Training
Planning your development
Start with a little self-examination: what have you learned? How can you use your new knowledge? What else do you need?
Click through the links on the circle for more information and advice on each step.
The journey has a beginning but no end: a continuous procession of improvement as you 'move ahead'.
Review yourself
- Reflect on where you are now: what have I learned so far?
- List your qualifications, courses attended, job experiences, technical skills, voluntary work, your commitments (domestic and work), your interests, your preferred methods of learning.
- Analyse the current and future demands of your job: list forthcoming projects or corporate reorganisation.
- Compare your experience with the benchmark occupational standards in relevant NVQs/SVQs (Transportation, Design and Management) which indicate what the industry thinks a competent engineer should know and be able to do. If you do not match up you will know what is missing.
If you are preparing for your Chartered Professional Review look at the standards in Document CE3 for the Incorporated Professional Review, look at the standards in Document IE3.
If you are preparing for EngTech go to the equivalent document.
Commit yourself to quarterly review of your professional development objectives and to annual appraisals of your overall position.
Identify your goals
- Set goals for your current job.
- Position yourself twelve months ahead.
- Clarify what you would like to be doing in three years time: your application and interests.
- Ask how your job is likely to change: what opportunities might open up; look in the technical press for possible industry trends.
- Set goals for your future: what roles might you be playing one year and three years hence.
Download the IHIE Profile of Competence and Needs CPD (Form B01):
1. list your current skills
2. list the competencies required by your current and future jobs
3. compare the two
4. identify your goals and prioritise them.
Plan to achieve
You now know what you need in order to develop.
To help you meet your goals, draw up a PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN. It won't be carved in stone. It will change, often rapidly and radically. But you will have a framework for making the most of your potential.
Your plan should identify and prioritise:
1. development objectives (your needs), which are measurable and achievable
2. specific activities for achieving your objectives - by reading, attending meetings
3. resources required - time and money!
4. constraints
5. targets and target dates.
Download the IHIE Annual Professional Development Plan CPD (Form B02) which helps you through the process and is an evolving document.
As you make progress or change your priorities, use the plan to monitor your achievements after undertaking further training and learning.
Download the IHIE Three Year Plan CPD (Form B03). It gives you a longer term perspective and also needs to be reviewed at least annually. We recommend a longer term plan if you are looking ahead to your Professional Review.
Many employees, particularly those who are Investors in People, will have staff appraisal schemes incorporating personal development plans. These can be used instead of the IHIE forms but may need to be adapted, especially for the Professional Review, to sufficiently reflect your individual career and professional aspirations outside the company.
Record your learning
Recording your learning activities enables you to think about what you have achieved, what you hope to achieve and how to go about it. You will be learning all the time and often informally from other people in many different walks of life. It may be through chairing and organising meetings at work, at Institute local branches and other voluntary committees or by attending evening classes, visiting useful websites and so on.
Build up a file of hard evidence of your professional competence as you accumulate extra experience which will be useful in job interviews and at Reviews.
Enter the details in your development plan or download the IHIE professional development record CPD (Form B04):
- what you did
- what you achieved
- identify any consequences, fresh insights, new needs.
If you are seeking Engineering Council registration, you will need to include your record with your review submission.
Assess your achievements
Enter your assessment in your IHIE Professional Development Plan CPD (Form B02).
Review your position periodically. Reflect on your achievements to date and on how you carried through your goals. Was it easy/difficult? What was most productive? Identify any related follow-up which might be necessary. How will you use your
new skills or knowledge?
Talk to a MENTOR or line manager as part of your appraisal procedure - as a sounding board and for feedback.
Change your plan as often as you like to reflect new goals and needs.