• If you have recently graduated from college or have just started (or want to start) performing systems engineering, then ASEP is for you.
• If you are a practicing Systems Engineer with more than five years of systems engineering experience, then CSEP is for you.
• If you support or are working in a US DoD acquisition environment, then CSEP-Acq is for you.
• If you have many years of systems engineering experience and have recognized systems accomplishments, then ESEP is for you. (Note: ESEP to be available in 2009)

The following is the list of competencies recognized in the context of the required Systems Engineering experience:

• Requirements Engineering: analyze customer and stakeholder needs, generate/develop requirements, perform functional analyses, derive requirements, ensure requirements quality, allocate requirements, control requirements, maintain requirements database, develop and implement Requirements Management Plans, develop measures of effectiveness and performance.
• Risk and Opportunity Management: develop and implement Risk and Opportunity Management Plans, identify risk issues and opportunities, assess risk issues and opportunities, prioritize risks and opportunities, develop and implement risk mitigation and opportunity achievement plans, track risk reduction and opportunity achievement activities.
• Baseline Control: develop and implement Configuration Management Plans, establish and update baselines for requirements and evolving configurations/products, establish and implement change control processes, maintain traceability of configurations, participate in Configuration Control Boards, participate in configuration item identification and status accounting, participate in functional and physical configuration audits.
• Technical Planning: identify program objectives and technical development strategy; prepare Systems Engineering Management Plans, Product Breakdown Structures, program Work Breakdown Structures, Integrated Master Plans, and Integrated Master Schedules; identify program metrics including product technical performance measures and key performance parameters, identify program resource needs in terms of equipment, facilities, and personnel capabilities.
• Technical Effort Assessment: collect, analyze, track, and report program metrics including product technical performance measures and key performance parameters; conduct audits and reviews; assess process and tool usage compliance; conduct capability assessments; recommend and implement process and product improvements.
• Architecture/Design Development: identify baseline and alternate candidate concepts and architectures, prepare Trade Study Plans, conduct and document trade studies, evaluate and optimize candidate concepts and architectures, prepare system/solution description documents.
• Qualification, Verification, and Validation: develop and implement Qualification, Verification, and Validation Plans; develop verification requirements and pass/fail criteria; conduct and record results of qualification, verification, and validation efforts, and corrective actions; prepare requirements verification matrix and qualification certificates.
• Process Definition: define enterprise processes and best practices, tailor enterprise processes for program/project applications.
• Tool Support:specify requirements for, evaluate, select, acquire, and install SE computer programs/tools.
• Training: develop and implement Training Plans, develop and give training courses on processes and tools.
• Systems Integration: define technical integration strategy, develop Integration Plans, develop integration test scripts, develop and implement integration test scenarios, conduct and document integration tests, track integration test results and retest status.
• Quality Assurance: develop and implement a Quality Assurance Plan, perform quality audits, report quality audits, define and track quality corrective actions.
• Specialty Engineering: develop and implement Specialty Plans as part of, or an addendum to, the Systems Engineering Management Plan to cover such specialties as reliability, maintainability, supportability, survivability, logistics support, security, safety, electromagnetic environmental effects, environmental engineering, packaging and handling, etc.
• Other: describe other functions that you have performed and can justify as system engineering activities.

Technical degrees: BS or BSE in the following or related engineering disciplines: Aeronautical, Astronautical, Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Chemical; or in Math, Chemistry or Physics. If the degree does not come from an ABET or equivalently accredited school, then an MS, MSE, or PhD. in those fields will suffice.