Professional

What is Professional Experience?

Answer:

To meet the requirements of the RIBA Professional Experience and Development Record, and to have direct experience under supervision of the duties and responsibilities of professional practice which will become the students upon qualification, the RIBA specifies certain mandatory minimum requirements to be achieved by the student within this time period. These are:
A minimum of 24 months of recorded professional experience, 12 months of which must be after passing or gaining exemption from Part 2 of the RIBA Examination in Architecture, under the direct supervision of an architect in the United Kingdom. (Regulation 1)
A minimum of 10 working days' approved study leading to the RIBA Examination in Professional Practice and Management, (Part 3). (Regulation 3)
A minimum 35 hours a year continuing professional development, per year. (Regulation 4)
Although it is not mandatory, the RIBA advises that a minimum of 3 months' experience of professional architectural practice under the direct supervision of an architect outside the United Kingdom provides useful experience for architectural students as part of his or her educational and professional development.
The RIBA Professional Experience and Development Record records professional experience in 3-month periods. A period of less than 3 months' duration will not normally be accepted as valid professional experience. (Except, of course, for CPD, professional and community activity and study for the RIBA Examination in Professional Practice and Management, (Part 3), which are subject to maximum time limits of less than 3 months.) Professional Experience and Development Records should be used to record each 3-month period of professional experience.

What is Professional Development?

Continuous Professional Development is the systematic maintenance, improvement and broadening of knowledge and skill, and the development of personal qualities necessary for the execution of professional and technical duties throughout your working life. Put more simply, it is a life-long learning approach to planning, managing and benefiting from your own development.
By undertaking CPD you can:
Maintain and enhance your competence in your current role
Ensure you are competitive in the job market
Demonstrate commitment to your own development
Find a new intellectual challenge
CPD is not an adjunct to your work, and the need for it is not dependent on your life or career stage (although it is a requirement for Chartered status). CPD can be any activity –in fact, you are probably doing it already – as long as you take a systematic approach to planning, undertaking, recording and reviewing your development.

http://www.pedr.co.uk/textpage.asp?menu=1a&sortorder=40&area=main
http://www.iop.org/activity/cpd/Professionals_wishing_to_undertake_CPD/page_3979.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profession