Mahmoud Fahmy remembers his journey to becoming a Chartered engineer well: it was late June 2007 and he had two job opportunities dependent on the success of his Chartered interview.

One job was with AECOM, his interview was a day after his son was born and he had to go straight from the hospital. His Chartered interview was two weeks away and he had to wait for the outcome to get a job offer.

When it came time for his Chartered interview, Mahmoud was understandably nervous.

“The interview went well but at the closure one of the interviewers asked me ‘can you delegate responsibility?’ and I didn’t get the word ‘delegate’. I forgot what it means,” he said.

“I said ‘sorry, not sure of the meaning of the word ‘delegate’ and he explained it to me and I answered correctly. I went out and thought ‘I’m not able to understand the word delegate, then I’ve lost it!’”

But it was far from the case. Soon after the interview a representative from Engineers Australia called Mahmoud to tell him that he had been approved for Chartered status.

“In the carpark I sent two messages to the two companies which interviewed me. As soon as I got back to my office, I got the two offers,” he said.

Mahmoud, the first President of Engineers Australia’s ever growing Chapter in Qatar and member of EA National Congress for overseas chapters, says the Chartered status was a ‘game changer’ in his career.

He moved to Australia in 2005 after completing his Stage 1 Skilled Migrant Assessment. Despite a booming engineering job market, it was difficult to get his foot in the door.

Mahmoud soon took a job at a small firm but craved more out of his career.

“That’s when I reached out to Engineers Australia asking if they have a role in supporting skilled migrant engineers. EA put me through to Young Engineers Australia (YEA),” he said.

Mahmoud went to committee meetings where he quickly built his contact list and also became an Engineers Australia member.

Mahmoud was getting itchy feet so he made an effort to start his Chartered journey while at the same time pushing out his CV continuously to employers and recruiters. He attended an EA Charter process workshop and soon after submitted his Engineering Competency Report (ECR).

Through YEA hosted career expos, Mahmoud was also able to expand his network and get more exposure to the firms and recruiters.

“As soon as my ECR assessment went through and I received the invitation for the Chartered interview, I updated my CV with my Chartered progress. I got a call from a recruiter within five minutes,” he said.

Mahmoud would accept the offer to join AECOM and worked with the company for more than six years before moving to Qatar to work with the firm for a further three years.

The change of scenery didn’t change Mahmoud’s desire to grow professionally; he wanted to find ways to connect with fellow members in Qatar.

“I wanted to be active and do something. So I contacted the Engineers Australia national office to get in touch with fellow EA engineers.”

Mahmoud and fellow members built an interest group, which proved to be widely successful. A year after a visit by Engineers Australia’s CEO Stephen Durkin the group was dubbed a Chapter which now boasts more than 150 members and was successful in getting the EA CPEng recognised by the Qatari ministry in charge of the compulsory accreditation of engineers in the State of Qatar.

Mahmoud’s role with the Qatar Chapter allows him to help fellow members going through Chartered process. It also allows him to give back to Engineers Australia who was always there for his journey. His efforts are well recognised by EA and he becaome a Fellow Member FIEAust in August 2016.

“The Chartered process is not difficult. They (engineers) need to break the ice between them and the process and it’s as simple as reading the competency and thinking back to what things they did in their projects that covers the competency. Then start writing,” he said.

“Don’t think of writing it in one go. If you’re on the train and you think of something, write it down. After finishing 4-5 send it to mentor and check it off.”

Mahmoud is the first to say he isn’t special when it comes to conquering your career goals.

“My story is not that sophisticated and I’m not a genius! Many people can relate to my story,” he said. “Many people can see if I can do it then they can do it.”