Professional development can provide the drive to progress your career, keeps engineers across the industry competitive and, ultimately, can make you more employable. Professional development is something you will do every day of your life without even thinking about it; however, being conscious of the development you undertake will allow you to record this and develop in a systematic way. In order to maximize your potential for lifetime employability, it is essential that you maintain high levels of professional competence by continually improving your knowledge and skills.
You need to take ownership of your career and its continuing development, as the job market is always changing and you may no longer be able to rely on your employer to identify and satisfy your development needs. The effect of such changes has increased the demands on professionals to maintain documentary evidence of their continued competence; and nowhere is this more important than in science and engineering, where technology is advancing so swiftly. You should be developing a personal portfolio of your professional activities and their relevance to your current job and your continued career as well as future ambitions.
By taking ownership of your career and focusing your professional development you will:
- Be better able to recognize opportunity;
- Be more aware of the trends and directions in technology and society;
- Become increasingly effective in the workplace;
- Be able to help, influence and lead others by your example;
- Be confident of your future employability;
- Have a fulfilling and rewarding career.
Taking a structured approach to your professional development will enable you to demonstrate continuing commitment to your profession. What’s more, the good practice of regularly reviewing your needs, and selecting appropriate learning activities to help you fulfil them, will give your career focus and meaning.
It is vital that you focus on maintaining and building upon your current competences whether you are seeking promotion and greater responsibility or wider professional recognition through membership of an institution or a professional qualification.
It is imperative that you work at ensuring you continue to benefit from the standing and recognition you have already achieved as our employ-ability is affected by many factors, including:
- Increasing demands for accountability;
- Rising tides of regulations and legislation;
- New technologies;
- A need for diversification.
Whatever your aim, it is sensible to think about where your career is going and draw up a career plan. This will help you to identify various pathways that may be open to you now, pick out markers along the way, and help you to recognize options open to you as they emerge. You will have some transferable knowledge and skills in addition to any new ones you will require, and these should be recorded.
Maintaining records of your development will help you to focus on your career plan. As you progress with the process of planning, and recording, you will find it easier to review and amend as new options become available. The professional development cycle demonstrates how structured professional development becomes cyclical and self-fulfilling.