Continuing Education for Inspectors

“If you don’t use it, you will lose it” is an accurate statement now more than ever for inspectors in any domain. As you progress through the ranks and projects, you begin to pick up little bits of knowledge here and there to help you in the future. You run into situations where you must dig through several specifications to get the right answers, or maybe even call your mentor to see his/her experiences. Every case is different than the other, and sometimes you can’t see the obvious answer that’s sitting under your nose. To solve an unknown situation, you have to change the perspective and come up with a fresh one. Thinking outside the box is applicable in any domain or life part.

Those answers that you gain from challenging experiences will stay with you forever. Why? Because you will remember every moment of it: the fear, the anxiety, the un-patience, and not the last one, the impostor syndrome. You fear that everyone will see that you are not what they thought you are. The fight to preserve your status is the ultimate goal in any managing position. To get out of difficult situations without losing your status, pride, or self-esteem, you need continuing education. When the end of the course and you start working, you start learning for your job, which is continuing education. Yet there is also classroom education, which is just as valuable. Continuing education means that you feel and need to learn something new, and you do whatever it takes to get it. It means you learn because you genuinely want it, and not because of your parents or the entire society says you HAVE to do it.

In my opinion, gaining another certification or taking a class shows how dedicated to your professional career you are. While the others are at home watching TV, you have your nose in a specification taking practice tests to improve your knowledge. Instead of using your vacation for a trip to Disney World, you are in a hotel taking a boot camp style class. This shows dedication, a drive to better yourself, and exactly how serious you are about your career. It also gains a better perspective of work going around you.

Too many times as inspectors do, we look at the same aspect of the inspection, a prime example of this is pipeline coatings. I have done enough anomaly digs and read inspection article to see a trend in coatings. After the weld would pass x-ray, no consideration was ever given to coatings, make it the same color as the pipe. But slowly, the importance of a suitable coating system came to the realization, paying 25 million dollars for this pipeline and digging it up a couple of years later because of coating fails is not acceptable. Gaining a better aspect of other inspections is just an added benefit to you and your continuing education.

Now let me directly address your financial greed: an inspector with multiple certifications gets paid a little more, as they should. Just like mentioned above, they are taking their career path seriously and want to make themselves better.

A multi-certified inspector will last longer on a project than a single certified technician. The company will need him, and they will try to keep him as long as possible. This often means more money in your pocket.

When I was coming up through the ranks, my mentor would always tell me, “Don’t memorize the specification because they will change.” So, I got into the habit of double-checking the specifications as I would do inspections and reports, that pattern has served me very well over the years.

Sometimes all you need is a little creativity. You don’t have to memorize numbers or procedures; you have to know where to find it. Knowing what the right sources are, that’s the primary gold ability. Knowing how to find the information and checking the source for reliability, this is something that will get you out of any trouble.

Also, being able to sit in a classroom and go over a subject matter with an expert is a tremendous benefit to you. All you need is a little patience and attention to detail. You can run through scenarios that you would otherwise never see or experience, with no judgment. If you want to improve yourself, nowadays, the internet makes it as easy as ever. Remember: continuing education is beneficial both to you and to everyone around you. 

Don't forget to give back, the greatest lessons I have every learned has come from older inspectors who are kind enough to share their knowledge and experiences with me.