What is CPD, if not another acronym to spell out and add to the list?

Continuing professional development (CPD) is a recognised, systematic way of tracking your professional development on an ongoing basis. It also helps you to document and reflect on any learning or training that you either undertake formally or acquire informally.A pile of open books, with pens and notepaper between the pages

In some professional and chartered organisations, undertaking a set number of hours’ training and being able to show demonstrable evidence of CPD in case of audit is a requirement to keeping one’s membership and certification to practise. Physiotherapy, nursing and medicine are a few such examples – fields where people’s health, safety and, indeed, lives are at stake. Law is another. The industry bodies for these professions have their own specific CPD structures in place for their practitioners to use and journal their own CPD activities.

Why is CPD important?

In editing and proofreading, thankfully no one is *actually* going to die if a comma is missed or spliced; however, livelihoods and professional reputations are most definitely at stake, and not just the freelancer’s. An author’s sales may suffer from receiving bad reviews on Amazon about all the typos left in their book; a publisher’s relationship with an author may break down over the choice of editor (“Why did you choose this person to edit my book?”), ensuring that the second edition never happens …

This is why the CIEP considers CPD essential for editorial best practice and maintaining high standards, not just among its members but in the publishing profession as a whole. All members of the CIEP are also expected to abide by its Code of practice, Ensuring editorial excellence. Being aware of and following best practice is part of being a professional, doing the best job possible within the constraints of the budget and surviving in a changing industry. Undertaking regular CPD activities is the best way to ensure you’re doing that. These of course include undertaking training courses and attending conferences and workshops, but more informal activities count too: catching up on articles and blogs on editorial best practice; learning a new keyboard shortcut; adding a new macro to your repertoire. Filling in and maintaining your own CPD log is also a great idea, such as jobs.ac.uk’s Interactive CPD Toolkit, a free downloadable guide and interactive log for CPD journaling. CIEP members can also access a CPD log as part of the Going Solo toolkit.

How does CPD help us maintain best practice?

CPD is an essential part of being able to call what you do a career – the word itself implies progress, a person’s ‘course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)’ according to the OED – and in order to stay ahead in the game and be the best you can be, you’ll want to keep your skills up to date. It is also rewarding to be able to look back and see how far you’ve come; to have goals to aspire to; and to grow in yourself and your profession. There’s always something new to learn and that’s what CPD is all about: keeping an open mind, always learning and always growing. Where do you want to be in a year’s time, or three years? Or five years? CPD can help you realise your long-term goals too.

What does it mean in the context of the CIEP and upgrading?

The CIEP’s membership upgrade process is designed to encourage its members to think about CPD and to progress through Intermediate Membership (IM), Professional Membership (PM) and eventually Advanced Professional Membership (APM). Aspects such as training and experience are assessed in meticulous detail by an Admissions Panel; and for Professional and Advanced Professional upgrades, this includes references from satisfied clients as well. Evidence of CPD gained in the past 36 months before upgrading to Advanced Professional membership is also required.

Members who have reached these two highest membership tiers are also entitled to their own entry in the CIEP’s Directory of Editorial Services, which is well known among publishers and businesses as the place to look for the best freelance editorial talent.

Put it to the Panel

The CIEP’s upgrade process is shrouded in some mystery, mainly because the whole nature of it is confidential to ensure that every application is assessed fairly and without any bias. All upgrade applications are assessed anonymously; the Admissions Panel assessors never know the identities of the applicants. (This is why applicants shouldn’t post test scores on the forum or other social media, or at least not until an application has been assessed and the result is received.) Panel members are Advanced Professional members of the CIEP. Assessing membership upgrade applications involves weighing up the value of an applicant’s experience, training and CPD to discern whether the CIEP’s standards have been reached.

What makes a good upgrade application?

Here are some (anonymised) quotes from some of the CIEP’s Admissions Panel:

No detail is too small:

“I’m happier with an application that shows that the applicant has taken the time and trouble to read the wealth of information on upgrading available on the website, and has put themselves in our shoes: ‘What can I do in my application that will make it easy for the Panel to say yes?’ This is a skill I’d expect to see in a good copy-editor or proofreader. Can this applicant anticipate their client’s needs and produce, say, handover documentation to meet them? Has he or she actually read the brief? We make it very clear on the website that, for instance, we need to know hours of freelance experience. So produce that information, not in days, or weeks, but hours. We make it clear that we need to know the proportion of time an in-house editor has spent exercising the core skills (copy-editing and/or proofreading) and are delighted when an applicant gives us that information.”

Remember you’re a professional:

“Remember to proofread your application with as much care as you would give to any proofreading or editing job. It should reflect your professionalism and attention to detail. Typos, errors and inconsistencies are noted by the Panel and can count against you, particularly for the higher levels of membership.”

But on a lighter note:

“The Admissions Panel are here to help you upgrade rather than to bar the way, so they appreciate anything you can do to help them help you!”

Continuing professional development is essential throughout a copy-editor/proofreader’s life, and it doesn’t stop when one attains Advanced Professional membership or the point where the work finds you, rather than the other way around. It’s a constant.

Anya Hastwell, the SfEP's professional development directorAnya Hastwell is an Advanced Professional Member of the CIEP, and served as its professional development director. After working in-house for several publishers for nearly 10 years she went freelance in 2014, and works on an enticing array of non-fiction material from medicine to history, ably distracted assisted by three feline helpers. 

 

Posted by Abi Saffrey, CIEP blog coordinator.

 

Originally posted August 2018; updated June 2021.

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