There is an outpour in the job market due to mass redundancies making it even more challenging to land a new role or promotion. With many companies pausing their recruitment and as the demand for upskilling increases, many individuals have now started sourcing training from companies with CPD accreditation; if you don’t continue learning, you’ll find yourself in a difficult position to compete with your peers.

So, what is CPD? CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and is the term used to describe the learning programs professionals participate in to improve and strengthen their skills. It encourages learning to become aware and constructive rather than passive and reactive. CPD accredited training courses combine different learning methodologies, such as training seminars, conferences and activities, e-learning services, best practice approaches, and ideas sharing, all oriented to grow and have successful professional growth.

Types of CPD Learning

The various learning types vary depending on you or your company’s requirements. They include;

Structured CPD / Active Learning

It involves an interactive and participation-based study. It is typically proactive and includes; attending a training course, conference, workshop, seminar, lecture, e-learning course or CPD certified event. CPD active learning also applies when professionals take career-oriented exams and assessments (the study and revision would be considered self-directed learning, see Self-Directed CPD).

Reflective CPD / Passive Learning

Reflective learning involves no participant-based interaction, so this form of CPD is much more passive and one-directional. Examples of this include reading relevant news articles, podcasts & case studies, and industry updates. Some informal meetings may contribute to CPD reflective learning, but one must fully explain the learning goals of these meetings in an individual’s overall CPD plan.

Self-Directed CPD / Unstructured Learning

Self-directed learning involves all unaccompanied CPD activities. It covers the reading of documents, articles, and publications, either in print or online, reading relevant publications, books by leading experts, industry journals, and trade magazines are all types of self-directed CPD. You could also include industry-specific news feeds or research into relevant fields.

Benefits of CPD

While skill acquisition is one of the significant goals of continuous professional development, other benefits can boost the professional lives of staff in the following ways:

Helps keep pace with the standards of others in the same field
The self-improvement of individual practitioners will improve due to various reasons, but not all within the profession can improve at the same pace. Through engaging in CPD, practitioners will ensure they keep pace with those in the same industry who are also pursuing CPD.

Assists in maintaining and enhancing knowledge and skills to deliver a professional service

By investing in CPD accredited courses, your skills and knowledge will be in the best position to deliver a professional service. It has benefits to your customers, clients, and the rest of the community.

You stay up to date with changing trends

With CPD, knowledge can stay relevant and up to date. Trends are changing all the time, and current knowledge and skills will become outdated if you cannot keep up with the pace of change.

You become more effective in the workplace

Through the increased knowledge created by CPD accreditation, you can become more effective in the workplace. It helps increase the chance of career progression, where you can lead, manage and mentor others.

Potential to increase public confidence in a professional or group of professionals

Another one of the benefits of CPD accreditation is that professionals’ increased abilities can help improve confidence. It can be internal within an organisation, to a group of professionals or the wider public.

It gives you access to experts in the fields

Through investing in self-developments, you can build knowledge through opportunities to speak with experts in the profession.

Companies With Highest Percentage of Available Jobs

Considering individual businesses that were recruiting, LittleOnes UK, a private childcare company, came out on top at 1.5%, reflecting the need for private childcare during the pandemic, with 0.46% of the advertisements going to Language Teachers.

In March 2020, Duolingo, a language learning service, saw a nearly 300% rise in new users. At the start of the pandemic, gaming had increased by 46%.

Most Available Job Positions in 2021

4.32% of all Glassdoor UK job postings needed a registered nurse. Despite many businesses being closed, those who remained open had to address cleanliness and hygiene as a high-priority to comply with government guidelines; hence, janitorial workers account for 2.35% of the available positions.

Notwithstanding the challenging economic times, digital marketing continues to be a growing industry. Additionally, nanny positions currently account for 1.79% of open positions at private childcare providers. Jobs as a private instructor are also on the rise, accounting for 1.48% of all advertised posts on Glassdoor UK. Concerned parents are choosing to use these private educators to accommodate missed lessons from school.