro-active demeanour”. The rest are quite straightforward.
Element 3.1: Ethical conduct and professional accountability
The easiest way to cover this element is by writing indicators that refer to the risk management process and to the safety of other people and protection of the environment. You can also refer to the Engineers Australia Code of Ethics, but in that case you need to refer to it in at least one of your Career Episodes. This element is the same for Engineering Technologists, so this guidance applies to them as well as to Professional Engineers. Example indicators:
- I strictly implemented on-site safety norms, and with my proactive measures, I avoided any accidents.
- I strictly followed my company’s waste segregation policy and I ensured that all the waste materials such as the concentrate wastes were safely disposed at the dedicated points.
- I took all the required precautions, preventive maintenance and evaluation of safety to mitigate work related risks.
Element 3.3: Creative, innovative and pro-active demeanour
This element consists of three indicators, all about innovation and creativity in your work. Describe how you applied your creativity to your engineering work. This might be new technologies you implemented as a solution to a problem, a new technique you developed, or anything else innovative you applied in your project. Example indicators you could use as a reference:
- I proposed and implemented alternative approaches that cleverly reduced the cost and complexity of the systems, increased their performance, and also their reliability.
- I look out for innovative solutions to technical issues and am always ready to challenge the engineering practices.
- I keep myself updated on the new developments in the field of mechanical engineering and apply a systematic approach to implement design ideas in my projects.
Don’t forget to reference the relevant paragraphs in the third column of your Summary Statement.
Filling in the Summary Statement table
When you write your Summary Statement, you will discover that some indicators are repeated from element to element. You can copy these, adjusting the wording to suit the particular element, with the same reference paragraphs. Examples are indicators about safety, project management, and learning and investigating before the project starts.
Another useful tip is to use the search option in MS Word on your Career Episodes. For example, if you are filling in the element that refers to your design work, search for the word “design” in your Career Episodes and you will find the paragraphs to refer to. Most reference paragraphs can be found this way.
You will often find that you have not covered a specific competency anywhere. In that case, first add information covering it to your Career Episodes, then write the indicators in the Summary Statement, then add the reference paragraphs. You might need to repeat this for several uncovered competencies.
When filling in a particular element, refer to the relevant paragraphs from all three Career Episodes. For example, if you are filling in the element that refers to safety and you described this experience in all three Career Episodes, fill in the reference paragraphs from all of them, not just the first one.
If you don’t have many indicators to cover a particular element, divide an indicator into two or more parts. For example, for an element about design experience you can write one indicator reflecting the design experience in your first Career Episode, another for your second Career Episode and a third for your third Career Episode.
Need help with your Summary Statement?
If your Career Episodes are ready and you only need help with the Summary Statement, or you need the complete CDR, see our Summary Statement writing assistance.
