
Nathan Male said his recent CGeol award helped him consolidate a long and varied career, and provided him with renewed vigour for his future
Nathan Male
BSc, MSc, PGC, CGeol, FGS
I applied for Chartership in 2018, when the opportunity arose to switch roles with my current employer, Adler and Allan. I always saw myself first and foremost as a geologist, but following an unsuccessful Chartership application in 2010, I wondered whether my career was more suited to the CSci route.
In the intervening period, the company supported me in completing a PG Certificate in Contaminant Hydrogeology, but in my previous role I’d had little chance to put it to good use. Having taken up a new position as Technical Manager, I planned to polish up these slightly rusty skills and develop new ones along the way.
Having a career-development plan in place was key. It marked a mental shift from simply getting on with the work, to planning for attendance at relevant seminars, refreshing specific training, and taking the lead on hydrogeologically focused project work.
Writing the professional report and preparing a presentation for interview were particularly fulfilling aspects of the CGeol application – I surprised myself with what I had actually achieved, on reflection, over the previous 20 years or so. It’s easy to focus on the challenges when your head is in the day-to-day work, but taking the long view allows you to reflect on your ‘career journey’ and, importantly, on your future aspirations.
As a newly Chartered Geologist I have a new-found resolve and commitment to ‘plan-act-reflect’, as a means of maintaining career focus and direction.
Applying for Chartership with 20+ years of experience
We propose changes to the 20+ application route to better allow candidates to demonstrate their fulfilment of the criteria for Chartership competency.
As well as addressing each criterion within the online application form, we will require a minimum of one supporting document to be included within the submission.
Once awarded, our 20+ candidates will be well placed to mentor and support their early- to mid-career colleagues towards their own Chartership application.
Does overseas experience count towards CGeol Chartership?
Yes! Our CGeol qualification is recognised worldwide – 17% of our Chartered Fellows are based internationally, in countries on almost every continent.
We are also often asked whether our CGeol qualification requires knowledge of UK geology. The answer is: no! What’s important is to demonstrate your understanding of the complexities of the geology and geological processes (both temporally and spatially) in the areas you work in. In addition, we want you to show that you can critically evaluate geoscience information to generate predictive models – wherever you are in the world.
For more information about the CGeol Chartership criteria, visit www.geolsoc.org.uk/chartershipguidance
Updated Chartership regulations have been approved by Council and are available at www.geolsoc.org.uk/chartership