I’m always selling the importance of a Personal Development Plan (PDP) to clients, but why? Appraisals or progress reviews at work are more often concerned with the job you are currently doing rather than your future career. It doesn’t matter what stage you are in your career, life-long learning is a thing, we are always learning, irrespective of what we do, how old we are or how much experience we have.
Why Have a PDP?
So here are a few of my personal why’s for having a PDP, I hope I can convince you!
– They plan out where you want to go in your career, how you will get there and what you need to do.
– They allow us to be in control of our future, giving us clarity, raising self-esteem and empowering ourselves.
– They help us to be more resilient, as we can alter our plan to reflect changes in our circumstances but are still be in control.
– They can be massively inspiring and motivating, even on our bad days!
– They break up a large goal into smaller steps, so it feels more achievable to us.
– They help us to work out what we really want and therefore hopefully make us happier in our career but then also in our personal life.
How PDP’s can help when Job Hunting
Importantly, if you are looking for a new job, they can provide evidence to an employer that you are proactive in developing your own skills and experience. It shows a prospective employer that you have the motivation and intelligence to look at a job description and do something about your skills gaps. Who wouldn’t want someone on the team with that enthusiasm and motivation?
Logging Your Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
Keeping a log of your CPD is also important to show employers that you are constantly learning. Identifying webinars attended, books you’re read, extra work you’ve taken on or activities outside of work such as volunteering.
So, do you have a personal development plan? If not, I hope I’ve convinced you that it will help when job hunting.
If you need any help or guidance, please get in touch.
