Competency-Based Assessment Course & Review Service for APEGA Applicants
Finally, simple guidance on writing your best Competency-Based Assessment Report (CBA)
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Is your CBA holding up your licence & career?
The challenge with writing your CBA is that the guidelines are left somewhat to individual interpretation. You're spending your precious evenings and weekends wondering if what you're writing makes sense.
If it does, great. If not, you might be asked to re-submit it–or worse you'll be asked to write technical exams.
3 Common CBA Struggles
- Getting Started
- Writing that first competency can be the hardest part.
- Should I try to fill up 300 + 1,650 + 300 characters for the situation, action and outcome sections?
- Which project examples should I include?
- Finding the time
- Making time to brainstorm project examples and remember work details can be exhausting. You might also be wondering - What does a quality record look like?
- How do I show my application of engineering theory?
- How can I explain my engineering methodology?
- Finishing it
- Is it ready for APEGA?
- Are there any issues with my competencies?
- Is my writing clear and concise or blurry and scattered?
Our CBA Course is designed to take you by the hand
to start, improve, finish and submit your professional
looking Competency Based Assessment report.
Here's what you'll receive:
5 months of access
We've designed the course to help you write and submit your CBA in 30 days.
But if you need more time, you've got it.
1 full sample CBA
We've compiled one full sample CBA that covers a variety of competencies from disciplines that include civil, electrical, mechanical, software and more. This will help you get a feel for the quality and detail you should aim for.
7 step-by-step modules
#1: Checklist and Welcome Video | #2: Technical Exam Quiz: How likely are you to be asked to write technical exams and what can you do about it? | #3: Start APEGA Application and Review the Record Template | #4: Get Educated: Insights for all 22 competencies and their indicators + 9 Best Practices + 5 Common Mistakes + view our sample CBA | #5: Compile your CBA: First start by using our Competency Brainstorming Sheet to help you identify projects that would make good competencies. | #6: Request a review of your draft CBA to identify areas of improvement | #7: Submit to APEGA and stay on top of your validators to ensure they submit their review to APEGA.
Anyone who wants 1 dedicated resource to teach them step-by-step how to write and submit their best CBA. It is for those applying for a P.Eng. or engineering licensee.
| This course has been designed for both Canadian and foreign-educated aspiring engineers. | 
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Who's behind the Competency-Based Assessment Report Course & Review Service?
My name is Gavin Simone, P.Eng. and I'm licensed with APEGA. I've assembled a team of accomplished P.Eng. consultants ready to support you through this process.
In 2012, I volunteered with Engineers Canada to help it test the pilot program of the CBA. Throughout this process, I learned a lot about what makes a good record.
Several years later, the CBA system was introduced in BC (EGBC) and now Alberta (APEGA) applicants are required to use this method to submit their experience.
My consultants and I have assembled a full sample CBA inside the course to help you compare your draft with 22 excellent competencies. My consultants and I are also available to provide you with feedback on your draft CBA to ensure we catch issues before APEGA does.
Your draft needs a review... before it's reviewed (by APEGA)
Who will review my draft CBA?
It will be reviewed by someone in your field. Your draft will be assigned to one of our civil, electrical, mechanical, computer (software) or chemical P.Eng. consultants (with similar experience to yours). If you're not in one of the disciplines noted above, then you can still use our CBA course, but we won't be able to perform a draft CBA review for you.
What will the reviewer focus on?
We will assign 2 P.Eng. (or similar) people to your draft. First, a consultant in similar discipline/stream and will look at technical aspects of your CBA. Then, Gavin Simone, P.Eng., will review your draft for compliance with what APEGA has set out in its guideline for best practices.
What will the reviewer catch?
He/she will catch errors, issues, and things that are unclear. It's better if we ask these questions rather than APEGA.
How long does it take?
Your review will take approximately 5 business days and you'll receive an email with a bulleted list of things you are in compliance with as well as a list of things that you should address before submission.
Slide the vertical bar below to see what happens to a draft CBA when we review it:
(note: the example is for another province, so the format is a little different than the APEGA CBA)
Your Roadmap to CBA Success
Take the course
Work from top to bottom in the 7 module course. Learn about best practices and common mistakes. Brainstorm and use our tool to develop your draft. Compare it with our sample CBA. Feel confident as you start, fix or finish your experience write-up.
Draft review
Send your draft for a review by two of our P.Eng. staff. We'll match you up with someone in a similar discipline and stream.
Integrate feedback
Receive comments on how to make your draft more clear and concise. Update your draft to make it APEGA ready.
Submit
Send it off to APEGA knowing that your CBA is the best it can be.
Don't delay your application any longer.
Let our course show you the way to submit your best CBA.
$199 CAD + tax
- Online Course
-
Course features:
- 7 Step-By-Step Modules show you how to develop, compile and submit your best CBA
- Submission Checklist & Tips
- 1 full sample CBA
- eLearning on submission best practices & common mistakes
- Brainstorming Sheet to help you match your projects to the 22 competencies
- 5 months of course access
-Access right away (even at 2 a.m. in the morning)
-30-day money-back guarantee. -
Review service can be purchased separately from within the course (details below)
Order a review after completing the course
Our consultants can review applicants in the following areas:
- civil (structural, infrastructure, geotechnical)
- mechanical (HVAC, fire protection, aerospace, mechatronics)
- electrical (power).
- biomedical
- chemical (process, mining, metallurgy and petroleum, extractive metallurgy)
- computer - software
We offer two types of reviews:
2-hour review
- The reviewer will add comments to the first 10 competencies submitted.
- Please allow 5 business days.
- Price: C$250 + tax
3-hour review
- The reviewer will add comments to the first 15 competencies submitted.
- Please allow 7 business days.
- Price: C$350 + tax
FAQs
Unfortunately, it’s impossible for us (or anyone else) to take your resume and turn it into a CBA.
A resume is a 1 or 2-page document that summarizes your duties and accomplishments at a very high-level.
A Competency-Based Assessment (CBA) goes deep into the details of specific situations at work. For instance, competency 1.1 Regulation, Codes, and Standards ask you to demonstrate your knowledge of regulations, codes, standards, and safety. This is not something that you would have in your resume and is one example of why you have to draft the CBA on your own with the help of our course.
Luckily, our step-by-step CBA course will show you how to write your situations on your own before they are sent for review. Reviewing the sample CBA in the course will help you to get lots of ideas about the length and detail you should aim for.
Unfortunately, we require everyone to take the course to qualify for our review service. The course helps to ensure your draft meets a certain level of quality. It also allows our consultants to focus the feedback more on your engineering content and less on submission compliance.
Great question. We can only add value to your draft if we have a consultant available in that discipline and stream. The following are disciplines that we currently support:
- civil (structural, infrastructure, geotechnical)
- mechanical (HVAC, fire protection, aerospace, mechatronics)
- electrical (power).
- biomedical
- chemical (process, mining, metallurgy and petroleum, extractive metallurgy)
- computer - software
If your discipline is not listed above, you will still benefit from going through the course to prepare your competency report.
Unfortunately, no.
We can't guarantee that after you use our course/review you won't have to fulfil other requirements from your association. There are a lot of factors out of our control (e.g. the experience you have gained, if you were educated in Canada or abroad, if you implement our recommendations or not).
Our goal is to give you the best tools, examples, support and recommendations to make your CBA submission the strongest it can be and ensure that it is clear and concise. By doing this, you'll be able to reduce your chances of having to fulfill other requirements.
The start and end dates for each competency refers to the time period for just that project. It should be a minimum of 1 month in duration.
Yes.
Validation is critical to your CBA submission. Pick your validators wisely. It should be someone who knows your experience well and has a reputation for doing things on time. However, if your validators are not validating your experience for any reason (e.g. retired, sick), you can contact your association to have them switched.
Can’t get started with our paid course today?
No problem. Start with our free mini-course so we can teach you about some important competencies over the coming week.