Seven tips to perfect your CPD

In this article: CPD is an important part of your professional growth, here’s how to take the pain out of the process

Making sure your career progresses isn’t just down to the opportunities your employer offers, we can all take responsibility to make sure we reach our full potential.

The simplest way is to make sure we keep our continuous professional development (CPD) records up to date. CPD doesn’t have to be a chore either as it encompasses a huge variety of tasks and activities which can be completed relatively easily.

Here are seven tips to help you kick start your CPD and keep your career and training on course, so you can achieve your goals.

1. Spontaneous CPD

Any activity that helps you meet your development goals can count towards CPD. So it doesn’t matter if it’s reading magazine articles, taking part in online tutorials, technical updates, peer-to-peer learning, or networking, it all counts. The one thing you should keep in mind is how the activity has helped to improve you.

2. Link CPD to your job role

Continuing professional development is the practice of maintaining and developing the skills and knowledge required in your job role. What challenges do you face? How can you meet them? Challenges can range from keeping up to date with technology developments to managing people on a day-to-day basis.

3. Break up CPD into small bite-sized chunks

Set aside short periods of time in your diary to record a CPD activity. You could plan what you want to record on your way to work, or you could make this your last task each week. If you record your activities regularly CPD won’t become an end-of-year rush but just part of your working routine.

4. Share your learning

Encourage your colleagues to share their learning experiences and resources with you, sometimes it can be your peers you learn most from, helping give you a different perspective.

5. Come out of your comfort zone

You don’t have to do CPD in the same way every time, you may not like reading but prefer online tutorials, but if you use a variety of sources and tools – even those you usually tend to give a wide berth – it can help with your learning and development. So try different approaches such as reading a newsletter, webinars and eLearning modules, whatever isn’t your typical approach.

6. Continuing ‘Personal’ Development

The ‘P’ in CPD can also stand for ‘personal’, and this development can be as important as the professional side. Think about how you can develop your personal skills; you might want to build your confidence through public speaking or volunteering for a local event, again, everything counts, as long as it’s relevant to your job role.

7. Attend local events and resources

You don’t have to travel miles to do CPD – the IMI offers free or low-cost events that are just as beneficial to your development. As long as you show how the event is relevant and you reflect on what you got out of it, attendance can count towards your CPD. At the end of the day, this is the important part of CPD, making sure it is helping you develop, improve and better yourself.

Need some CPD inspiration, check out the IMI’s automotive training course and eLearning page

Are you an IMI member and want to start recording your CPD, log in here