My personal development plan - Essay Example

Sample of personal development plan I am a student at the University of Central Lancashire pursuing business administration degree, which I intend to complete in the year 2014. This, however, does not mean that I am short of some skills that are necessary to perform in a particular job in marketing given a chance. This is because in the past, I have successively worked in different companies in internship programs which gave me the necessary experience I needed to develop my abilities to perform my duties in leadership and teamwork. I have attained different skills and knowledge that I can apply if I am given a chance to works as a marketing executive in a company anywhere in the world. Although there are other things about my life and abilities that I need to develop fully, I have the potential to exploit my marketing ability potential for the benefit of my employer. I possess some outstanding skills that help me to work without limitations within a company, and can be applicable in any company that gives me an opportunity to work for them. For instances, in addition to my educational qualification, I have some other skills that help me to relate with other people who have better and lower qualification than me. This makes it easy for any company to integrate me into their system of production without failure or a lot of struggle to subject me to much supervision, which would force it to lose money in terms of man-hour (Grit, 2006). In my development plan, I could have difficulties in accomplishing some issues but because of the skills that I possess in addressing different circumstances, I can be able to address all occurrences within a short time. The things I am good at In my life, I have some innate skills that I have obtained in the course of life and which I do not struggle to develop while I am working within an organisation or for my own good. These skills help me to overcome various challenges in life and make it easy for me to implement activities in a very easy way without making any consultation from different people. For example, I have skills in communication, which I acquired through my education and as person interested in different things in the world, I have developed my ability in written and spoken Arab as well as in English. In English, I have developed the skills since birth as I am a native English speaker and can communicate to different people with ease of understanding of their language and forms of communication. In addition, I advanced my skills in English following my study at the University of Buckingham where I attained a certificate in effective communication between 2008 and 2009. This was in my attempt to enhance my competence in the English language as a language of communication in my endeavours as I practice my skills in marketing and promotion. This was also in understanding that marketing and promotion, in which I major, needs people who are fluent in their modes of communication as one interacts with different people in the market and convincing them to purchase products. My skills in written and spoken Arabic was put in to test when I worked for Coca Cola Company in Yemen in 2011 from June and September and during my four weeks internship in Egypt between March and April 2013. I have skills to work in a team either as a leader, where I can be required to make decisions concerning the group, or as a member who can take orders from another leader. These skills are essential to ensure that I can take responsibility of the things that are required of me at different time in the course of implementing my activities in a company (Hirsch, 2005). I have developed skills of time management while I take on different jobs so as to ensure that I can be able to make the right decision in difficult situations, in order to facilitate effectiveness in service delivery. Through my different programmes of doing the work, I can be able to set priorities in doing different activities so that I can perform tasks without failure. This skill has enabled be to fulfil different activities in the within a stipulated timeline, whether in a day or longer periods like a week or a month. This is by making time schedules which I follow in a disciplined way so that I can be able to perform the activities as set out. I have another skill that facilitate my ability and promote my employability in marketing occupation within a company in any part of the world. This is associated with my ability to adapt to different circumstances within the company by taking different capacities as a leader or a member without becoming a burden to anyone. In many instances, when I have to adapt to new set of employees, and new environment, I have found it easy for me to get along with them regardless of their backgrounds. I have made myself easy to understand by other employees who work near or next to me and they are able to predict my conduct in various complicated issues in running business. I am also undergoing training in a degree in business administration which will enhance my skills and abilities in addressing all the issues that are related to marketing and promotion. Through this, I will get skills to sell products in different environment through correct choice of words and methods to communicate to them in a way that is acceptable to them. This will ensure that I can perform well in a marketing situation that can be difficult to explore under normal circumstances, if one has no training in business, as well as to facilitate my explanation of business phenomena. I have skills in emotional intelligence which enables me to act in different ways in the process of delivery of services and to avoid any unnecessary conflict that may arise from the issues of misunderstanding between people. I have skills to address emotional instability that can impact negatively on the productivity of a company especially in circumstances that threaten teamwork in a company. In the same way, I can be able to promote the feelings of other people and help them to participate in activities very actively. What I need to work on In the course of my life as a potential employee of different companies and in the field of marketing and promotion, I will need to undertake the full training in my course. In the course of activities, I will need to acquire all the skills that are necessary to be an effective leader in marketing in a company. These skills and knowledge, that is necessary in steering a group of employees in the department of marketing in a company which is selling and conducting promotion activities within a place, are taught in business administration course ta advanced stages. Another thing that I will need to work on is striking the balance between the school and work time allocation if I am granted the opportunity to work in a company that requires me to move to different places in the world. Although I need the job, I will be required to pursue my degree in business administration in the University of Lancashire in London, which will be difficult if I will be travelling to different places in the world to convince customers to buy products (Smale and Fowlie, 2009). Things that can help me along I will need to form network of customers and create a sense of loyalty in the sale of products that I present to them if I will need to perform well in my job. Through these customers, I will be able to link my employer’s products to potential customers who will buy and promote the company in sales and marketing. The customers will be able to expand their network so as to facilitate purchase of products by people who are in the area within the locality of the company and those that are found far away from the company. Another thing that will be important in developing customer’s loyalty would be to ensure that they can be able to attract others to buy by talking well about the products to the people. Another thing that can help be is establishing myself in the marketing career is if I can establish a system of communication so that all the people who can access me will be in a position to exchange their ideas about the products. This can be enhanced by development of a technology of communication to address the issues that are required by customers at any time. This will facilitate the process of reaching out to a large population of people who can buy products that are placed within their reach and this will ensure that they act from a point of information (McAlister, 2010). What can challenge my pursuit for the job If I am give a job to market products of a company within the world or which will require me to move to different places, I may be faced with different challenges that will thwart my effectiveness. This could be influenced by the issues that are related to time that is required to engage in different activity requirements in the job and the classwork. For instance, I will need to avail myself in classes as well as be actively involved in marketing and promoting products in places, which may be far away from my college. This will mean that I will have to sacrifice one in place of the other, for me to be able to undertake the requirements I have as a student as well as an employee (Smale and Fowlie, 2009). Another thing that may prevent me from getting the job is the fact that I am not through with my education as opposed to the requirement of the job which needs a graduate to do it. Skills SWOT analysis My development objectives What I to have to achieve my goals What can help me through Target Date for achievement I have advanced skills in communication, public relations skills, commercial awareness, diverse career capability, sales and promotion skills Strengths Good educational background Experienced sales executive Computer literate and good mathematical skills Weakness No experience in management I have little exposure in most world countries Opportunities I have some time to study international business and understand the trends Threats I do not have a degree Get a part-time job Complete my studies in business administration Study a course in international business Become a sales manager Carry out a marketing research Establish a marketing and promotion consultancy firm Seek a job advertisement Apply for a job Attain my degree business administration Evaluate the marketing strategies of many large companies in the world Attend all lectures in my course Enrol in a class for international business A degree in business administration Access to the library and other data resources Tuition fees Attend seminars on marketing 1 year 1 year 1 year 2 years teamwork, Time management skills, critical thinking skills, Easy to adapt in different environments I am also a fast learner, time, References Grit, R. (2006). Managing your competencies: Personal development plan. Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff. Hirsch, A. S. (2005). Job search and career checklists: 101 proven time-saving checklists to organize and plan your career search. Indianapolis, IN: JIST Works. McAlister, B. (2010). Full recovery: Creating a personal action plan for life beyond sobriety. Newton, N.J: MacSimum Pub. Smale, B., and Fowlie, J. (2009). How to succeed at university: An essential guide to academic skills and personal development. London: SAGE. Read More