Is it worth my applying to be a BCS Fellow - looks like a pain doing a CV and so on, but I am sure I would qualify.

[scmbradley@mathstodon.xyz]

@dentangle @neil @revk I'm a BCS member but not convinced I get much out of it (I signed up with the intention of making use of some of their training stuff, but never did). Their trade magazine seems to be mostly about AI...

[edent@mastodon.social]

@neil @revk
I did membership and chartered status.

TBH, I only did it because I was applying for jobs which said "Must be a member of a professional body" and my employer was happy to pay for it.

Like any organisation, you get out of it what you put in to it.

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

@Scmbradley @dentangle @revk

A friend and I have a small competition ongoing as to how many titles/post-nominals we can get for a total spend of no more than £100.

I'd wondered if the BCS might help me with that (and it did not).

[dentangle@chaos.social]

@neil @Scmbradley @revk What's a WCIT membership cost these days? I'm not sure they're any more relevant, but they sound proper posh and have a nice building in London you can use for meetings.

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

@dentangle

They've made the choice not to publish their membership fees, so I discounted them!

@Scmbradley @revk

[dentangle@chaos.social]

@neil @Scmbradley @revk Oh. Just checked. A lot more than your £100 limit I'm afraid, according the the 2010 membership pack I just dug out of my email.

Joining as a Freemen: A one off payment (fine) and an annual subscription. For 2010 these are £525 and £190 respectively.

Elected as a Liveryman: A one off payment (fine) and an annual subscription (quarterage). For 2010 these are £800 and £295 respectively

[dentangle@chaos.social]

@neil @Scmbradley @revk Also, WCIT take exception to your frivolous approach to membership ...

"Joining the ITC is a lifelong commitment. It is not like joining a club, which can be dispensed with as and when one feels like it; one does not “retire” from the Company"

[onepict@chaos.social]

@dentangle @neil @revk I was a student member of BCS. I mainly signed up as at the time, they claimed my course would get chartership.

I decided not to sign up when I graduated. They've always seemed a bit fusty and old fashioned. Plus I objected to their idea of chartership at the time being really focused on OOO and Java. Which was the thing at the time.

They just aren't relevant. The IEEE is doing way more for FOSS with it's OS office.

Open Source

Aligned with IEEE’s mission, values, and body of work, IEEE SA Open supports standards through building communities of technology collaboration.

IEEE Standards Association (standards.ieee.org)

[onepict@chaos.social]

@dentangle @neil @Scmbradley @revk if you want proper posh there's the worshipful company of IT technologists

Royal Signals Career Workshops

The City Livery Company for the Tech Sector

The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists (wcit.org.uk)

Plus they already have links with the BCS.

[revk@toot.me.uk]

@Edent @neil What's needed for chartered status?

Ah, that is becoming a fellow, right?

Apparently I need a sponsor...

[onepict@chaos.social]

@dentangle @neil @Scmbradley @revk you can never leave......

[edent@mastodon.social]

@revk @neil
It's a different (lesser) set of criteria https://www.bcs.org/membership-and-registrations/get-registered/chartered-it-professional/

Personally, as with any group, I'd join at a lower level and then see if you're interested in climbing the ladder.

[revk@toot.me.uk]

@Edent @neil Is it just an application, or is there an exam?

[edent@mastodon.social]

@revk chartered was just an application. No exam.