CPD is a driver for Employability
CPD is commonly thought of as a practice that is only applicable to individuals once they have completed a professional qualification or charter with a professional body. Whilst this has been the case historically, the CPD Standards Research Project has found a growing trend of ‘CPD’ activities focused on young people aged anywhere between 9 to 25yrs.
Younger people are increasingly undertaking CPD and training activities outside of what’s available in schools, colleges or universities. The main driver is employability and developing skill sets to become ‘work ready’ and more competitive within the job market.
It is important to remember that CPD is not a qualification, it is simply a practice for undertaking bite-size pieces of learning to build skills, knowledge, information or behaviours. The learning can start at the ‘beginner level’, this means that anyone at any age can start undertaking CPD activities regularly.
A degree is no longer enough’
Within a saturated graduate market, CPD enables students to stand out from the crowd to employers when applying for jobs or positions on graduate schemes.
Undertaking CPD training in any topic, in addition to qualifications, is a way of showing that an individual is invested in and com
mitted to their learning and progression;
The CPD Standards Office has conducted extensive research in this area and strongly encourages students of all disciplines to seek regular CPD across a range of topics and activities.
The research found that CPD is directly linked to employability, and adding a CPD section to a CV can improve job prospects significantly, with the opportunity of securing a dream job increased by 10% (the CPD Research Project 2010).
Employability skills are often focused on building the following skills:
- Self-management
- Communication and Literacy
- Team Working
- Application of Numeracy
- Design and Innovation
- Business and Customer Awareness
- Problem Solving
- Application of Information Technology
The CPD Standards Office welcomes training providers who offer training activities to young people or who are focused on employability.
Dr Azam Ali and Dr Eric Chan
Programme Directors MA in Management & MA Global Management at Regents University London