My Employability Portfolio - Essay Example

Provide a self-assessment of your employability skills. What employability skills have you acquired so far? To what extent have you developed them? (high-level, medium level, low level?) Do not feel that a low score in any skill area is an admission of failure: you may have no intention to use that skill or you may plan to improve it in the future. The word limit is a maximum of 300 words. In answering this Part, we recommend you to create a Table with 2 columns. While your employability skills can be listed on the first column, the corresponding self-assessments can be reported in the second column.  Technology(Medium) I have first-hand exposure in networks, systems analysis and design, and SQL. I also think that I have many aspects to learn about such as virtualization, routing, and wireless. Managerial(Low) I oversaw many facets of the business and lead cross functional teams to successful. This maybe a challenging aspect because I want to manager bigger teams such as QA, developers, and sales department. Future certifications(Medium) As I progress in my career, I want to obtain a PMP and Six Sigma certification Education(High) Currently pursuing a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in e-commerce. Experience(High) I have obtained some internship experience which will later translate into a full-blown career. As a young commerce student, this experience has taught my vital aspects regarding my job field. Since I am planning to be a future business analyst or a project manager, I can implement the methodologies that I acquired from this position in the future. As a future business analyst, I am learning about the daily procedures that must be conducted in a timely fashion. Furthermore, I am truly acquiring the true essence of corporate America that I wanted to experience as a Student. Accounting no doubt is a hectic job that truly requires hard work, dedication, and patience. I can safely say that this experience was critical towards my learning curve as I continue to explore careers after graduation. Part two (20%) Explain for each skill selected in Part one the circumstances (e.g. work, academic study extra-curriculum activities, personal circumstances, etc. ) that have led you to gain it. The word limit is a maximum of 300 words. A prominent experience that really defined my moment at my internship was when I created a widget for my organization. Caregivers.com works a lot with SEO, which has been the focal point of my internship. As a business analyst, I created a widget that would track analytics across the web. After doing a gap analysis, I realized that the SEO churn rate was lucrative. Without a doubt, many academic theories are prevalent in my internship. For instance, how does one account for payments that are charged with interest or late fees? Do some of the assets that the company possesses depreciate? If so, which type of depreciation is used? All these are critical components that are acquired through accounting classes and then later applied at this internship. Furthermore, the concept of embedding internal controls that were heavily applied in auditing classes were discussed and embraced by the organization. In answering this Part, we recommend you to create a Table with 2 columns. While your employability skills can be listed on the first column, the narrative about how you acquired them can be reported in the second column.  Collaboration I have become an expert collaborator with monthly scrum meetings in my experience. I have also dealt with high-level stakeholders that allow me to embrace my leadership role. Networking As I meet new people, I have learned to establish new networks via my colleagues. Experience As I progress in my career, I want to obtain a PMP and Six Sigma certification Appraisal and rewards I think it is important to receive proper feedback to ensure that I am on the right track Part three (15%) Create a skill based CV (maximum of 2 A4 pages) To Whom it may Concern, I would like to express my interest in an analyst position with Company. Throughout my job search and conversations with investment advisors I have come to respect the professionalism that characterizes your firm and its employees. I am confident that the Company team’s values and objectives would highly complement my own strengths and enthusiasm. I would like to be considered for your Business Analyst that requires refined analytical and communication skills. Innovative and exciting approaches such as this, coupled with Company’s highly regarded Analyst Program, convinced me that Company is the ideal environment to begin my business career. Evidence of my leadership and analytical skills can be seen in my responsibilities as analyst intern at Company, and my commitment to my academics. My educational background in government and business, combined with my internship experiences, has been excellent preparation for a career with Company. Please review the enclosed resume and references and consider my application. I will call your office next week to discuss these possibilities. I look forward to exchanging ideas with you concerning a career at Company and the positive contributions I would offer as a member of your organization. Thank you for your consideration. Signature  Part four (20%) Find a graduate job vacancy that you would like to apply for just before or after successfully completing university. Please attach this vacancy to your portfolio. You are required to critically evaluate the skills and experiences this employer is looking for and compare these to your current skills and experiences. The word limit for this skill evaluation is a maximum of 300 words. Two job openings that were interesting to me. Business Analyst – eCommerce from Uline. Uline is North Americas leading distributor of shipping, packaging and industrial supplies. This would be a good opportunity for me to become a business analyst because it has e-commerce. Another one is IT Project/Specialist Project Manager from Omni One. The IT Project Specialist will manage projects to implement new or updated systems into the production environment. The IT Project Specialist will follow IT project methodology to manage project plans that change the production environment by adding or modifying systems. Those would be two job offers that I would consider. My fascination with technology has always incited me to interview a business analyst. I think my fascination with Information Sciences began when I realized that there is a huge scope of putting business with technology together. The demand for e-commerce undoubtedly has boomed over the recent years. I think I have the necessary skill set as I have worked in An Agile environment, created workflows utilizing Visio, and documents for necessary business stakeholders. Additionally, I have conducted SWOT analysis for organization, which might be tremendous in obtaining a role. Part five (25%) Clearly illustrate what actions you are planning to take during what remains of your undergraduate years in order to fill up the gap between the skills and experiences required for the job selected in Part four and the ones you currently possess.  A typical career path of business analyst is very lucrative and can be very enriching. Typically, an entry level business analyst starts their technical path and then moves to senior business analyst. After comprehensive years of experience, analysts can often take a higher Technical Project Management path or even take a Technical Director position. One of the greatest flexibility of business analyst is that it encompasses all the methodologies and allows an individual to take more of leadership role. Other roles such quality assurance or programmer do not have this luxury because they maybe too dwelled in the technical elements of the field itself. A key facet regarding this career path is the fact that there is no substantial degree in this realm. Most business analysts have a decent foundation in Management Information System or Computer Science. As I conducted my due diligence, I realized that DePaul and other business schools offers a business analyst certificate, which is something that should be considered. My advisor also recommended that I look into MBA or PMP after couple years of experience as it would make supplement my growth. However, most colleges do not have a program that is specifically designed for Business Analyst as they have it for other majors such as accounting, finance, and human resources. Without a doubt, this interview harnessed my growth of this field and really opened my eyes about what this career entails. As an undergraduate pursuing my degree, I think business analyst is definitely a field that I am interested in. This interview built a solid foundation of what career path I want to choose. Works Cited Fortune. (n.d.). 100 Best Companies to Work For 2009: Full list. Retrieved August 21, 2014, from http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2009/full_list/index.html How to Ensure Strong Employee Performance Management. (n.d.). How to Ensure Strong Employee Performance Management. Retrieved August 21, 2014, from http://managementhelp.org/employeeperformance/index.htm Managing Day-to-Day Employee Performance: Performance Management and Feedback. (n.d.). About. Retrieved August 21, 2014, from http://humanresources.about.com/od/manageperformance/ "It Business Analyst Jobs." IT Business Analyst Jobs, Employment | Indeed.com. Web. 15 Nov. 2014. "It Business Analyst Jobs." IT Business Analyst Jobs, Employment | Indeed.com. Web. 15 Nov. 2014. . Read More