Paddy Parvin: every day is a school day

As part of CPD Week, Nicole Luque, our learning and development manager has been speaking to Paddy Parvin FIMarEST about what professional development means to him.  His career has spanned the Royal Navy, nuclear engineering, senior leadership and consultancy, and he now volunteers with the IMarEST in numerous roles including as a professional review interviewer, mentor and chair of our council executive committee.  

Speaking to Paddy, it's clear that he truly believes that learning can happen anywhere, provided you're willing to recognise it. For him, development is not something that stops when you achieve a qualification or gain Chartered status. He really is a true advocate for CPD, and choses to take on various roles to further his learning.   

Mentoring as CPD 

Mentoring is often viewed as supporting the development of others, but Paddy believes mentoring works in both directions. He clearly finds the role extremely fulfilling and he learns a lot through being a mentor. "It's continual," he says. "The learning is always there."  

To me this is a good reminder that CPD is not always about acquiring new technical knowledge, but that evaluating your past decisions and helping others can all contribute to professional growth. 

CPD is everywhere 

One thing that came up repeatedly during our conversation was that many professionals do far more CPD than they realise. When engineers tell Paddy they are too busy to focus on professional development, his response is: "You're doing it every single day. All you have to do is apply some lateral thinking to it."  

I couldn't agree more. In my day-to-day work I often come up against the perception that CPD only happens in formal training courses or classrooms. But not many people realise that reading industry publications, reviewing projects, managing people, writing reports and reflecting on difficult decisions can all be CPD activities to be logged on the IMarEST Learning platform. 

As Paddy puts it: "Pick up the Marine Professional magazine. That's two hours CPD if you read it cover to cover and do some reflection on it." 

He also points out that some of the most valuable development comes from experiences that don't immediately look like learning. Managing a team, supporting a colleague who's struggling, or considering how a project could have been handled differently all create opportunities to develop professionally. 

Lifelong learning 

What I found particularly refreshing was Paddy's enthusiasm for learning outside his day job. He holds multiple degrees and has reached the most senior levels of his profession, but he continues to seek out new opportunities to develop. 

"Even if I didn't have that, I would be looking for excuses to learn," he says. "There's literally always going to be something." 

After all, professional development is not just about formal courses or collecting certificates. It is about building knowledge and skills throughout a career. 

As Paddy's says: "Every day is a school day...There's so much that people can do. They just need to open their eyes a little bit to what CPD actually means." 

This CPD Week, that's something we would all do well to remember. There are opportunities to learn everywhere, but sometimes we just need to stop and see them. I'll be trying harder to do that. Will you? 

Remember to log your CPD activity on the IMarEST Learning platform