Revalidation: random wonderings

Image by Xurble

Well, folks, I’ve registered as a revalidation candidate. Have been meaning to do it for ages and have finally gotten round to it. Can’t believe it’s coming up to three years since I first chartered. The time has flown by.

I’m quite unsure as to what a revalidation portfolio actually looks like. I’ve booked a place on a day course run by the Career Development Group (West Midlands division) entitled ‘Certification, chartership, revalidation and beyond’ and I’m hoping there will be some examples on display. I’m also hoping the day won’t only focus on certification/chartership. I may have gone through that process already, but I’m a first time revalidation candidate and - just as I did with chartership – feel uncertain of the whole thing.

I’m in different employment compared to three years ago, and I often feel as though I’m still learning. Is that okay for a revalidation candidate? Or am I supposed to feel completely confident and knowledgeable in everything I do? Is my portfolio meant to show that I’ve achieved lots and operate on a genius level basis? Is it normal to have these worries and concerns, or am I merely questioning everything unnecessarily?

I’m umming and ahhing about whether to find a mentor. If I remember correctly, it was a compulsory part of chartership, but it is only an optional part of revalidation. Having a mentor and working to agreed deadlines really helped me when chartering. Personally, I have a tendency to procrastinate and having a mentor might reduce the likelihood of this happening during revalidation. I’ve had a very quick glance at the mentor list on the CILIP website and not many of them mention revalidation specifically. Is having a mentor through revalidation the done thing? Will they think I’m incompetent if I request one? Would it strengthen or weaken my portfolio? It’s times like this I wish I knew someone who had gone through revalidation so I could bombard them with my random questions!

Questions, questions, questions! Fingers crossed, everything should become clearer after the day course…