My CV - at last

Joy, I have finished updating my CV! Thanks to my lovely, and Chartered, friend Andrea for letting me have a looksy at hers so I could have an idea of what format to use. It's funny but I find it really difficult outlining my tasks - they become such a part of you that it's hard to actually desribe them. And remembering what I had done at previous jobs! Luckily I keep copies of old CVS and Job Descriptions!
But I am very glad it is out of the way. Now on to the next task...

My CV

I followed the link on Cilip to the CV help page which gives advice on compiling the perfect CV and even has some CV templates, but which to choose? This is great if I were compiling my CV for something as simple as applying for a job. But where is the sample CV for submitting your portfolio? Why don't they have anything on that? This is making me even more apprehensive.

Chartership - first steps

I just joined Lis-Cilip-Reg, a lsit to go to for help and advice on anything to do with your Chatership portfolio. Might be a useful link to have handy during those dark scary moments when you're either not quite sure what you're doing, or not sure you're doing it right.

My CV is looming over me like the albatross and the ancient mariner. I think I'll feel better once I've actually begun it, it's just taking that first step.

Why Charter - training course

I have finally sent off my registration form (along with £50!! Ouch!!) yesterday, and today I attended the Why Charter course organized by NoWal which was held at my old library Aytoun. It was an extremely useful course giving us more details about what we should and should not include in our portfolios. I think the urge would be to pile in all the evidence - certificates, leaflets you've created, emails, correspondence, etc, to try to prove everything you do in your job. That would be my first thought. But you really need to be selective and verify that each piece of evidence is necessary and descriptive of your job and your development. Another useful issue that was covered was the 1000 word evaluative statement. The keywords here were reflection NOT description.

So, though I am still really intimidated by the whole thing, I do feel slightly less apprehensive.

working on my Personal Professional Development Plan

I had second meeting with Gil on May 6th, which has encouraged me as I now feel like I am at least moving in the right direction. She gave me some very good suggestions on improving my PPDP and I dod feel that much more confident about it now. But it is tougher than I thought it was going to be. It's easy to become complacent in your job - you get into your routines and think you are au fait with your post. But when you look at the fine print (i.e. your job description) in greater detail you notice all the areas in which you could and should receive more training. For instance recruitment, marketing, the organization you work for and your place in it - all these are areas in which I could benefit with more training and development.

My bloggy journey through Chartership

Well, I have been gone a long time, but I am back, and to keep up with my "personal training" on Blogs and how they can be used not just personally but also professionally, I have decied to take a leaf out of a recently Chartered librarian who incorporated her Blog entries into her Cilip portfolio. For those who don't know, Cilip (The Chartered Institute of Library andInformation Professionals) is the professional body that qualified librarians must join in order to keep up to speed with the ever evolving world of Libraianship and Information technology in all its forms. During the next 12 months I will be ammassing evidence not only of the job I do now but any personal and professional developments I feel I need to undertake in order to achieve both my personal goals as well as my Chartership.

I also had my first meeting with my Mentor Gil on Apirl 10 at 10:00. I feel really pleased to have her guiding me through this as she is very motivating and encouraging which is just what I need!
Stay tuned.