Portfolio Building Workshop

Yesterday I attended a portfolio building workshop organised by the West Country Division of the Career Development Group. As well as learning that Bournemouth is not easy to get to from Bristol on a train, I picked up quite a few handy tips that may help if you are just embarking on Chartership. I won't cover everything, just the bits I found particularly useful.

Assessment Criteria

The most important advice related to the criteria your portfolio is assessed against. There are four bits:

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•An ability to reflect critically on personal performance and to evaluate service performance

• Active commitment to continuing professional development

• An ability to analyse personal and professional development and progression with reference to experiential and developmental activities

• Breadth of professional knowledge and understanding of the wider professional context

It sounds obvious but you must include evidence that demonstrates you have met all of the criteria. One way of clearly showing the assessor you have done this is to use these four points as headings in your personal evaluative statement.

We were warned that the easiest place to trip up is not showing sufficient evidence of an understanding of the wider profession and that you must look beyond your own sector. Tips to do so include:

• Reading (such as CILIP Update magazine and the journals available as part of your CILIP membership) and commenting on why things would/wouldn't work in your library. Including a bibliography is not enough on its own, but you could include an annotated one.

• Library visits - use a table with the following headings along the lines of: where/when, in what way is the library the same as your library, how it is different and how do they compare. You can then comment on what ideas you can take forward in your library and later comment on how well they worked.

• Job shadowing - remember to think beyond your sector though.

• Networking - at events, conferences and informal meet ups organised by groups such as LISNPN.

• Taking part in online discussions via blogs, Twitter etc.

Personal Professional Development plan (PPDP)

It's important to think about the big picture when writing your PPDP. Think about where you want to be in a year's time and what development you need to get there. Think beyond your current role and think in terms of career development. You can even use your PPDP to set development goals which will help get you out of your current role. Remember that you are doing this for yourself!

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The good news is that you can keep your PPDP short and concise. The examples I've looked at vary greatly, but the general advice was to aim for 4-5 points which can be broken down into further points if necessary. 

It was also reassuring to know that it doesn't matter if you are unable to meet one your goals i.e. if time didn't allow or a course you wanted to attend didn't run. 

Evidence

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It is key is relate your evidence to your PPDP and to only use pieces that show you have meet the assessment criteria listed above. A good way of deciding what bits to include is to use the Chartership Matrix available on the CILIP website. You can list your pieces of evidence and tick them off against the criteria. It's a good idea to use the bits that tick the most boxes/show several skills after all you will be assessed on whether you have demonstrated "professional judgement through the selection of evidence and the presentation of the application as a whole."

Another good tip was to include feedback as evidence, this can include your work appraisal, customer feedback etc. Whilst good feedback is ok, negative (as long as it's constructive) is even better if you have been able to reflect on it and then take action. You can even include feedback you have given after events/seminars which shows you have reflected on the event.



A few other tips

Ensure any names/email addresses included in your portfolio are blanked out, unless you are able to prove you have the persons consent for the document to be there. Also check that you have permission for photos/pictures etc. otherwise you will be in breach of copyright, which is never a good thing especially when you are being assessed.

Make sure your portfolio is easy to read. Use clear headings and number all your bits of evidence. This will allow you to signpost the assessor to your evidence in your personal evaluative statement. We looked at a few portfolios that we couldn't fathom out - we weren't sure what some documents were and why they were included, if the assessor feels this way you won't have got off to the best start, especially if your portfolio is the last in a huge pile they have been sent to consider.

If you aren't getting on with your mentor or you aren't getting the support you feel you are entitled to change mentors - I'm sure some mentors must wish they could ditch their mentees as easily!

Finally take a look at the Chartership Assessment Form - it is on the CILIP website (somewhere?), but easier to find if you just search the internet for it. This shows how your portfolio will be assessed.

Thing 10: I Never Thought I'd be a Librarian

Thing 10 of cpd23 is all about routes into Librarianship. It's as good of excuse as any to tell my tale as to how I came to be a Librarian.

Growing up I never thought of Librarianship as a career. I always wanted to be a solicitor or a barrister, but in the final year of my law degree I decided it wasn't for me.

I worked part time in the travel industry whilst at uni and was lucky enough to get a full time management post on completion of my law degree. It was only a stop gap until I worked out what I really wanted to do, however a year later I'd still not worked out what that was. I took a career break and started going to my local library to use the internet. Penniless and with a mortgage to pay I realised I needed to get back into work even if I hadn't found the perfect career. All the time spent in my local library made me think that a library would be a great place to work.

I ended up working as library assistant in a Gloucestershire library and was hooked. I finally felt I was doing something enjoyable and worthwhile. 

A few years on I was looking for a change of scenery and soon learnt that an Information and Library Management Masters would open up my career options. I realised that I might even be able to make use of my law degree in a commercial library. I applied for the course at the University of the West of England and continued to work almost full time throughout the one year course. Many sleepless nights later (there's nothing like leaving assignments to the last minute), I swore I'd never go back to uni again, never.

Whilst finishing my dissertation a post came up in Bristol at a commercial property firm, whilst not law I knew it was going to be hard to find a commercial library job in the South West. I applied and convinced my now manager to give me a chance, although I wasn't yet qualified and had no experience in a business library. Almost 4 years and a promotion later I'm still there. I love it. No two days are the same and the variety of enquiries we receive help keep it interesting. I probably should have moved on by now, however the jobs just haven't been there and I'm settled in Bristol.

We've recently been given an opportunity to change the service we provide to something more akin to knowledge management. Whilst it's early days I'm really excited, I feel like I'm getting a chance to start a new job, without having to move.

So Why Charter?

I've only just applied so have little to tell apart from the reason I have registered for Chartership.

Whilst I'm passionate about my job I feel more up-to-date with the surveying profession than I do librarianship, I have well and truly become disconnected from the profession. The formal and structured approach is just what I need to make myself get up off my backside and start developing myself professionally. It's about time I think about my career and not just my job.

I know many people don't hold Chartership in high regard and I agree that you shouldn't have to be a Chartered member of CILIP to prove yourself - there are many people out there who aren't Chartered, who are truly inspirational and much more engaged with the profession than I will ever be. For me it's about the process and hopefully what I will get out of it.