I recently returned from a wintery Aberdeen where my colleague Mick Hides and I attended APM Aberdeen’s 1 day conference entitled ‘Developing your skills for successful projects’. Arras People were asked to present at the event in the form of running 2 CV workshops. Given our involvement with Jobcentre Plus’ Jobsearch Support Scheme and our long history of providing careers advice to project professionals, it came as no surprise that the APM should ask for our help at an event centred mostly around Continuous Professional Development and team development.
Without wanting to give Mick too big a head, the CV workshops were enthusiastically received by the 100+ attendees and a great success. Speaking to delegates during the rest of conference, the general consensus was that the ideas presented were illuminating & sensible given the current market conditions we find ourselves in. There is an added importance on making your CV count at the moment, and that means constructing an evidence-based document that leaves any potential employer with as little doubt as possible about your skills and experience. A tough task I know, but the good candidates are managing this, and in turn they are the candidates who are getting all the interviews.
The day was pretty intensive all in all, but this is exactly what you want from a one-day event in my opinion. Sitting in on a few of the other workshops and presentations some recuring themes kept cropping up which I found particularly interesting. Firstly, that CPD can be incredibly useful if used in the right way – this means employees and businesses being on the same wavelength and compromising in terms of personal and strategic goals. Secondly, that CPD is best utilised when considered from a team perspective and how a collective can develop individually to achieve a common goal.
All in all a very interesting day and given that the PPSOSIG are running a similarly themed (based on competencies for the PMO) conference in March, this surely makes CPD one of the potential hot topics for the coming year. Our thanks to Ian Chapple and team who made us feel incredibly welcome all day.
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