The IT Profession
If you are not already a member of either BCS The Chartered Institute for IT (BCS) or the Institution of
Analysts and Programmers (IAP),
we would strongly encourage you to join at least one of them.
BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT is the organisation responsible under its Royal
Charter for computing and IT
related matters in the United Kingdom. It also maintains the registers of Chartered
IT Professionals and IT Technicians. The
IAP, while not a chartered organisation, is the specialist professional
body for software developers.
We believe that professionalism is just as important in information technology as
it is in other more established graduate professions. Indeed, if anything, we think
it is even more important in our profession since it is relatively immature in comparison
to others such as law or surveying, which some of your fellow graduates
in other disciplines might be entering.
If you have yet to graduate, you can apply to be a student with BCS The Chartered
Institute of IT. You can become a Licentiate of the
IAP after achieving good results in your first two years of your degree,
with the designatory post-nominal letters
LIAP.
If you have just graduated, you are likely to be eligible to become an Associate
Member (AMBCS)
of the BCS; or a Graduate Member
(GradIAP)
of the IAP, although
if
you have some valid experience you maybe considered for Associate Membership (AMIAP).