Reflections on Entering the Graduate Labor Market - Essay Example

? Reflection Supervisor: April 24, Reflection Introduction The graduate labour market is increasingly becoming competitive with a rise in number of graduates and effects of globalization. The increasing number of potential employees that offers potential employers wider scopes for identifying preferred qualities among employees has for example raised selection standards and outstanding qualifications and skills are fundamental to entry and advancement in the graduate job market. Globalization that has facilitated employee mobility also allows organizations to recruit from wider geographical scopes and this further increases competitiveness among graduates who seek opportunities in the job market. This paper offers an evaluation of my preparation to enter the graduate labour market by identifying my future career plans, my future study plans, my initiatives to realizing these goals, gained knowledge from the module, planned implementation of the developed knowledge, and possible steps for my development. My future career plans My future career plan involves opening and running a finance company in Qatar. The company will deal in brokerage of financial securities in the entire country. The business scope will involve the purchase and sale of listed public companies’ securities as well as securities for credit facilities. The business activities will include service delivery to investors through their brokers and offering advice on trends in security prices for clients’ informed investments decisions. The finance company will also offer credit services to people to facilitate entry into, and growth in the financial market industry and the services will be charged independently. My future study plans My future study plans include completing a Masters program in accounting and I plan to do this in the United States. My plan for further academic potential is a factor of the competition in the job market and my career objectives of establishing a private enterprise. With the current competitive environment in which graduates enter the market at a higher rate than the rate of job creation, employers are increasing their recruitment standards for entry positions and for career development within organizations. A Masters degree will therefore facilitate my competitiveness in the job market for successful mobility and promotions within organizations. The future study plan will also be significant to my objective of establishing my enterprise because gained knowledge and skills will be fundamental to the enterprise’s operations and management. Steps that I have taken to facilitate future goals Achieving my future goals requires personal initiatives and I have taken diversified steps to ensure that I qualify for the Masters program and that I gain the capacity to establish a brokerage financial company. Hard work in my academic ventures has been one of the steps towards my academic plans as well as the entrepreneurial venture. My desire to develop a career in accountancy has led to diligence in studies from elementary level. By high school, I was determined to excel, qualify for an accounting course at undergraduate level, and then proceed for a Masters program. I have similarly worked hard in college and I am confident of surpassing the minimum grade for the Masters program in accounting. Some of the particular initiatives that I have undertaken to boost my final college grade are private research into the course concept, consultations with lectures, and group discussions. I have also consolidated funds for the program. I have similarly made efforts to facilitate my future entrepreneurial initiatives through conducting research into the financial industry in Qatar. I have determined the legal environment and understood the required formalities for establishing the type of venture. I have similarly explored the market and its competitive forces and established high probability of success. My initiatives into the venture have also evaluated required resources for the proposed enterprise and their valuation and I have started to save for the capital and to identify potential alternative sources of funds. My academic pursuit for career establishment is another step that facilitates my entrepreneurial plan because finding a job will expand my ability to raise capital and the acquired knowledge will add value to the enterprise’s operations. My developed knowledge from the module The module has enlightened me on the potentials that my potential employers will expect of me. I have, from the module, learnt that my potentials should not only be about knowledge of the course concepts and methods but should extend to analytical potentials that can understand the scope of problems to be resolved and relate the problems to appropriate methods or concepts for effective and efficient solution. This has further informed me of the need to be conversant with academic knowledge from the course and the relationship between the concepts for alternative approaches to problem solving. I have similarly learnt of the need to be able to demonstrate the learnt concepts, a potential that links theory and practice. With focus on the primary scope of the course, I have learnt of the significance of relating different problems to theories as a basis to solving the problems. The module has also informed me of the need for a wider perspective towards problem solution. This means that while my work may be specialized in a particular field, my theoretical approaches should factor central principles to finance and accounting, and incorporate the principles to the specialized fields (Bergan 2007, p. 156). The discursive aspects of the module have also enhanced my understanding of the relationship between different aspects of the course such as financial accounting, managerial accounting, and finance. I have learnt that professional competence requires an understanding of the topics’ interdependence and the direction of flow of information across different departments. Further, I have learnt that a professionally competent individual requires interpersonal skills for proper relations with other members of an organization or a work team and for proper coordination of activities and information flow (Griffin 2009). Strategies for applying the developed knowledge and skills Applying my developed knowledge and skills requires a practical set up in which I can practice and implement the required competencies from my course. I therefore plan to work in an established organization during my academic vacations as a strategy to implementing my new knowledge and skills. I will therefore search for internship or employment opportunities and send my applications for consideration. Once I get an opportunity, I will seek mentorship and ensure that I learn from senior member of the profession on how they developed their potentials in applying the competencies. I will also develop personal relations with my immediate supervisors with the aim of seeking empowerment and directions on how to apply my knowledge. I will also conduct independent research on case studies that relate to my profession with the aim of understanding application of related knowledge and then developing simulations for practical applications. My next steps for career development My next steps to career development are participation in career development seminars and implementation of established principles for effective career development. I will therefore seek opportunities for the seminars and attend them. Steps to implementing career development principles will include identification of right employers who offer room for development, being open to other people and their career perspectives, assimilating other people’s perspectives when they offer developmental opportunities, developing developmental goals, and acculturating the spirit of improvement in my career scopes. Further, my approach to development will include keeping records of my potentials and their successful implementation and identifying my valued potentials that require nurturing (Kroth and Christensen 2009, p. 33). Conclusion My future career plans involve establishing a finance company that offers brokerage services while my study plans include completing a Masters program in accounting. Hard work in preliminary academic levels and savings for the program have been the major steps towards my academic plan while academic pursuit and research into the proposed business have been the major steps towards career plans. The module has been informative and it developed my insight into professional expectations. I plan to seek internship opportunities for implementing the developed knowledge and to attend seminars and implement careers development principles as my next developmental steps. Reference list Bergan, S 2007, Qualifications: Introduction to a concept, Council of Europe, Paris. Griffin, M 2009. MBA fundamentals accounting and finance, Kaplan Publishing, New York. Kroth, M and Christensen, M 2009, Career development basics, American Society for Training and Development, Danvers. Read More