A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Personal Growth - Assignment Example

Self-Appraisal Report BBB3002 Co-operative Education 2 ID Number: COMPULSORY DECLARATION Plagiarism means using another person’s intellectual output and presenting it (without appropriate acknowledgement of the author or source) as one’s own. Plagiarism constitutes academic misconduct. Where there are reasonable grounds for believing that this has occurred, disciplinary procedures as outlined in the Policy for Academic Honesty and Preventing Plagiarism will be instituted. PLEASE TICK TO INDICATE THAT YOU HAVE SATISFIED THESE REQUIREMENTS- I have read the policy on Academic Honesty and Preventing Plagiarism and the relevant referencing guides (or have had this explained to me by my teachers) and understand the consequences of committing academic misconduct as outlined in the policy. This assignment is my own work, I have not participated in collusion, nor have I previously submitted this or a version of it for assessment in any other Unit of Study at the University or any other institution without having obtained the approval of the teacher. I have taken proper and reasonable care to prevent this work from being copied by another student. So that the assessor can properly assess my work, I give this person permission to act according to University policy and practice to reproduce this work and provide a copy to another member of staff for the purpose of cross checking and moderation and to take steps to authenticate the assessment, including submitting a copy to a checking/detection system that in turn may retain a copy of this work on a database for future checking. I have carefully read the assessment criteria that will be used to evaluate my work as given below - I certify that the statements I have attested to above have been made in good faith and are true and correct. I also certify that this is my work and that I have not plagiarized the work of others and not participated in collusion. Signed: ____________________________________________ Name: Date: Word Count: Summary This report provides a comprehensive evaluation of my growth with regard to technical, personal and professional skills in the course of my internship or co-operative education experience. The report is divided into three principal categories including an introduction segment, self-appraisal section, and finally, the conclusion and recommendations part. The introduction highlights the overall importance of co-operative education experience and the principal components of the report. The appraisal segment analyses the skills and experience I developed through my work-integrated experience, while integrating viable academic resources regarding the subject. The conclusion part summarises findings, indicating that the cooperative education experience can be improved through specificity and proper delineation of internship learning objectives. Table of Contents Summary ii Introduction 1 Self-Appraisal 1 Skills and Experience Relevant to my Career Goals 3 Future Plans 5 Conclusions and Recommendations 5 Bibliography 7 Introduction Learning in the realm of academia does not only entail comprehension of theoretical concepts, but also practical lessons. The latter are best attained through experiential learning, in school in the course of practical sessions, and during industrial attachment or internships. In addition, for a learner to achieve success in his or her prospective career, it is crucial to embrace every available opportunity in order for one to increase awareness about the actual work environment. This self-appraisal report details work experience aspects, and the relevance of my restaurant work experience to my area of specialty, career prospects, and professional, as well as, personal skill development. The principal conclusion drawn from the self-evaluation is that, the restaurant internship in which I engaged gave me personal insight into my field of study and added to my personal and professional skills. Future plans, therefore, revolve around gaining more work experience, in an effort to streamline my career path and gain competitive advantage over prospective competitors in my field. Self-Appraisal Students who seek to work towards qualifications in the hospitality industry such as culinary qualification, food and beverage management, or any other related hospitality field are required to acquire practical experience by completing internships successfully (Tovey, 2001, pp. 225-226). This undertaking, which is often supported by cooperative education programs, is highly instrumental in enabling hospitality scholars to gain insight into the functioning of the industry and how they can productively contribute to its development. The cooperative education program, which involves collaboration between an institution of higher learning and players in the industry, provides a platform for the latter to help students in the learning process (Rainsbury and Lay, 2002, pp.9-10). The program, in this case, gave me a unique opportunity not only to gain academic credit, but also to acquire practical hotel operation experience. Prior to enrolling for the internship program at the local restaurant, I was always under the impression that hospitality work simply involves preparing meals and serving customers. However, I came to realize that this was just part of a bigger operation. Initially, I found it difficult to arrive at work early enough, which consequently my ability to effectively handle my workload in the kitchen. My workplace supervisor and other members of staff encouraged me to arrive early, in order to ensure that they could rely on me and entrust me with significant responsibilities. After about a week, I increasingly improved to the extent of arriving earlier than other hotel workers, thus gaining the crucial skill of punctuality. I came to appreciate Jones and Quick’s (2007, p. 35) emphasis that, punctuality translates to dependability and is a rather vital trait of an intern in any environment. Further, in the course of my internship, I displayed enthusiasm for my job, which prompted my work supervisor to assign me more significant tasks, other than my original duties of a kitchen hand. For example, I was occasionally allowed to participate in preparation of recipes and meals. In addition, my willingness to work hard at basic tasks like cleaning, drying and stacking utensils led my supervisor and colleagues to the conclusion that, I am an exceptionally diligent worker. I also acquired team skills as I progressed with the practical learning process. Before the internship, I was primarily a team leader, focusing on instructing and guiding others. Therefore, although I wielded leadership skills, I was hardly a team player. The position as an intern enabled me to learn how to follow other people’s instructions and guidance, which is vital in hospitality management since operations are interlinked and largely depend on teamwork. In addition to punctuality, diligence and team skills, I also learnt about the importance of being well presented. Through my work supervisor’s and colleagues’ help, I gained the crucial skill of proper self-presentation. This is particularly useful when one is working with restaurant clients directly because it determines whether the customer comes back to the establishment or not. Working at the restaurant as an intern also improved my communication skills immensely. I was previously a poor communicator, failing to appreciate the importance of feedback and refraining from asking questions in situations where I did not understand instructions or procedures. However, after extensive interaction with the kitchen workers and other hotel staff, I increasingly learn the important aspects of productive communication. For instance, while observing the chef coordinating his assistants, I realized that communication skills are vital in ensuring timely preparation of quality meals. This is because, it only through communication that one can fully comprehend assembly, preparation and execution of menus. Despite the numerous skills and experience acquired during the internship, there are still aspects on which I intend to improve. For example, my acquired communication skills were primarily restricted to the kitchen environment. I hope to gain proper communication abilities related to customer service or client relations. I will strive to gain better communication experience in the field of customer service, by enrolling for another internship with principal focus on public relations. The other area I intend to improve is in procurement and supplies management. While working as a kitchen hand, I came to realize that skills in these areas are vital. This is because one is required to place comprehensive orders, which if altered or misunderstood can alter the rest of the restaurant operations. For example, if one places an order for specific ingredients or menu components and fails to follow up keenly, there could be wrong deliveries and consequent disruption of meal preparation and other restaurant activities. I also hope to improve my capacity in these areas through field-specific internship and practice sessions at the university. Skills and Experience Relevant to my Career Goals It was apparent from my restaurant internship that, this programme of supervised job experience is primarily designed to increase my career knowledge. The work-integrated programme played a significant role of preparing me for the hospitality industry work environment. This is because it helped me identify and develop the crucial competencies needed by prospective employers (Hodges and Burchell, 2003). I believe that the experience and skills I have acquired over time are applicable to my career goals. For example, there is adaptability which is essentially the capability to adjust to new environs and respond in a positive manner to emerging challenges. I acquired my ability to adapt through hard work both at the university and in the restaurant where I worked as an intern. Adaptability is pertinent to my career goals and professional development, since the skill will enable me to embrace new trends and accompanying challenges, in the ever changing hospitality industry. The other crucial skill I have acquired is awareness. I have developed this ability to acknowledge and appreciate other people’s opinions and cultures, through interacting with people from diverse backgrounds both at the university and at the restaurant. Awareness will come in handy, as it will enable me to work in different hospitality establishments despite the diversity of the locale and people. I can also not overlook language and communication skills and experience acquired in field of academics, as well as, during industrial attachment. Communication ability and language fluency will make it possible for me to establish social and professional networks with other people in the hospitality industry, thus enabling me to get career development opportunities whenever they arise. These skills will also be invaluable in enabling me to interact with people of all levels within any restaurant or hospitality establishment I work. Finally, the kitchen experience I acquired during my internship will play a significant role in enabling me to work in any commercial kitchen. Skills that characterize this experience range from basic food preparation to advanced cooking, sauce preparation or baking techniques. My kitchen experience also constitutes important factors such as maintenance of food safety, maintenance of kitchen equipment, staffing, and planning dishes or menus. With this experience, I think I will be better equipped than other job candidates to pursue a career in food and beverage management. Future Plans Even though I have gained immense knowledge from my internship and practically utilized concepts learnt in class, I intend to enhance the acquired skills and experience in future. For instance, I intend to apply for additional internships with specific focus on customer relations, in order to enhance my communication ability in this area. I will also seek to gain procurement and supply management skills in my next internship, in order to learn how to manage these aspects of food and beverage management. Improving on these skills will ensure that I become fully prepared for my career, as a food and beverage manager in a restaurant and possibly a restaurant business owner in the distant future. The work-integrated programme has contributed significantly to my progress, by giving me a platform to practice theoretical knowledge learnt at the university. I feel like I am now a competent hospitality scholar, with the skills and experience applicable to tasks I intend to undertake as a food and beverage manager in the future (Coll and Hodges, 2002, p.36). Conclusions and Recommendations Judging from the analysis of skills and experience acquired during internship, it is irrefutable that cooperative education plays a crucial role in enabling students to acquire crucial on-the-job knowledge. It is such practical experience that most employers in the hospitality industry look for in potential job candidates. These work-related programmes, therefore, accord scholars a unique opportunity to gain and develop skills relevant to their prospective careers. I am one of the hospitality scholars that have benefited immensely from the programme, since I presently know the exact career I aspire to pursue, as well as, the skills and experience that I should acquire, in order to succeed at these vocation prospects. However, as noted in the analysis, sometimes interns like me lack the opportunity to gain specific skills. This is primarily ascribable to lack of proper definition of internship duties and objectives. Such cases can be rectified by ensuring that, stakeholders in the cooperative education programme (the university and the firms offering internship), work together to develop comprehensive internship plans and learning objectives. Bibliography Coll, R., Zegward, K., and Hodges, D. 2002. Science and Technology Stakeholders’ ranking of graduate competencies part 2; students’ perspective. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 3(2), pp. 35-44. Hodges, D. and Burchell, N. 2003. Business graduate Competencies: Employers’ Views on Importance and Performance. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 4(2), pp. 16-22. Jones, J. and Quick, D. 2007. Cooperative education: An Educational Strategy with Links to Experiential and Connected Learning. Journal of Cooperative Education and Internships, 41(2), pp. 30-36. Rainsbury, E., Hodges, D., Burchell, N. and Lay, M. 2002. Ranking Workplace Competencies: Student and Graduate Perceptions. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 3(2), pp. 8-18. Tovey, J. 2001. Building connections between industry and university: implementing an internship program at a regional university. Technical Communication Quarterly, 10(2), pp. 225-240. Read More