Summing up successfully

The summary of experience is one of the most important documents your candidate will produce and submit to RICS for their final assessment. Your candidate will need to have a solid understanding of the competencies they are selecting and the level of competency they are required to achieve, along with some great examples of “doing” and “advising” based on personal experience. You may consider these opening comments basic, obvious and straightforward but, unfortunately, at recent final assessments I was chairing I observed candidates attending with competency selections that were incorrect and unachievable given their working activity, despite the competency having been signed off as complete and the candidate competent to the highest required level. Interestingly (for the panel, not the candidate), it only took one question on these occasions for the assessment panel to establish that the candidate had not achieved the relevant experience and was therefore not competent. So what can you do to help your candidates create their summary of experience and get their APC documentation right the first time? First, don’t do it for them. The APC is all about actual, real, hands-on work experience. Simply, the stuff you cannot learn by reading it in a book. Your candidate will become better equipped if you gently guide and direct them toward the missing knowledge or experience and let them experience and record it themselves. It is important to engage and work with your candidate, especially at the outset with the competency selection, making sure you all understand the core competency requirements, make the appropriate optional competency selections and, wherever possible, allow them to gain the relevant experience. It is best to reflect on the competency level structure and requirements, and in that way explain how you can assist yiur candidate at each step of the journey. Level 1 – Knowledge Point your candidate at their pathway guide. Under each Level 1 competency they will find a list of knowledge subjects they will need to learn so that they can discuss the process step by step. Level 1 is the easiest of the competency levels to achieve because it is just a question of learning. However, it will take a fair amount of planning, preparation and effort to achieve. So many candidates pay less attention to this level and fail to put in the effort or time that is required. You can help your candidate by working with them to understand the depth and breadth of knowledge required. If there is a gap in the candidate’s (and your) knowledge, send them away to research it and report back to you through your three-monthly meetings or regular presentations to the rest of the team. Level 2 – Doing You can help your candidate by giving them the depth and breadth of experience they need. It is always worth reinforcing to your candidate that there is competency experience in pretty much everything we do – they just need to stand back, understand the competencies, review their experience and then apply them. Also, they should appreciate that task they undertake day to day apply to a number of competencies, so an example of a particular type of experience could be used with a few different competencies in the summary of experience. However, remember your candidate can only record one competency to one duration – for example, make sure they don’t go mulitplying a single day’s experience to a number of competencies, otherwise their log book will be calculated incorrectly (this does happen). In the pathway guide there will be a list of suggested example activities that would satisfy the “doing” element of a competency. Please discuss these carefully with your candidate and ensure they appreciate how they can apply them to their experience. It is worth noting that there may be more relevant examples of experience, as the Level 2 list is neither a syllabus nor exhaustive. Remember your candidate needs to show a depth and breadth of experience and then transpose that experience into the summary, giving the assessors peace of mind that the candidate has actually been there and done it. Avoid generic statements of achievement and be specific with project experience examples, helping your candidate to highlight good examples and incorporate descriptions of their experience into their summary. Level 3 – Advice This adopts the same principle as Level 2 but in addition it is about the depth and breadth of real-life experience. This can be demonstrating in many differing areas, ways of achieving solutions in those circumstances where they have given advice. This needs to be tried and tested so that your candidate has solid experience and can discuss and explain the reasoning behind the advice given. This is fundamental to Level 3 achievement. The resourcing of a suitably broad range of advice-giving experience is so important. Your candidate must be able to discuss the actual advice they have given and the factors (from experience) influencing that advice. The assessors are trained to ask candidates to explain the advice they have given and why, so please make sure you help your candidates pick the right project examples to demonstrate this well. Mock interviews We have many candidates come to DeLever for mock interviews and in the feedback session they often say that our mocks were different to those they had received from their colleagues. Our mocks are run like the real assessment. Please take care when questioning and testing your candidate to challenge them correctly. I find many supervisors and counsellors get stuck on “what do you know?” (Level 1) competency questioning and then think by moving to a scenario-based question this will demonstrate “advice” (Level 3). This is not necessarily so. As both of the questions are often worded “what do you know?” or “what would you do?”, these are still only Level 1 questions. It’s better to ask a candidate to explain a real-life example where they have done something, or a real-life example of some advice they have had personal experience and then ask why they gave it. This moves the competency questioning along through the levels. This is also where competency achievement and sign-off in the summary of experience often goes wrong, because supervisors and counsellors do not fully appreciate the competency or level structure. They are therefore sending candidates to a competency-based assessment with no experience recorded and, subsequently, very little ability to actually demonstrate their declared competency and pass their assessment. When checking and verifying the summary of experience, supervisors and counsellors should make sure these simple steps are followed: Level 1:  Clear identification of knowledge and examples of learning Level 2: Clear identification of achievement and a detailed real-life example covering the depth and breadth of the experience relating to the competency requirement Level 3: Clear identification of achievement and a detailed real life example covering the depth and breadth of advice given and reasoning why it relates to the competency requirement USEFUL RESOURCES APCeye magazine Critical APC information in a free monthly magazine. www.mydelever.com APC101 – WhatsApp Open group on APC Process discussions. Everyone welcome: www.delever.co.uk/whatsapp APC presentation Online masterclass discussing key elements of the APC final assessment interview. Hints and tips on best practice. www.delever.com Free timeline wallchart A2 pictorial view of the APC process, based on the RICS guides and Jon Lever’s professional knowledge and experience. www.delever.com Supervisor and counsellor APC training – formal CPD Tips on how to manage and support your candidates. www.delever.com APC mock interviews Practice your APC final assessment interview, including your presentation and specific competency-based questioning. A full-hour interview just like the real thing and immediate feedback from the two assessors, including hints and tips on best practice. www.delever.com APC commercial property and residential revision guides Every forward-thinking APC candidate’s reference book for APC preparation: www.apctaylormade.co.uk Free trial: myAPCDiary This resource can save up to 60% of a candidate’s day-to-day APC administration. www.apcdiary.com RICS APC guides These should be read at least once every three to four months and be fully understood. Candidates from outside the UK also need to check their regional websites for any local APC requirements. www.rics.org Jon Lever FRICS is the RICS’ UK licensed assessor trainer, a RICS regional training adviser, an APC chairman of assessors and a member of the RICS’ governing council. Follow Jon on Twitter @deleverapc • Click here for full access to EG’s pathway to success series on APC competencies.