Learning Log: Employability and Personal Development - Coursework Example

Learning Log- Employability and Personal Development Difference between traditional and modern career and its meaning for me I learnt There is an ever increasing difference between traditional and modern career. In traditional career, a person used to join a company and spent his entire working life in the same company. He would join at one level of hierarchy and would go up depending upon his abilities and the opportunities at the company. His career growth essentially depended on continuous service and promotions at intervals. In traditional career, employees did not have specialized higher education or specific skills related to the work profile. He was trained by the organization he joined for most of his work related skills. The company may occasionally train him if some additional skills were required. There was neither any need nor scope for getting trained for any skill outside the organization. These trainings depended on the mercy of bosses more that individual interest and initiative. The change in career patterns came with the variety of knowledge and skills required for different types of job profiles. This has lead to diversification of career paths. Employees who join an organization have specialized higher education and hence they look for more autonomous work. They no longer look for companies with long term employment opportunity and workforce turnover is on an increase. The switching of job depends on the difference of compensation being provided, increase in hierarchal level and challenge in the new assignment. Once an employee reaches the peak of a job profile, he must upgrade his knowledge and skills to move to the next level of hierarchy. The organization is not the only source of training as there is a plethora of opportunities available with the training organizations in the market and the educational institutions providing specialization. I feel The variety of careers have increased the employment opportunity however they have also increased the fear of being laid off and hence the work related stress. The fear of being out of job is the key factor which pushes a person to learn new skills which makes him employable in the modern work environment. The switching of job in every two years or so has lead to no emotional attachment between the employee and the organization and the employees think of their own benefit instead of thinking of the organization. This is equally true for the organization. Thus, the Human Resource department in the organization has a key role to play in finding, training and retaining good employees. Bibliography: All Business, (1999-2010). Career competencies for career success (2006) [Online]. Available at < http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/careers/4015927-1.html> [Accessed 8 December 2010] Eironline, (2007). Gender and career development — Norway (2007) [Online]. Available at http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/studies/tn0612019s/no0612019q.htm [Accessed 8 December 2010] Mastery Works, (n. d.). Career Paths: Mapping, Ladders and Lattices (2008) [Online]. Available at < http://www.masteryworks.com/newsite/clientimpact/impact_archives_nov08.html> [Accessed 8 December 2010] Mitch, David., Brown, John., van Leeuwen, Marco H. D. (2004), Origins of the modern career. Hants, Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Current graduate labour market and what it means for me I learnt Current graduate labour market is the term used for all the graduates in the job market who were paid for their work or are willing to work against remuneration. It includes unemployed, part-time employed, full-time employed and self-employed graduates. With the reduced gravity of economic slowdown, there is an increase in employment opportunities. The year 2009 has seen reduced funding to public sector domain leading to reduced job opportunities in the sector. However several small and mid-size companies are recruiting. Hence the job market is not as gloomy as was a year back. The knowledge of graduate labour market is essential for any student who wishes to take up a course for increasing his employability. The gap of demand of a particular skill in the job market and its supply gives the clue as to which course should a student take, so that he is able to get a job as soon as he completes his degree. The higher is the demand- supply gap, the more is the employability in that domain. Changes in the job market leads to changes in the demand supply gap in one or many job areas. This creates need for internship courses and mentoring programs which increase commercial awareness, vocational knowledge and transferable skills. I think Modern careers require a person to keep upgrading his skills to remain fit for the job market. One should be commercially aware to know which industry is growing/ declining and leading to increase/ decrease in job opportunity. He should be aware of the knowledge and experience he should have to get into a growing company/ industry. He should have the transferable skills to survive in the job he has in hand and in the industry. Also, a person should not wait till he passes out from the course or the end of the holiday to start applying for the job. There is positivity in the job market and we graduates should use it to get into the workforce. Bibliography Agcas, (2010). 2009 Graduate Employment Statistics: AGCAS Response. [Online] Available at < http://www.bris.ac.uk/careers/news/AGCAS-2009-graduate-employment-media-release.pdf> [Accessed 8 December 2010] Office for National Statistics (2010). Growth in UK’s human capital slows in 2008 and 2009 Economic & Labour Market Review (2010) [Online]. Available at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/elmr1110.pdf [Accessed 8 December 2010] UK National Statistics (n. d.). Labour Market (n. d.) [Online] Publication Hub: Gateway to UK National Statistics. Available at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/labour-market/index.html [Accessed 8 December 2010] University of Brighton (n. d.). The Graduate Labour Market (n. d.) [Online]. Available at < http://www.brighton.ac.uk/careers/looking-for-work/graduate-labour-market.html> [Accessed 8 December 2010] Employability I learnt Employability is the ability of a person to find a job and be able to deliver at work. It is true that the educational institutions are introducing more and more specialized streams. Still employers in various organizations feel it is difficult to find people with transferable work competencies for each job profile. They have to train them for these skills. In the modern economic scenario, each employee is uncertain that his job will last till he wishes for. To keep himself adaptable to changing jobs, he needs to acquire certain skills. These skills are called employability skills, job-readiness skills or transferable skills. There are several skills required in different job profiles. When a person joins a team in any organization, he should have teamwork skills, communication skills and interpersonal skills. Making presentation is a good way to explain a concept to a group of people for which a person needs presentation skills. Data analysis skills, problem solving skills and decision-making skills are no less important. In the era when ideas get copied so fast, employees appreciate creativity at work. I feel Academic institutions should emphasize and train the students on these basic transferable skills to make them more job-ready than ever before. Also they need to guide the students on which skills they should take up based on their interest and personality. Bibliography Career Advisory Service (n.d.)..Introduction to Employability Skills, (n. d.) [Online] University of Kent. Available at < http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillsintro.htm> [Accessed 8 December 2010] Raemdonck, Isabel. (2006). Self-directedness in learning and career processes: A study in lower-qualified employees in Flanders. [Online] Available at http://users.ugent.be/~mvalcke/CV/raemdonck%20definitief.pdf [Accessed 8 December 2010] Robinson, Jacquelyn P. (2000). The Workplace [Online]. Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Available at < http://www.dillonatech.com/logon/employability-skills.pdf> [Accessed 8 December 2010] The Higher Education Academy, (n. d.). Employability and Employee Learning (n. d.). [Online] The Higher Education Academy. Available at [Accessed 8 December 2010] How employable I am? Transferable skills I need to develop and sell myself at work. I feel As far as the academic qualification is concerned, I have the degree which can help me get a job. However, the economy is going through tough times and my degree is not sufficient enough to get me a job so easily. Hence, I need to work on the employability part. Looking at the list of employability skills, I find that there are so many transferable skills that I need to learn to make myself job-ready. I need to improve my communication skills which will help me while I create, read and interpret documents or communicate at work. I need to work on oral and written communication along with my body language. I am hesitant of making presentation in front of a group of people. I need to sharpen my presentation skills. I do not know all the qualities that will make me a good team player. I know few of them – coordination, adaptability, commitment, dependability and discipline. I need to work on other qualities too that I am unaware of. As I will grow up the hierarchy, I will also need leadership skills. A leader should have analytical ability. He should have the aptitude for problem solving. He should have decision-making and mathematical ability too. I need to work on these areas as well. Last but not the least, I need to learn marketing skills to sell myself for a job and to sell my work when I am on the job. Bibliography Department of Education, Science and Training, (2006). Employability Skills: From Framework to Practice [Online]. Department of Education, Science and Training, Australian Government. Available at < http://www.training.com.au/documents/Employability%20Skills_From%20Framework%20to%20Practices.pdf> [Accessed 8 December 2010] Robinson, Jacquelyn P. (2000). The Workplace [Online]. Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Available at < http://www.dillonatech.com/logon/employability-skills.pdf> [Accessed 8 December 2010] Plagiarism I learnt Plagiarism is claiming, writing and publishing other’s work, thoughts and ideas as our own. In academics, we read books and journals by so many authors. While writing, it is important to give the due credit for a piece of text to the original author. This is equally true for any graph, data or analysis, quotations and drawings. Due credit should also be given when we paraphrase other’s idea in our text. I feel Using others work is unethical and illegal. Thanks to the internet that we now have easy way to trace any kind of plagiarism. Knowing about this topic helps me as I know how to use others citations while writing my essays and assignments. Bibliography: City Lit, 2008. Guide to the Harvard Style of Referencing [Online]. Anglia Ruskin University. Available at http://moodle.citylit.ac.uk/file.php/1/learning_resources/Harvard_referencing.doc [Accessed 8 December 2010] Handouts and Links, 1998. Plagiarism [Online]. The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel. Available at < http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/plagiarism.html> [Accessed 8 December 2010] Writing Tutorial Service, 2004. Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It. [Online] Indiana University Bloomington (Published 2004). Available at http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml [Accessed 8 December 2010] Harvard referencing system and its use I learnt Harvard referencing system is one of the standardized forms of referencing. During our study, we come across several books and journals and we use the quotation, thoughts, ideas, data-tables, images, statistics and analysis from them in our assignments. Harvard referencing system standardizes the collection and organization of references and citation within the text and in the bibliography. Harvard system uses alphabetical/ name date system and is used by many institutions of higher education across the world. Direct and indirect quotations etc in the mid of the text is mentioned with author’s name, name of publication and date. Bibliography at the end of the text enlists all the sources used in writing the text. My approach I was aware of this system of referencing. However, there is lot of detail in citing references from different sources be it in print or electronic media. It seems very confusing initially. However, as I repeat it again and again, the concept becomes clear. Bibliography: City Lit, 2008. Guide to the Harvard Style of Referencing [Online]. Anglia Ruskin University. Available at http://moodle.citylit.ac.uk/file.php/1/learning_resources/Harvard_referencing.doc [Accessed 8 December 2010] De Montfort University, (n. d.). The Harvard system of referencing [Online]. De Montfort University. Available at [Accessed 8 December 2010] Engage in Research, (n. d.). Using the Harvard Referencing System. [Online]. Available at < http://www.engageinresearch.ac.uk/section_a/downloads/pdf_download_using_the_harvard_referencing_system.pdf> [Accessed 8 December 2010] Leeds Metropolitan University, 2008. Harvard style of citing and referencing [Online]. Leeds Metropolitan University. Available at < http://libraryonline.leedsmet.ac.uk/lco/publications/pdf/subj/is-9.pdf > [Accessed 8 December 2010] Key Learning from this module The job-market is becoming more and more dynamic with the turn of each day. Being a part of the global economy opens the floodgate of opportunities yet poses innumerable challenges at the same time. A person must keep acquiring various transferable skills that would make him job-ready all the time. There are so many transferable skills that a person should have e.g. communication skills, interpersonal skills, teamwork, leadership skills, decision-making, problem-solving, mathematical ability, analytical ability, negotiation and marketing skills, listening skills, creative thinking and so on. While writing, I should be careful to give due credit to others work and use Harvard system of referencing. It is illegal and unethical to pass someone else’s work as our own. Read More