In this series focused on EVR reporting, CPA Alberta’s Practical Experience team provides information on the technical competency practical experience requirements and tips on reporting EVR experience. If you haven’t read part one, click here. Part two focuses on how candidates should complete their experience report.
A candidate’s experience report is a vital document that outlines the competencies they have achieved. Our role in Practical Experience is to assess candidates’ reporting and determine their achieved competencies and proficiency levels. Eventually, Practical Experience will determine if candidates have met the exit experience requirements.
In our last post we talked about the core, depth, and breadth requirements; as a reminder, eight sub-competencies are required to be achieved.
So, our first tip for EVR candidates when it comes to reporting their experience is: don’t report on all the sub-competencies. Very few roles will give candidates the opportunity to achieve every single one of the sub-competencies; as a result, reporting on each sub-competency is an inefficient use of candidates’ time. Instead, we recommend that candidates think about the competency map—what areas do they think they will achieve as part of the exit requirements? They should report on these. This will also allow the Practical Experience team to focus its guidance when reviewing the reports.
Our second tip is to review the guidance in PERT before drafting their response. The guidance provides candidates with information on what specific duties we expect them to be doing, along with the complexity and autonomy we are looking for. Candidates can also find the guidance on our website. If a candidate’s work does not seem to fit with the guidance, this is an indication they are not reporting it in the right place.
Our third tip is to include examples, examples, examples! Remember: it is the role of Practical Experience to determine if candidates are achieving the competency; in order to do this, we really need to understand a candidate’s role. Specific, detailed examples will allow us to best understand where a candidate’s proficiency is at, and, in turn, provide them with better guidance.
Our fourth tip is that EVR candidates should update their existing report, rather than creating a new one. Updating their existing report before meeting with their mentor semi-annually is more efficient than creating a brand new report each time.
Our final tip is that candidates should remember to review their report before completing it, and then meet with their mentor to review it. This report is a formal submission to CPA Alberta, so candidates should ensure they have given it the time and care it deserves. Spelling and grammar matter.
We hope that this series helps EVR candidates feel more confident in reporting their experience! Next time, we will be discussing the CPA review process, including common revisions we provide.
