Continuing Professional Development, or CPD, refers to the process of upskilling or expanding one’s professional capabilities. As more places of work realise the value of continuous learning, qualifications offered by CPD courses have become a trusted way for employers to gauge the level of proficiency and proactivity a person possesses.
The standardised level of quality they offer is made possible by the CPD Certification Service – an international organisation that strives to ensure learning courses meet industry-accepted benchmarks. Institutions that offers CPD accredited courses have been evaluated to confirm they provide relevant, valuable learning experiences.
Embarking on a CPD course offers a number of benefits to professionals, both long- and short-term:
The ability to stay current and competitive with your industry expertise
New software, processes, and legalities mean that most companies need to regularly change how they function to keep up with competition, or indeed, stay in business.
As an employee, adapting to this high rate of change is crucial to succeeding in the modern workplace. By taking a CPD-accredited course, you help ensure that your working practices are up to date and effective.
Support maintaining the professional standard of your qualifications and registrations
Relatedly, it’s important to remember that dedicating time to the upkeep of your industry skills and knowledge is as important an element of your job as your other day to day responsibilities.
In addition to keeping you competitive as a professional, it ensures that you have the capacity to deliver to the requirements of customers, third-party partners, and the rest of your team.
Training to build confidence in new skills and your overall capabilities
Beyond simply teaching you about new practices, another benefit of CPD courses is that they train you to develop the poise and self-assuredness to properly utilise your abilities.
As most people can attest, learning theoretical knowledge is useful, but implementing it in real-world conditions is an entirely separate challenge. While all workplace conditions will differ, a CPD course can give you the confidence to utilise learnings in the manner best suited to your situation.
Insights to improve your career trajectory and preserve job security
By developing your offering with the aid of CPD courses, you open yourself to more progression paths within your workplace. A professional who understands how to effectively manage, mentor, collaborate, and lead is an asset to any organisation.
Not only does this mean that you make yourself a strong contender for new positions and projects, but it could also bring more stability to your job, as you entrench yourself as valuable member of the team.
A CPD-accredited data science course could open up many different career options:
The possibility of exploring new progression paths and widening your scope
Along with potentially unlocking new career routes within your organisation, the additional skills that you gain from CPD courses can even help you pivot to a new area of expertise.
Due to CPD’s emphasis on transferable skills, the knowledge you learn during accredited courses can be applied to different sectors. As such, your career options can widen tremendously, making you better equipped to explore new paths or passions.
The adaptability to handle change across teams, organisations, and fields
At its essence, a CPD course gives you the tools required to handle change, on whatever level that happens to occur. As workplace and industry requirements continue to shift, you benefit from having the know-how needed to approach these with competency and professionalism.
With a CPD-accredited course, you invest in your own future by staying prepared for any challenges that might come your way.
Southampton Data Science Academy offers CPD-accredited courses in Fundamentals of Data Science (both technical and non-technical). If you’re committed to enhancing your professional offering, our tutor-led courses offer hands-on learning and support by industry-leading academics.
