What is CPD?

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is what you do to maintain and expand your professional competence. The PWI Code of Professional Conduct requires members to be responsible for developing their professional knowledge and skills, as well as development of others, through CPD. Every PWI member should maintain a record of CPD, and for Professionally Registered members it is mandatory. Established practice in virtually all areas of professional life (not just in engineering) is that CPD is documented in two ways:

Firstly, an individual should have a written plan setting out what development they intend to pursue – a “Personal Development Plan” or PDP for short, and;

Secondly, a written record of the professional development activity they have actually undertaken – a “CPD record” – showing how the PDP is being delivered and tracking the individual’s progress.

What does a good CPD record look like?

There are TWO key parts to a CPD record:

Firstly, you need to record:

• What the CPD activity was – a summary statement
• The date and duration of the activity
• What PDP objective the CPD activity is linked to.

Secondly, it must include a review of the CPD activity. Your reflection and evaluation should include:

• Detail of the activity, including positives and negatives
• Specific personal learning points and benefits from the activity
• What changes, improvements or further action the activity has triggered

Good CPD is a balanced mix of planned participative learning and more ad-hoc personal learning. A minimum of 30 hours CPD is expected each year.

Examples of CPD activity includes:

• Attending or delivering technical training courses 
• Presenting at or attending seminars and conferences
• Attending PWI Section meetings
• Supporting professional bodies – eg PWI volunteer roles 
• Undertaking research
• Writing or contributing to publications and articles
• Attending or delivering workshops
• Studying for examinations
• Participating in technical discussions 
• On the job training and site visits
• Participating in committees or panels
• Delivering or receiving coaching or mentoring
• Personal activity – eg reading, watching, listening to relevant material
• Supporting community projects using your engineering skills.

A good variety of CPD would include work based activities, self-learning (eg eLearning, reading), contribution to community activities, developing others and professional body activities.

It is important that members support their professional body by attending PWI meetings and events, and support the development of others.

It is good practice to review and update your PDP as you complete CPD learning. Good review and evaluation should identify further development activity which should then be added to the ongoing PDP.

Examples of a good and a poor CPD record can be seen in tables 3 and 4 in the PDF at the bottom of this post.

A good CPD record provides detail of the activity and has a good mix of events. Each activity is evaluated and reflected upon, which will drive future CPD activity and help shape the PDP.

What is a PDP?

A Personal Development Plan (PDP) will help you prioritise your development activities and plan your CPD. Your PDP should demonstrate how you intend to maintain and develop the knowledge and skills you need to succeed in your current job and future career and how you intend to maintain / improve your professional competency. It is an essential part of planning your professional registration journey ie from EngTech through to CEng. To determine your development activity and priorities, you will need to do the following:

1. Identify career aspirations and determine career path – identify career trajectory options
2. Carry out a personal SWOT assessment (identify your strengths and weaknesses; identify potential opportunities and threats)
3. Identify the knowledge, skills and experience desirable to move your career forward
4. Consider short and long term goals. Consider ‘hard’ technical needs and ‘soft’ behavioural needs
5. Produce a plan; what is needed and by when. Try to forecast how much time is needed to achieve each objective
6. Identify your priorities.

What does a good PDP look like?

In producing your PDP, you should think holistically; consider what your employer needs, and what society and the law expects of you. Development activities do not have to solely be related to work / career ambition. Personal social activities can also drive development activity that may provide overall personal development. You should consult work managers, peers and colleagues in producing your PDP.

You can build your PDP and development activities using the PWI’s ‘My CPD’ portal. Simply log in to the website and start building your plan. Whichever template you use, you need to record the following:

• What is the development activity and objective?
• What is the specific action(s) required to achieve the objective?
• What resource(s) do you need to complete the activity?
• How will you assess whether the activity is a success?
• Forecast a date by when you aim to complete the activity.

You will need to regularly review and update your PDP; an annual review is recommended. However, you should not hesitate to add new activities throughout the year as new opportunities and activities arise.

Examples of development activity include expanding your knowledge, capabilities, and experience in:

• Specialist technical areas
• Interfacing discipline(s)
• Self-Improvement
• Communication
• Management & Leadership / working with others
• Strategy
• Project management & delivery
• Information Technology
• Legislation
• Contract management
• Commercial management
• Sustainable development
• Health, Safety and Welfare
• Activities that benefit society.

Examples of good and poor PDP can be seen in tables 1 and 2 in the PDF at the bottom of this post.

The benefits of ‘My CPD’

There are many PDP and CPD templates and formats available for recording your professional development. ‘My CPD’ enables you to create a bespoke record of all your developmental activity. Entries are created in a manner that captures the key details and prompts timely reflection to ensure all the requirements of good CPD recording are met. It also enables you to produce summaries and detailed reports of your activity, all of which will be accepted by other professional bodies.

Join the PWI and start building your development plan today!

Examples of good and poor CPD and PDP can be found in tables 1 – 4 in the PDF below: