Phase 6 · Sit the interview

The Professional Review Interview

What the interview is for, who conducts it, how long it lasts, and what it is your job to demonstrate.

Who this is for:Candidates at any stage ·Mentors ·Supporters

Two trained reviewers, sixty to ninety minutes, remotely — to verify that you have achieved all ten Core Objectives to the minimum standards for your grade.

How the interview works

Institution of Structural Engineers

The Professional Review Interview verifies that you have achieved the Core Objectives to the minimum standards.
Interviews are conducted by two trained reviewers who are experienced members of the Institution, normally remotely, typically by Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
It will normally run between 60 and 90 minutes, varying with how long the reviewers need to determine whether you have reached the required standard in each objective.
You must give a presentation of your career in structural engineering, lasting about 10 minutes and using no more than 10 slides.
During the interview it is your responsibility to demonstrate that you have achieved the required standard for all ten Core Objectives.
Reviewers question primarily on the content of your portfolio, but may also ask more general questions to satisfy the requirements of each objective.
AI tools are not permitted during the interview in any capacity.

Reviewers at the interview: 2Trained, experienced members of the Institution.
Interview length: 60 to 90minutesIt varies with how long the reviewers need to satisfy themselves on each Core Objective.
Interview format: RemoteTypically Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Face-to-face is rare.
Presentation length: about 10minutesA presentation of your career in structural engineering.
Slide limit: 10slides maximumNot giving a presentation at all results in failing Core Objective 2. In the rare face-to-face case, bring a paper copy of the ten slides for each reviewer.
AI during the interview: Not permitted in any capacityIf reviewers suspect it, the interview may be terminated and your application may be recommended for voiding.

From IPD Guidance — Chartered Member, Institution of Structural Engineers.

What "your responsibility to demonstrate" actually means

That sentence is the most consequential in the guidance, and it is easy to read past.

The reviewers are not there to extract your competence from you. They are there to determine whether you have shown it. If an objective never comes up because you did not bring it up, that is not a lucky escape — it is an objective you have not evidenced, and there are ten of them.

This changes how you prepare. It is not enough to be able to answer questions about your work. You need to know, before you sit down, which piece of evidence carries each of the ten objectives, and be ready to steer towards it.

The two things being read before you speak

By the time you are in the room, your reviewers have your portfolio, your ten IPD final report forms and your two-page experience report. They have formed a view. The interview tests that view: it probes the claims, checks that you can discuss what you submitted, and fills the gaps.

That is why submitting something you cannot discuss in detail is dangerous, and why a portfolio built from other people's work fails in the room rather than on paper.

Sixty to ninety minutes, and what the variation means

The guidance says the length varies according to how long it takes the reviewers to determine whether you have reached the standard in each objective.

Do not read a short interview as a bad sign, or a long one as a good one. Both directions are reported by candidates who passed and candidates who did not. What it does mean, practically, is that you cannot rely on there being time for everything — so the evidence you most want discussed should not be held back for the end.

Remote, and what that changes

Because the interview is normally remote, your reviewers are reading your A3 drawings in a window on a screen, sharing your presentation over a video link, and forming an impression through a camera. Three practical consequences:

Test the platform, the camera and the audio in advance, on the machine you will use.
Have your portfolio open and bookmarked so you can navigate to any page in seconds when asked.
Know your page references. "That's on page 143, under objective 6" is a small thing that reads as competence.

From application to result

At application
Experience report and ten IPD final report forms, as a single document
The interview fee is paid online at this point to confirm registration.
About six weeks after the deadline
Your regional group gives you the details of your two reviewers
You confirm the time and date, then email them the portfolio and any supporting documents.
Before the interview
Reviewers read everything you submitted
Late delivery risks the interview being refused.
On the day
Presentation, then questions across all ten objectives
60 to 90 minutes, normally remote.
After
The reviewers report their decision to the Institution
It is reviewed and approved by the Applications and Professional Review Panel before the result is released to you.