With the whole country still adhering to strict lockdown measures, we are all inevitably spending a lot more time at home. Some of you are still working, others may have been furloughed, and some people unfortunately find themselves without work.
Now is an excellent time to get your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) up to date, enhance your skills and knowledge ready for when the world returns to ‘normal’ – in the words of Benjamin Franklin “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest“.
Why is CPD important?
CPD is a great way to broaden your knowledge with transferrable skills that will be useful no matter what position you undertake within an organisation!
It is important to complete CPD courses so you can show a potential employer you are willing to keep yourself up skilled and take a proactive approach to your career development. When applying for a position, you could have the exact same academic qualifications and experience as another applicant, but your CPD could gain you the advantage and edge you to top of the list, resulting in that job offer!
Where can you access CPD courses?
CPD courses are available in lots of places online, some are free, and some you will be required to pay for. Here at Protocol, we have partnerships with many businesses that offer courses that can contribute to your CPD and enhance your knowledge and skills.
How do I get started?
Protocol have many partnerships with companies offering CPD and upskilling courses, here are a few of our recommendations:
Recently, we have developed a new partnership with Learning Curve who offer free, fully funded accredited courses that can be completed online in your own time! Courses include; Behaviour That Challenges, Digital Skills, Team Leading and many more. A full list of courses can be found here. To register on any of the listed courses, please visit the website today.
We have an exclusive partner discount with Brooks & Kirk for Protocol candidates, this applies to the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA), Level 3 Award in Education and Training (AET) and the Level 4 Award in the Internal Quality Assurance of Assessment Processes and Practice (IQA) courses. Find out more about the courses and how to get your discount here.
The Skills Network also offer a range of engaging, interactive online CPD courses across a variety of subject areas, such as Alcohol Awareness, Conflict Management, Mental Health Awareness and much more! There are also training bundles available such as CPD Essentials which includes various different courses to develop your skillset in key areas. View all courses here.
Lots of webinars have been taking place recently in place of regular CPD courses you may attend. These are usually delivered via a live PowerPoint show with a host, and are often recorded for access after. We have many joint webinars with SDN such as this one around preparing apprentices for end-point assessment. Keep an eye out for the next one, and ensure you get signed up!
The Open University also has lots of free courses of varying levels that can be completed in your own time, there are many subject areas you can study within such as Health & Psychology and Education & Development (plus many more!)
Social Media platforms such as LinkedIn have been popular for people hosting live training sessions, suggesting websites with courses, and sharing material.
Our very own Learning Zone is also a great place to discover free CPD courses and top tips, as a Protocol candidate you can access all of the free courses, plus much more through your Candidate Space.
I’ve completed the training, now what?
Once you have completed these courses, remember to add them to your CV! This is vital, otherwise all your hard work will have gone to waste as it will not be recognised by a potential employer. We have developed a simple template that you can download here, which will help ensure you include the most relevant information – and don’t miss out any key bits! If you need some guidance on writing that winning CV, check out our handy guide that expels all the common misconceptions and myths which arise when writing a CV.
Remember to upload your newly updated CV to your Candidate Space, and if you aren’t already registered, you can do so online today!
If you have any questions, please get in touch via talent@protocol.co.uk
