Skills Tracker for Employability Module - Admission/Application Essay Example

Career Management and Graduate Employability Programme Table of Contents 1. Personal Development Plan 3 2. Skills Tracker 7 3. Reflective statement of skills and experience 14 4. Reflective statement on presentation series 15 5. CV (ATTACHED IN EMAIL) 16 6. Covering Letter (ATTACHED IN EMAIL) 16 7. Evidence of Job Application 16 8. Permanent Contact Details 17 9. Receipt of Submission of Feedback Form 17 Personal Development Plan Goals/targets Action Success criteria Target Date 1. Obtaining a job in the human resource department of the National bank of Abu Dhabi. To accomplish this goal, I need to show my communication skills and confidence at the time of interview. I have been applying in several companies for a human resource position. I have not only completed my internship at An-Nam and Associates but also I have worked with several organisations in order to gain a practical work experience. The internship and practical work experience have resulted in enhancing my communication and leadership skills. I have also gained experience of how to make effective communication with managers and team members. I aim to achieve this target within the first few months of 2011. Educational Goals/Targets 2 Goals/targets Action Success criteria Target Date 2. Complete BA in Business Management I like to achieve this goal because it would result in boosting my chances of getting a suitable job in the human resource department of a financial or multinational organization. The attribute, which I need to hold to be able to achieve this goal, includes having a sound practical work experience in the business environment. I have an idea of the difficulties, which I may face, but my high level of motivation would make me pass all challenges successfully. As I possess 2-year practical work experience and a good understanding of the human resource department, I am ready to complete my degree of business management. Within next few months of the current year, I am sure I will be able to accomplish this goal. Goals/targets Action Success criteria Target Date 3. Work as a human resource manager in a multinational company. After getting my degree of business administration, I will become able to get a suitable job in the human resource department of some multinational company. I need to get a good knowledge of all issues related to human resource management and a practical experience of at least 4 years in order to achieve my professional goal. An in-depth knowledge of leadership and management skills will really help me progress in my career. I have almost completed my degree in business administration and have become able to analyse different job related issues. I possess excellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills that will help me achieve my goals. I have worked as a team member during my previous job, which has enabled me to work in a collaborative work environment in an effective manner. My education and previous work experience has provided me with good knowledge of leadership and management skills and these skills will help me progress in my professional career. This is something achievable only after I complete my educational goal. I would need to complete my business administration degree in order to achieve this goal. I hope to achieve this within 3 years time (2013). Goals/targets 3: Goals/targets 4: Goals/targets Action Success criteria Target Date 3. I have plans to start my own business by the time I am 35. I have to take certain steps before going on to accomplish this goal. All of the steps that are needed to achieve this goal are mentioned above. I have the ability to achieve all of my goals because of my high level of confidence and motivation to excel in life. As stated before, I have plans to start my own company and I am already working on building long-term relationships with different business people. I have also completed a module at my university, which provided me with a good understanding of different issues related to business entrepreneurship. Along with the completion of module, I have also prepared a detailed business plan for a well-known marketing firm and have given a presentation in front of two highly qualified marketing managers of the firm. My professors and the firm’s managers appreciated my presentation skills and the business plan, which I developed. I need to learn every aspect of human resource and employee relations in order to achieve success in my goal. Opening my own company at the age of 35 would be my success. I am confident that my motivation and enthusiasm will lead me to the path of success in my professional career. The target date which I have set for this goal is 2015. SKILLS TRACKER for EMPLOYABILITY MODULE (Manuscript version) 1. Communication A) Face to face communication (competency means the ability to talk to a variety of audience in a confident and fluent way.) Level : 7 Evidence on which the assessment is based While working as an intern, I was required to create various types of promotions for a small company and arrange meetings for the manager. I have also completed several marketing based presentations at my university. I have been successful in delivering successful presentations and have received positive comments from my teachers and classmates. B). Producing a variety of written documents (competency means the ability to use appropriate format, appropriate spelling, punctuation and grammar, and accurate information) Level: 8 Evidence on which the assessment is based I have achieved a high mark for all the reports, which I have written for my university. One of those reports was related to business law in which made use of a variety of references and lawyers’ terminologies. I received 72% marks on the report. I also made a report on principles of marketing in which I was required to use detailed information and had to look for all sorts of spelling and grammar errors. C). Using charts, diagrams and other illustrations to support interpersonal communication (Competency means ability to use accurate images which should be appropriate to the topic and audience) Level: 7 Evidence on which the assessment is based As the marketing intern, I created a report, which showed the company how I was able to analyse the current promotion mix. I also showed whether this was working for the company or not. I made use of software to develop histograms and bar charts, which revealed the company’s promotional mix and its effects on the company. The managers were satisfied with the report as I effectively showed them the weaknesses in their current promotional mix and recommended the essential changes to the strategy. D). Finding information from written sources (competency means the ability to select appropriate sources and extract relevant information from those sources) Level: 9 Evidence on which the assessment is based It was the Principles of marketing module that required me to provide various sources of information for my report. I needed to look at various websites such as Google and Emerald for delivering a sound explanation of the environment in which the companies operated and for obtaining the information of the marketing strategies and issues related to those companies. 2. Team Work A). Being involved in the collaborative team efforts (Competency means the ability to ensure clear goals and objectives to all team members, getting awareness of the responsibilities, and taking appropriate actions to complete the tasks and make the reports). Level: 6 Evidence on which the assessment is based To me, one of the most important modules was Marketing management. In this module, I was required to build a logical understanding of a marketing firm and conduct the environmental analysis of the firm. I also developed a 5-year marketing plan for the firm. Being the team leader, I took my time to understand the strength and weaknesses of my team-members. This made me enhance my leadership and management skills as I delegated tasks appropriately and took on the responsibility of bringing the entire management report together. B). Establishing and maintaining supportive working relationships and agreeing changes to achieve the desired set of objectives (Competency means the ability to organise and carrying out tasks effectively and efficiently) Level: 6 Evidence on which the assessment is based: As a sales advisor, I was able to work with a team of eight members, which had set quarterly targets to achieve. It was basically an assignment and we were required to enhance our group working skills and abilities. Although we came under several disagreements during work, yet we succeeded in completing the task within time. We were able to meet every target successfully due to my excellent interpersonal skills and friendly approach. 3. Improving self learning and performance A) Agreeing on the targets to be achieved and planning how these targets would be met (Competency in this case means the ability to seek information on ways to achieve what we want to do, to identifying those factors that have the ability to affect our plans, and to match realistic targets with appropriate people to manage the time effectively) Level: 8 Evidence on which the assessment is based: As I was a marketing Intern, I was asked to prepare a sound marketing plan, which should focus the company’s strategy to expand its current client base. For this task, I had to research the company in order to know the potential customers of the company while bringing in new clients for the company. I was able to gain 5 clients within the first month and with the help of my team members, I devised a sound promotion for the company. I gave myself enough time to conduct the research, which allowed me to prepare a well-structured marketing plan for the company. B) Providing the marketing plan to the company and seeking feedback from the most relevant sources to meet the desired targets (Competency means the ability to manage the time effectively by revising the plan when necessary, using feedback and support from relevant sources to meet the targets, and selecting and using different ways of learning to improve the performance and meet new demands) Level: 8 Evidence on which the assessment is based: I was undergoing 6 examinations and along with that, I was completing two individual assignments last year. The only way I knew I could achieve a high grade on all of these was by organizing my time and tasks in an appropriate manner. 4. Problem Solving A). Defining the problem (Competency means the ability to identify the problem, to explore and establish main features of the problem, and to agree with the conditions for a successful solution) Level: 7 Evidence on which the assessment is based: As the Team Leader at Westminster, I solved various database problems by advising my manager on the use of different forms of Html coding. As a marketing intern, I also had to understand that the company’s current promotional techniques were not successful and I needed to come up with a strong and effective promotional strategy for the firm. I introduced the concept of direct mail, which required me to send specific letters to various business clients. I was able to make the strategy successful to some extent through my understanding of business-to-business marketing. B). Identifying the solutions (Competency means the ability to consider a range of solutions and to select the most appropriate solution from the available solutions) Level: 7 Evidence on which the assessment is based: Transcribing was one of the jobs I had undertaken for 5 months. Transcribing for PhD students required a lot of responsibility. I felt it to be profitable to me and being self- employed, this gave me the opportunity to become a self- motivated individual. I had to follow strict deadlines, as my clients were PhD students who were paying me for the service. I was able outsource my work to those countries where the cost of work was low. I was able to make money not only for myself but also for the individuals who worked for me. This allowed me to meet deadlines, increase customer trust, and generate more work. C). Carrying out solutions (Competent means the ability to devise a plan for carrying out the solution, to obtain agreement for required resources, and to carry out the plan) Level: 6 Evidence on which the assessment is based: I outsourced some of my work by making few calls to the people who were not only interested in making money but also who had completed some research based work in the past. I was able to judge them based on the amount of time that they would be able to put in and also on the amount of money they were asking for. It was really a very interesting process for me as I was able to apply my business skills into context and generate money. I needed to check on the progress of my workers on a regular basis. I made an agreement with them that I would pay them only if they meet the deadlines. D). Evaluating outcomes (Competent means the ability to evaluate outcomes against agreed conditions for success, to evaluating methods, and to review the implementation plan and procedures) Evidence on which the assessment is based: Level: 7 I was working on a marketing plan for an international firm while studying International Marketing at the university. I was also introducing various strategies for the company for making the company achieve its objectives in the future. I needed to conduct both an internal and external analysis for the company and I had to evaluate whether my strategy was the right one for the company or it needed some change. For that reason, I visited the company twice and consulted the issues with one of the managers. This allowed me to understand more about the company’s organisational culture. 7. Leadership A).Organizing others to achieve goals (Competency means the ability to identify appropriate goals, to identify individual competence, and to allocate tasks to appropriate people to achieve those goals) Level: 8 Evidence on which the assessment is based: While working for the University of Westminster I was in charge of advising the students on several Undergraduate and Postgraduate open days. This required working as a team with my colleagues in order provide the new students with the help and advice they needed. It required complete understanding of the university in order to answer all sorts of queries. B). Motivating others in the group (competency means the ability to understand individuals’ drives, to providing appropriate incentives, and to rewarding the individuals appropriately) Level: 8 Evidence on which the assessment is based: I was working for several NGO’s on behalf of my school during my time at High school. Along with three other students, I was organizing various sports events for children who were not able to attend the school. My other team members were no enthusiastic and motivated as I was. Therefore, in order to make my efforts successful, I motivated them to work with me and make the fun program and the sports events successful. C). Giving feedback to the group (Competency means the ability to provide constructive feedback on group and individual performances against targets and to identify areas for improvement) Level: 7 Evidence on which the assessment is based: When I was studying organisational behaviour, I was left with a group who was not able to understand some issues related to the module. I used to sit down with that group a week before the deadline and explain them the concepts related to organizational behaviour. I made every effort to make their concepts strong about all issues and problems that they had in their minds. My efforts resulted in a success and we were able to achieve 70% marks in the module. Reflective statement of skills and experience Working for different charitable organisations during my time at high school has revealed to me the importance of helping others. I understood it better at the university when I studied the importance corporate social responsibility in business and the reasons for incorporating corporate social responsibility in businesses. I was able to develop my self-awareness skills, which played a crucial role throughout my time at university. I am a hard working and talented individual, and this was demonstrated when I transcribed for several PhD students. It was a task, which required perfection and dedication. Interpersonal skills play an important role in marketing. I was able to communicate with several clients working as a marketing intern. My primary responsibility was to assist the marketing manager in carrying out different business activities such as setting prices. I was responsible for managing the market research programme and developing the promotional campaign. I managed the promotional campaign and coordinated production of promotional material. I also analysed sales data, analysed prices of products, and competitor prices using MS Excel. All of these responsibilities played a vital role in enhancing my confidence and communication skills. Reflective Statement on Presentation Series Lecture 1: This lecture helped me understand various options related to job search. I worked throughout the summer searching for a job, so I knew the importance of regular job search. This lecture proved to be a great source of help for me in carrying out a successful job search. Lecture 2: It was related to development of communication skills. This lecture focused on the skills that are needed when a person goes for the interviews. I took huge interest in this lecture because I really wanted to get a job. In this lecture, I was taught the importance of interview preparation and confidence that I must while going for an interview. Lecture 3: This lecture was also important because it helped me understand the importance of psychometric testing. As we know that, at present, most of the employers use these tests to measure abilities, knowledge, attitudes, and personal traits of the candidates applying for the job, so this was a vital opportunity for me to apply for me to prepare for these kinds of tests. Lecture 4: This lecture focused on the hidden job opportunities available to graduates. I had already understood this because I found my internship through hidden job market. As my internship program was one, which I found through the hidden job market. Lecture 5: In this lecture, we discussed the opportunities, which a student may have if he works in non-profit sector. The vital key I felt was that any individual could work in this sector as long as the individual is outgoing, confident, and can speak fluently because building contacts and networking are two of the most important factors for the success of the individuals who work in this sector. The lecture also discussed the importance of further studies in an individual’s life. This was interesting for me as I have plans to get a master degree in future. Cv Attached Cover Letter Ataached Evidence of Job application This one you have to apply on your own to whichever company you want Permanent Contact Details Form for supplying permanent contact details for following up your career path and employment. (Blackboard) First name: Family name: Student registration number: Degree course taken: Dates: Permanent address from which you can be contacted over the next few years (CAPITAL LETTERS): Permanent landline telephone numbers from which you can be contacted over the next few years include country code where relevant: Landline: Mobile telephone number: Email address: Receipt of the Feedback Form Attached References Not required for personal development plan Read More