Continuing Professional Development
Update on CPD
In this article, Mercy Adetunji provides recommendations, and shares upcoming developments, on Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
About the author: Mercy Adetunji is a practice and membership support <span class=" id="142674
Every year, the CPD cycle comes around from 1 October until 30 September the following year. CPD is a regulatory requirement for all members save those in the current Student or Afiliate grade. The requirement for each grade can differ.
In short, if you are an Associate your requirements will be fulfilled in hours, and for all other members, your requirements will be fulfilled in outcomes. All members within these grades must complete one professionalism planned outcome. A sure starting point is to know your requirements, which can be found on the CILEx CPD resources page.¹
What should I have done by now?
With five months remaining of the 2018/19 CPD year, you might be wondering: ‘What should I have done by now?’. The CPD cycle is made to be flexible, so we can only make recommendations about where you should be with your requirements. We recommend that you should have completed four hours or four outcomes, depending on your grade.
If you have not already completed a professionalism outcome, this is one you can easily fulfil, but also easily miss. Professionalism does not necessarily relate to your specialism or the law, but focuses on you as a professional. This can be client communication skills, time management skills or a refresher on your equality or diversity knowledge.
Look out for the CPD symbol
The CPD symbol will always signpost you to resources and content to fulfil your requirements. Do keep a look out for the symbol in the CILEx Member Newsletter, CILEx Journal and on CILEx’s social media platforms. The Journal is a valuable resource when it comes to CPD as you can use it to meet a number of hours or unplanned outcomes. Discover how you can satisfy more of your requirements in (2018) Spring CILExJ p24. If you are reading the Journal online, the CPD symbol is interactive and instantly directs you to the CPD login page. This will save you a few clicks, and you can log your CPD as you go.
Resources available and upcoming developments
The CILEx CPD resources page has more articles, guidance, infographics as well as the CPD activity snapshot. Another great tool for CPD is myCareer, which contains e-learning courses and a dedicated skills pathway for your self-development.² Regional branch events can be a great way to capture activities that count towards your CPD, so be sure to attend them.
Facebook live events are a new venture for us, we were elated to have our first one on 20 March 2019. Do not worry if you missed it, the next Facebook live CPD event will be on 15 May 2019 at 5.30 pm. This gives you, as members, an opportunity to ask the difficult questions and experience the instant interaction.
There is more to look forward to: our CPD clinics are back this summer (they also start in the evenings, so you can get the most out of these sessions); and a dedicated CPD newsletter will be coming your way soon, which will keep you in tune with all the important dates and tips.