In July, we hosted another Professional Registration Surgery to support members working towards ARA professional registration, or those interested in how it might help their career. ARA’s Chris Sheridan hosted the call and was joined by Dr Charlotte Berry FARA, an assessor and mentor for the programme.
Here are some of the questions raised during the surgery and the answers which Chris and Charlotte provided.
Q. I want to use experience gained as part of a team working on a project. How should I present my work experience?
A. Make sure you tell us about your experience. Some applicants make the mistake of discussing what ‘we’ did and what ‘we’ achieved. A top tip is not to use the word ‘we’. Your application is about you, your work activities, your learning and development and, of course, your own reflection on the experience. So, remember, ‘I’ achieved this, ‘I’ learned how to, etc. This is your application showcasing your achievements.
Q. Can two candidates who are also work colleagues use the same work experience in some of their competency forms?
A. Yes you can. Your experiences are unique to you and your development, even if the work experience is shared.
Q. The guidance says you can use up to 10 years’ experience, but it might be difficult to get some of it validated, especially if previous managers have moved on?
A. We recognise the difficulty with collecting evidence and candidates should bear this in mind when moving on from one job to another. Candidates should think in terms of how strong the evidence could be. Anything signed or validated in some way would be better than evidence that isn’t, but applications would not fail the assessment on this issue alone. We would always contact the candidate during the assessment process with any concerns regarding validation.
Q. I am not based in the UK or Ireland, but I have worked in the UK. Can I apply for professional registration?
A. Yes!
Other sources of information:
- Tips on finding a mentor https://arapdp.blog/2019/06/17/mentoring/
- Assessor feedback https://arapdp.blog/2019/03/19/assessor-feedback/
- Examples of competency forms https://archivesandrecords.smapply.io/res/p/examples/
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