I started my PDP journey in March, stepping into a very new platform called the Learning Assistant and a totally new format. Before I could even get going, there were fees that needed to be paid and I didn’t really know how to go about it, but Roger Gillespie came to the rescue and pointed me the in the right direction. His words stuck with me from the start, “this is achievable in a year if you put the effort in, and that everything I reviewed and sent back to you to work on will become easier as you progress”. He started me off with a much easier unit, Decision Making, and by the time I finished it, I had started to get a hang of it.

Each time I was starting a new unit, what came back to mind was Roger saying I could do this in a year if I put the effort in. I didn’t want to relax, and because of that I booked the next meeting with Roger two weeks ahead. That way, I always had a target to aim at. I didn’t want to turn up for a meeting with Roger having not done much; I wanted to meet him with a finished unit so we could talk about the next one. Soon enough, it was three units complete, then four, then five, then six and right up until the end of December, just before the Christmas break, when I submitted my last.

Was it fun? Definitely not. But staying behind while the site was closed so I could work in peace and quiet made all the difference, at least that worked for me. Along the way, I learned to ask for information from people I would not normally ask, and that in itself was the start. There were conversations, Teams calls, and plenty of pestering my site team, both present and past for information just so I had what I needed.

I also learned the importance of documentation; however silly it might seem at the time. When it comes to providing evidence for CIOB portfolio, that one piece of documentation might just save the day. PDP wasn’t easy, but with effort, structure, and the right support, it was absolutely achievable—and looking back, it has been a worthwhile journey.