Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: What is a “Professional Title”? How is it different from a Practice Qualification?

• A “Professional Title” is a primary indicator of the academic/technical proficiency and professional capability of skilled talents in Mainland. Title levels include, from lowest to highest: Technician, Assistant Engineer, Engineer, Senior Engineer, and Professor-level Senior Engineer.
• In Mainland, professional qualifications are divided into two main categories: “Professional Title” and Vocational Qualifications.
• “Professional Title” is a crucial measure for assessing a professional's technical skill level in Mainland. They focus on evaluating an individual professional's qualifications and experience. Different levels represent distinctions in a professional's competency, ability, and achievements. For technical positions with high skill requirements, job postings often mandate a specific “Professional Title” level for consideration. This is especially true for leadership roles (e.g., Chief Engineer, Project Manager), which typically require at least the title of "Senior Engineer".
• Vocational Qualifications are further divided into two sub-categories: Practice Licence Qualifications and Employment Qualifications:

(1) Practice Licence Qualification: This refers to government-imposed access control for professions with significant responsibility, broad public applicability, and relevance to public interest. It is the essential standard of knowledge, technology, and capability required by law to independently practice or engage in a specific profession. A familiar concept for Hong Kong professionals, Practice Qualifications are functional, allowing actions like signing and certifying design calculation, drawings and technical reports. Examples in the construction field include Registered Architect, Registered Structural Engineer, and Registered Professional Engineer.

(2) Employment Qualification: This signifies the baseline standard of knowledge, technology, and capability required to begin work in a specific profession. Examples include the Qualification for Water Works Project Quality Inspector, Securities & Futures Fund Industry Practitioner Qualification, and Cultural Relics Protection Engineering Practitioner Qualification.

Question 2: What are the uses of a “Professional Title”?

• “Professional Title” serve as an important basis for the employment, assessment, and promotion of skilled technical talents in Mainland. Initially part of the talent management system for public institutions, their use has expanded to other sectors, including private enterprises, which now also use them as a key criterion for selecting technical talent. Titles are widely recognized across Mainland and play a role in areas like tender/bid processes, talent certification, preferential talent policies, home purchasing, and children's school enrollment.
• Most professionals in technical fields within Mainland undergo “Professional Title” evaluation after gaining relevant work experience and achievements, to certify their experience and accomplishments in their technical field. For Hong Kong professionals, obtaining a Mainland “Professional Title” helps mainland enterprises recognize their technical level and qualification grade, facilitating their work there.
• Furthermore, tender invitations in Mainland often specify Title requirements for participants, especially for project management personnel. For instance, a Project Manager or Project Lead might be required to hold at least a "Senior Engineer" title. Additionally, for complex projects with high technical demands, having a team member with a "Professor-level Senior Engineer" title can lead to extra points during evaluation. The qualification certification for construction engineering enterprises themselves also often sets requirements for the number of technical staff with “Professional Title” that a company must employ.

Question 3: What difficulties or "pain points" have Hong Kong professionals historically faced when applying for Mainland “Professional Title”?

• The “Professional Title” system is unique to Mainland and requires adherence to specific evaluation procedures. Historically, Hong Kong professionals have faced the following "pain points," making it difficult to obtain titles:

(1) Applications cannot be submitted individually; they must be submitted through the applicant's mainland employer.

(2) "Principle of Locality": Hong Kong and Macao residents must be engaged in relevant technical work within Guangdong Province before they can apply for title evaluation there.

(3) Hong Kong professionals might find it relatively harder to meet the requirements for achievements and academic results (such as obtaining industry awards or publishing academic articles) stipulated in the title evaluation criteria.

(4) The evaluation process requires submitting extensive application materials to prove one's experience and performance, making the procedures very complex.