Working Towards Letter

Holding a valid Certificate of Competence for your job role is a mandatory requirement for personnel working on many projects in the global offshore energy sector.

MTCS Certificates of Competence are issued after successful completion of a Grade Assessment (GA), an Individual Competence Assessment (ICA) or a GA Renewal all of which require individuals to be actively working in the offshore industry.

Here, however, lies a problem for some individuals and presents a question that MTCS are often asked: “How do I get a Certificate of Competence if I have not been actively working, through no fault of my own?”

We have experienced numerous instances where personnel have previously held a valid certificate of competence for their role, having been fully employed within the industry, but where a number of factors left these individuals without work for many months. The main ones over recent years being COVID-related circumstances and, before that, downturns in the industry due to global oil prices.

Whilst contracting companies quite rightly require contractors to hold a valid Certificate of Competence, there is no standard provision for those experienced personnel who are unable to obtain or renew a certificate due to such extenuating circumstances.

MTCS recognise this on-going problem and have introduced what is referred to as a ‘Working Towards Letter’.

As the name implies, this formal letter confirms that an individual is registered onto a MTCS Competence program which requires them to actively gather evidence, and/or undergo workplace assessment.

Why have we implemented this?

The world of learning and development is well tuned-into the fact that individuals may work in a role whilst working towards a formal qualification in that same role. This is perfectly acceptable as it is assumed that the individual is being adequately supervised, coached, and assessed whilst working in the role.

An example of this could be the ROV Senior Pilot working towards a Certificate of Competence as a Supervisor. This is common to many industries, non-more so than the airline industry, for example:

• All pilots must take control of an aircraft at some point during their training.
• However, this is only done under the supervision and guidance of a qualified and competent pilot who assesses their performance and provides feedback to them.

Richard Warburton, Managing Director of MTCS (UK) Ltd: “We encourage employers and agencies to consider recognising an MTCS Working Towards Letter as an acceptable inclusion to an application made by an individual.”

“Many agencies and employers wishing to employ an individual may be fully aware that the person in question will already have worked, in the same role or Grade, at some point in the past and continued to demonstrate competence whilst in that period of employment. It is also highly possible that the individual may have actually been employed by them.”

“To be perfectly clear,” adds Richard, the ‘Working Towards Letter’ is not a Certificate of Competence and does not infer competence of the individual, but it does allow an individual the opportunity to re-demonstrate competence in the role in which they previously worked.”

A MTCS Working Towards Letter has a 6-month validity period (12-months in respect of the full GA) and the authenticity of the Letter can also be checked by future employers/agencies using the MTCS ‘Working Towards Letter Validation Tool’ which can be found on our our digital learning website, MTCS Online.

“MTCS are actively addressing the frustrating issue that affects both individuals and companies, when individuals have been forced out of the industry through no fault of their own and are actively seeking to work in the sector once again.” Concludes Richard

“We encourage employers and agencies to consider accepting the MTCS ‘Working Towards Letters’ where appropriate, and we ask any organisations to contact MTCS directly should there be any ambiguity or if they wish to discuss further.”