Work Experience & Work Products
EXPERIENCE
A minimum of 3 years full-time work experience in the field (or the equivalent with part-time) is required before applying for Professional Certification. Candidates with a Ph.D. in Ergonomics/ Human Factors/ User Experience only need 2 years of work experience to meet this requirement.
Work Experience Accepted
- Field placement requirements in Human Factors/Ergonomics/User Experience, such as, internships and coop work experiences during academic programs, can be included towards work experience.
- A paid research assistant or teacher’s assistant position relevant to Human Factors/ Ergonomics/ User Experience can be considered as work experience.
- One year of work experience equivalency is granted to graduates of a Human Factors/ Ergonomics/ User Experience PhD program, verified by a submitted transcript.
The on-line application form asks that the most recent employment should be listed first. A name and telephone number of an individual who can verify the employment is required. The application asks for a description of responsibilities of each work experience that is listed that contributes towards demonstrating meeting the experience requirement.
WORK PRODUCTS
Work products are required to demonstrate your proficiency working in the profession. These work products should reflect your knowledge and skill of the field and have been predominantly your work. Completion of at least two of the work products must have occurred in the past five years. The remaining work products must have been completed in the past 10 years.
Acceptable Work Products
Sample work products may include, for example, relevant segments of technical reports, design papers, analysis reports, evaluation reports, patent applications, or articles authored by you in ergonomics/human factors/user experience publications. Work examples that are part of independent work, such as a Master’s thesis or Doctoral dissertation are acceptable. Varied work products are encouraged to demonstrate your proficiency.
If necessary, for context, annotate your work product or provide additional information to complement any of your products. Your work product submission should indicate your thought processes and methods you applied in performing the work. Be sure to attach the additional information to the appropriate work product and include the heading, “[‘Your last name] Work Product Title” and the “work product number” you listed in the application.
Confidential Work Products
Work performed for the government or industry is often proprietary or confidential. All BCPE staff and volunteers involved with applications, examinations or personal information of other certificants, sign non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements.
Applicants are also welcome to edit their products and redact sensitive information. The HF/E/UX component of the work which is being reviewed can usually be independent of knowing the brand or name of the system or device of the project.
Submitting Work Products
Work products must align with the three sections of the BCPE Core Competencies:
I. Analysis – discover, gather data
II. Design – develop systems
III. Integration - Implementation, Validation
Submit a maximum of SIX work products. Two work products must demonstrate competency in Analysis. Two work products must demonstrate competency in Design. Two work products must demonstrate competency in Integration (Validation or Implementation).
A work product may be used to satisfy one or more sections of the BCPE Core Competencies. For example, a single work product may demonstrate competency in analysis, design, and integration, or any one of the sections. There is a 20-page maximum per each work product.
Work products must be submitted to BCPE electronically through the online system. PDF format is preferred but Microsoft Word® and PowerPoint® formats are accepted. Locked documents will not be accepted.
The application form requires the titles of the work products to be entered in a table with the appropriate sections and tasks of the Core Competencies indicated that align with the work product.