Competence development plan: how to set direction for your further education
From single courses to a comprehensive plan for your professional development
For many further education is about taking a course when the opportunity arises or when the workplace sends someone away. It is not wrong but it is not the same as having a plan. A competence development plan is a tool that brings together where you are today where you want to go and which concrete steps — often courses or AMU programmes — are needed to get there.
The idea behind a competence development plan is not new — it is based on the same fundamental idea that underlies the entire AMU system: that learning through a working life works best when it is systematic and targeted, rather than random. The difference between a plan and a course list is that the plan starts from where you want to go, while the course list merely records what you have already done.
§Why a plan makes a difference
Without a plan courses easily become individual days that do not build on each other. With a plan it becomes clear whether the next course actually moves you toward a goal or if it is just something that happened to be available. A plan also makes it easier to talk with your manager about why a particular course makes sense—both for you and for the workplace.
§What a good plan contains
- 01A copy of the electrical diagram on paper
- 02One or more concrete goals: what will you be able to do that you cannot do today?
- 03The courses and certificates you typically must have
- 04How you or your workplace finances it, e.g. via VEU compensation
- 05A date for when the plan is revisited and adjusted
§Connection to MUS and FKBs
The competence development plan naturally aligns with the annual MUS conversation, where goals and plans are discussed and adjusted with your manager. It can also beneficially build on the AMU system's common competence descriptions (FKBs), which collect courses that belong together within a subject area — this makes it easier to see which courses really build on each other, instead of choosing randomly from a long course catalog.
Realistic goals instead of long wish lists
A plan with one or two concrete goals you actually work toward is worth more than a long list of good intentions. It's better to complete a course that builds real competence than to collect course certificates that don't connect.
| Step | Content |
|---|---|
| 1. Mapping | Where are you today — what can you do, and what do you spend most time on? |
| 2. Mål | What do you want to be able to do in one to two years that you can't do now? |
| 3. Vej | What courses or programmes lead there, and in what order? |
| 4. Follow-up | When do you and your manager check if the plan still holds? |
§When the plan needs adjusting
Life and work change, and a good plan should also make room for that. Perhaps a course turns out to point in a different direction than you expected, or the workplace's needs change because the tasks change. It is not a failure to adjust the plan — on the contrary, a plan that is never touched is a sign that it is not being actively used. The important thing is that you periodically take it out, look at whether the goals still make sense, and update it so it continues to reflect where you are really heading.
A colleague