Get Ahead 

New to the industry and eager to develop your career? The New Member Networks National Event is the perfect place to start. Not only does this engaging two day conference count towards 2 days Structured Learning & Development (SLD), or 15 hrs Continuing Professional Development (CPD), it’s also a chance to network with other industry professionals and make connections that will help you get ahead professionally.

Our speakers and members explain the benefits of CIWM membership, and the advantages of attending the New Member Networks' National Event.

Laura Tainsh is a partner at Davidson Chalmers LLP and a member of CIWM.

"I was one of the fortunate recipients of a funded place at last year’s New Member Network Conference and this year I am returning as a speaker (and a Chartered Member of CIWM)! With this type of event, you always ‘get out what you put in’ but the relaxed atmosphere of the conference and dinner made the networking with other members and all of the speakers an effortless experience. There was opportunity for useful and informative discussion of topical issues affecting the industry, from a number of different perspectives, both during the presentations and via informal conversations throughout the two-day conference. The event started with a site visit to a MRF owned by Milton Keynes Council and operated by Viridor and ended with career development advice from those with experience in the industry so a broad spectrum of information was covered."

Anna Willetts is a Fellow of the CIWM, New Member Network Co-ordinator for CIWM East Anglia, and Centre Councillor for CIWM East Anglia. She is also Senior Associate at Slate and Gordon (UK) LLP.

"I’ve been a member of CIWM since 1999, joining as a student at the University of Manchester.  I continued as a member in my career as an environmental consultant, and then onwards when I changed career in 2005 to become an environmental lawyer. Recently I upgraded my membership to Fellowship.  Membership of CIWM has been a great benefit to me in both careers.  As a new member (albeit I am an old one now!) I think it is an extremely beneficial organisation in which to belong and would encourage everyone in the industry to become a member.  When starting out in the industry when I left University in 2000, I found the networking and learning opportunities of CIWM to be most useful.  Today I still work with, and am in touch with, people who I met as a new member all those years ago.

The seminars and conferences which CIWM offers are great opportunities for new members to get to know people within the industry from all areas and specialities – operators, consultants, regulators, service providers and even lawyers!  They also offer excellent learning platforms within your specific area of expertise as well as to understand the waste and resources industry from a wider perspective.  I’ve often found myself at CIWM events finding out about areas of waste management and resource technology which I had no idea existed – great for broadening knowledge and horizons in your career.  The annual CIWM New Members’ Network conference is a fantastic opportunity to meet and network with other new members across the industry and across the country.  The speakers and topics covered are always excellent and as the conference is geared solely towards new members in the waste industry, everyone is in the same boat!

As an employer, I also look out for CIWM membership on CVs and I think most employers would see this as a benefit, if not a necessity, in their employees looking for a career in the waste industry."