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Many of us complete CPD without even realising we are doing so. The new piece of software you used, the seminar you attended or the article you read are all forms of CPD when relevant to your career. With this is mind completing the required annual amount of 30 hours is easily attainable. 

What is changing and why?
The IET has chosen to adhere to The Engineering Council’s aspiration that by January 2017 all Professional Engineering Institutions will have introduced a policy of random reviewing of Professionally Active Registrants’ CPD returns.  The IET’s Board of Trustees extended this as a benefit to all IET Members.

As an IET member you have already committed to keeping your knowledge up-to-date through Professional Development as part of the rules of conduct. Therefore the only change is that from January 2017 you may be chosen to have your previous year’s records reviewed.

What counts as CPD?
The main focus should be ensuring that any CPD you undertake is relevant to your area of the industry. Almost anything that helps you reach you your professional development goals or keeps you up-to-date with current developments is worthwhile CPD. Some examples of CPD are:

•    Training courses (softskills courses/e-learning);
•    Work experience (job shadowing);
•    Academic study (NVQ/Masters/PHD); 
•    Volunteering (mentoring/charity work/speaking at an event); 
•    Events and seminars (conferences/seminars); 
•    Self-study (reading books & articles/watching online talks).

For more details examples and to see what the IET provides, please refer to the online guidehttp://www.theiet.org/membership/career/cpd/how/do/

What if I am retired or unable to complete CPD?
We have no desire to drive away any of our valued members. If you are retired (or otherwise non-professionally active) you need only undertake 10 hours CPD a year; a figure which is achievable by reading E&T magazine on a regular basis or watching a few keynote lectures on IET.tv.

If you are selected for review but consider yourself fully retired or have been unable to complete annual CPD for health or other reasons, you will need only to email us at the time you are selected and it is unlikely there will be any further action needed.

What should I do now?
Start recording your CPD activities as you do them, ideally using the IET’s Career Manager system; this way it’s a straightforward process that isn’t time consuming.
Recording CPD is important and beneficial in a number of ways:

•    To aid reviewing and reflection; 
•    To remind yourself what you have learnt;
•    To provide information for potential employers, e.g. to help build an extended CV;
•    For appraisals and promotion boards;
•    For regulatory requirements; 
•    To provide evidence when proving competence, such as when applying for professional registration. 

When recording your CPD, remember that reflection is an important part of the process. People who reflect on their learning retain more information and are more efficient at applying it to improve their performance. Reflection is especially important if you want to get the best results from planned development activities. Some questions to consider:

•    What were the key points that you remember and were relevant to you?
•    Did the activity go as planned - and if not, why not?
•    How could you have done it differently or better? 

If you need help recording your CPD, there is an online guide containing everything you need to know http://www.theiet.org/membership/career/cpd/how/index.cfm you can also contact the CPD team cpd@theiet.org.

Career Manager 
Career Manager is a great way to record your CPD. We understand that you may already have your own method of recording your CPD, or that you work for a company or organization with an in-house appraisal system, however Career Manager is a powerful, intuitive online tool which enables you to:

•    apply for professional registration;
•    set goals and plan the steps you needs to achieve them;
•    record your career progress in detail;
•    identify areas where you need extra help;
•    record your CPD;
•    export and share development reports with peers;
•    call on expert advice;
•    build an impressive master CV.

If you do wish to use Career Manger or want to find out more there are some useful online quick guides http://www.theiet.org/membership/career/cmanager/index.cfm or you can contact a member of the team careermanager@theiet.org.