Personal Development Planning

Personal Development Planning (PDP) will provide you with an opportunity to assess the value of the skills you are developing and identify future development needs. It offers you a structured way to reflect on what you are good at and what you need to develop further. It has sections that encourage you to rate your current skill levels and also areas where you can note down what you have learned from different situations and environments including your studies, part time work, voluntary work and other activities.

This is an important part of your personal development and reflects the working environment where employers encourage new graduates to assess their own continuous professional development (CPD) using a portfolio.

You can also use your PDP as a valuable aid for marketing your skills to employers in recruitment and selection processes.

In order to help students reflect on, and record evidence of, these skills, Middlesex University has introduced Personal Development Portfolios as a requirement for all first year students. Following this introduction the continued use of your portfolio is a voluntary activity, which you are encouraged to keep up. You will be able to get advice on how best to use your PDP to help you document your skills, from designated staff within your institution.

Further information about PDP is available from: www.mdx.ac.uk/www/careers/studentintro.htm