26 Jul Completing Your CIOB Professional Review Application
Is procrastination preventing you from completing your CIOB Professional Review Application?. Here are 10 Tips for completing it in record time.
Filling in the CIOB Professional Review Application sounds relatively straight forward.. and it is. So why then is it that many professionals have been able to obtain the qualifications and skills necessary to apply, but are unable to complete this piece of the puzzle to become a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Building?
One word. Procrastination!
I love the dictionary definition. “Delaying tactics”, “postponing something”. I have to admit I am also guilty of procrastination at times. Washing up and even cleaning the kitchen floor seem to take priority over completing certain tasks.
Why do we procrastinate?
The reasons are varied and many, however I have found in my experience during mentoring the most common reason is that the task appears overwhelming with a level of uncertainty on what the the examiner is looking for and the way the answers should be written.
Unfortunately this continuous cycle of feeling uncertain and a perceived fear of failure can prevent us from even starting the application form. The longer the procrastination occurs, the more it can affect our self-esteem as we start to feel bad that we haven’t completed our objectives, as time quickly passes. In the worst case the task may be built up in our minds to be greater than it is, which might lead to us avoiding the application altogether.
So what can we do about this?
The good news is there are many techniques which can be used to overcome this mind hurdle. Perhaps your mind is telling you negative stories such as “what if you fail”, “What if you succeed”.
Forget Game of Thrones.. Now get ready to play a game of “mind control”!!.
Here are our Top 10 tips for overthrowing that little voice in your head and completing your CIOB professional review application in record time.
TIP NO. 1. READ THE GUIDANCE NOTES – Sounds obvious, but these critical notes are often overlooked. Your first task is to read through the guidance notes provided. Believe me this is like receiving the answer plan. It highlights for each question what the examiner is looking for and the content needed, along with how many examples to use and the format.
TIP NO. 2. BITE SIZE – Tackling the professional review form in one hit may leave you feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. Break it down into bite sized chunks. Handle only one section at a time. Pick your first box – the easiest for you to complete and forget the rest for now.
When you complete one section, you will feel a sense of accomplishment. You will be ready to tackle the next box.
TIP NO. 3. STRUGGLING TO START – give procrastination “the boot”. Can you commit to 10 minutes? Set the timer on your phone for 10 minutes and start your first box. 10 minutes is no time at all.
We guarantee by the time the timer goes off, you will be fully submerged and will want to keep writing to complete the question you started. You can reset it again for another 10 mins and so on.
This trick with the mind works a treat – it’s a quick win.
TIP NO. 4. GET STARTED! – Don’t worry about the word count or the format. Put pen to paper and get writing. You will find that the words will flow, don’t over think it and don’t read what you have written, until you reach the end of your examples.
Once you have finished, you can return to edit the text, cut out any surplus words and make any necessary corrections or amendments and place it into the template.
TIP NO. 5. TELL A STORY – for each question give the examiner the story of your experience (keeping to the word count of course).
Are you familiar with the format of a site non compliance? I am sure most of you will be familiar with their format. The examples you will use to answer the questions will follow a similar story line from identifying an issue through to rectification and prevention, to ensure it doesn’t repeat.
Use this same ideology to answer the questions. For example:-
- a) What was the situation you faced? (In relation to the question)
- b) What challenges did you face when dealing with this situation and how did you address them? – This could be yourself or with your team.
- c) Did you need to change something within the organisation? – Procedure? Structure? Communication?
- d) How did you prevent it from reoccurring and communicate it to the team?
Always remember to keep it specific to the question being asked and use current examples.
TIP NO.6. SEVERAL EXAMPLES – You will see in the guidance notes the examiner is looking for more than one example in each of the boxes. So follow the same format above and use several examples in this way you will have filled the box in no time with great content.
TIP NO.7. FIND A MENTOR – friend or colleague who is prepared to give you a nudge and set you deadlines and targets to achieve the work. This is a great way to keep you on track and make you accountable. The CIOB provides professionals who can act as a mentor to help you complete the work.
TIP NO.8. BIN THE EXCUSES – Avoiding the mentor because you failed a deadline or had a couple of weeks pass since you last worked on your form? Don’t worry. Mentors are not there to judge you, only to offer help and support. Don’t be so quick to judge yourself, quickly get back on track as soon as possible and look forward.
TIP NO. 9. REWARD YOURSELF – After you complete a category celebrate! Treat yourself to a small reward and feel proud of what you have achieved.
TIP NO.10. PLEASE START NOW!
Is procrastination preventing you from completing your CIOB Professional Review Application? Here are our Top 10 tips!
Still stuck?
Don’t let uncertainly prevent you from continuing. Just ask. Please contact your local office of the CIOB, they are more than willing to provide clarification and advice. Alternatively if you need a mentor please contact us and be sure we can help set you some deadlines!
No Comments