One of the reasons I love CDF training is because the competencies that the training emphasizes fit together so nicely.  Not only that, but they also spur action through behaviors as any good competency model should do.

An example of 2 CDF competencies in action

Take these two competencies:

“Helping Skills – Be proficient in the basic career facilitating process while including productive interpersonal relationships.”

And

“Program Management/Implementation – Understand career development programs and their implementation, and work as a liaison in collaborative relationships.”

In the CDF training, you learn that helping skills includes being competent in helping others set goals and create action plans for themselves as it relates to their career.  You act on this knowledge, by creating tools to help clients to set goals.

But the application of being competent in goal setting is taken to the next level through the competency of program management implementation. What good program manager doesn’t need to know how to set goals, track them, and meet them?

Participants in our CDF training take what they have learned about goal setting in the helping skills content and demonstrate that they can direct their behavior to apply goal setting by mapping out a new program or a redesign of an existing one complete with goals, timelines, deliverables and metrics.

Tell à Show à Do 

We like to call our model for building the CDF competencies Tell à Show à Do, with an emphasis on the DOING.    We focus on building the 12 competencies by designing assignments and deliverables in the course that help you kill two birds with one stone.  They build your knowledge, but the assignments also produce tangible tools and plans that you can use on the job. Then you can easily show that you know how to apply knowledge by doing.

Your boss can’t see the knowledge in your head without you acting on it, so the doing helps advance your career just as much if not more than having the certification.

If are a career development professional and want to have some fun doing, you can register for our CDF course.

If you’re a part of school system, college career center, local or state workforce agency or career center, you may want to learn more about how this model of applying the CDF competencies can help your group create a strategic plan through the professional development opportunity.  To do so, you can view our presentation on CDF Training and Strategic Planning (which will be presented this Saturday, June 21, from 8:30-9:30 am at NCDA’s Conference in Long Beach- join us if you are here!) There is also a case study you can read to see how this has been put into practice with a K-12 School System

How has doing helped advance your career more than knowing?