Reflections on the CPD23

I made it... WOOHOO! It’s been a long slog and I know I haven’t kept to the timetable but I am very happy to have completed the CPD23 course. It has been an invaluable tool in CPD learning about different applications that I otherwise may not have heard of.

The beginning of the course, working out a personal brand and finally getting my blog up and running has been really helpful. Realising how much of an online presence I have really shocked me and so I have changed the way I interact on certain social media to maintain a professional  persona if you will (as much as I can). Social media has also helped me to network in ways that wasn't possible ten years ago and have meaningful discussions with colleagues I may not otherwise ever get the chance to meet. A course like this gives you the push you need to look at yourself in a professional light and work out where your strengths and weaknesses lie. It’s also very interesting to see other professional’s views on subjects that in turn influence your own. This programme has pushed me to look at online tools such as dropbox and Google docs which I have heard about but never made the time to explore properly. 

What I need to make sure now is that I keep up with new applications and theories by actively following colleagues’ blogs and keeping up to date with publications such as CILIP Update.

Thank you to all the CPD23 bloggers who have made the programme educational and fun, bringing their own perspectives to applications and programmes and sharing their knowledge with the rest of the profession.

What’s next for me? Well I am working my way through chartership and am ready to start pulling my portfolio together so watch this space... and who knows what might happen at work... every day is a challenge but one I’m ready for!