Spirituality, Religion and Career Development - Essay Example

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN Introduction People develop an interest in different activities and pursue them in order to make and improve the general welfare in life. These activities are diverse, and the motivation to pursue either is them varies from one person to another. These activities form a person’s career, which he has to develop and interest and passion for it from a tender age. The journey into a person’s particular is characterised by different stages, which have to be effectively worked out in order to have an excellent and promising career. Having the dream of an excellent career is not the key to having a successful life in future. One has to follow the right strategies towards reaching that career. One has to attend training and learn all the different perspectives and requirements needed to pursue and succeed in that career. Schooling is an important step that make some understand the historical, current as well as future trends in a certain career (Duffy, 2006, p. 55-7). This way, one is able to reshape and his realign his dreams and find the much-needed motivation to pursue the dream to accomplishment. Mentorship plays an important role in enabling one to create important goals and objectives, and plan on methods to pursue them. The attainment of particular set goals and objectives should always pave way for one to set other goals that are much advanced from the previous goals. A good career provides a reliable and favourable opportunity for a person to actualize his dream. In order to ascertain whether your dreams are being met, it is important o have a plan upon which one can always confirm about the particular progress. This plan is usually referred to as a personal development plan; it usually guides one into achievement of the specific set targets in the line of career and other related aspects. The Personal Development plan Public relations I have chosen to pursue a career in public relations, an area that mostly requires spreading of information between an individual or organisation and the public. Public relations is an important practice in business organizations, public and private institutions as well as the public sector. In the career, a practitioner has to gain necessary and reliable exposure to their targeted audience using topics of public interest and different news items that may not necessarily require direct payment. In a company and other business related practices, public relations is aimed at passing information that is aimed at persuading public investors, partners, employees as well as other stakeholders to maintain a certain perspective about its methods of management, goods and services as well as approaches to trade. In addition, the information passed across could also include leadership styles and models, political decisions and other important aspects that makes the company or business remain relevant in the market environment In order to use public relations to achieve the fore mentioned objectives and more, communications about the particular company or organisation are usually done in conferences, seminars or within the particular institution. My Goals and objectives in public relations Working as a public relations has been my dreams for many years, this has made me to look for all the possible means in order to acquire this opportunity. I have always ante to travel an offer my professionalism and expertise in many industries and companies across many nations. One of my goals in public relations has been working in an international business firm, to this effect I have made various developments in the same. For instance, I have undertaken different short courses to boost my skills in different related aspects to enhance my effectiveness and efficiency in my career. I undertook a three months course in an English course at Lancaster University, in order to perfect my skills in spoken as well as written English. This way, I am sure I will be interacting with different people from different places of the world and share information effectively in English. Internationally English is the most prevalent language, and hence learning it is simply a way of underpinning my prospects of success in my public relations career.   In addition, another goal that I have which I believe will be vital in my career is creating a network of important people who can influence various positive practices in the society. This will help me towards impacting the society positively, in order to do this, I have also undertaken a course in communication and writing in order to effective pass both written and spoken communication. I understand that formal communication on an international platform follows certain laid down procedures that have to be followed by public relation practitioners. Different countries or language have certain preferences for formats and style in formal communication, I believe that the course that I have undertaken at the University of Bedfordshire will acquaint me with these important skills. Interacting with people in a foreign language requires that one learns and understands the culture of those people in order to interact with them effectively. Since, it has been my endeavor to be culturally competent; I have also undertaken a three months course at the University of Bedfordshire. I have taken time to learn about language, values as well as some of the important perspectives of the British on different aspects of social interaction. By learning the British culture I am in a better position to initiate discussions and interact with different people effectively. Evaluation of my personal Development plan I have been taking a regular personal assessment about my development plan in order to know the effectiveness of my progress. This is the reason why I have been doing studies and engaging in different activities that can help me reach and attain my career. I have been successful in different aspects in my personal development plan and at the same time, there are still other areas that require improvement in order to be successful in my public relations practice. In terms of areas that I have achieved some levels of excellence, I have managed to create a network of friends who have been instrumental in helping me learn about important practices of the British people. My dream of studying and working in British has made me look for all the possible ways by which I can actualize my dream as a public relations officer. At the same time, I have been able to get some mentors who have opened my thinking about my career as well as other important aspects of international public relations practice. It is through mentorship that I have developed intrinsic motivations towards Public relations. The short courses that I have undertaken in different universities have been essential in enabling to not only learn about different practices related to public relations and my career, but also to interact and increase my base of friends. I have been able to developed important relationships with not only British nationals, but also other students who have also come to undertake their studies in Britain for their different careers, this has made me to become cross-culturally competent, and able to effectively practice public relations. However, I have not been successful in securing places for internship so that I can start practicing my skills in public relations. This may have been contributed by lack of awareness about some of the best institutions to approach for possible vacancies and opportunities in my career. In order to counter this challenge, I decided to get a mentor who would guide me towards my journey in this field. So far, I have been able to get important information about how to make an effective hunt for some of the possible opportunities. In addition, I have undertaken a course in ICT at the University of Bedfordshire. Learning ICT computer development has been important in enabling me to not only understand computer application in public relations, but also to know how to search for opportunities in the same field. It is important to understand that current development in information and technology has seen many careers rely on this technology to improve their effectiveness and efficiency in product development and marketing. I hope to use computer skills to know the different methods that are used in different organizations to enhance effectiveness I the public relation practices. At the same time, I hope to be better placed to use this technology to link up with other resourceful persons and organizations in the same field. Skills learnt in my personal development plan I have been able to develop various skills which I am sure will be vital in attaining success and effective performance in my career. For instance, I have learnt important communication skills, both written and communication. I have improved in my grammar as well as different aspects of formal written English, being able to initiate conversation and establish networks and important partnership. I have acquired skills in socialization and teamwork through interacting with different people during the short courses that I have been undertaking in different universities. I understand that effective public relations in organizations require that a person knows how to interact and deal with different people from different places. Through my teamwork skills, I will be better placed to coordinate other people in my career to achieve set goals and objectives. In addition, I have developed effective people skills, which is an important requirement for public relations. This means that I can easily work with different people in my career, I can effectively solve problems within my control and use better alternatively in addressing those beyond my control through referral to reliable authorities (Gagne & Deci 2005, p. 332-4). Since working in public relations requires interacting with different people in particular industries, I am better placed to create working relationships with different people and institutions in order to achieve required goals and objectives. Important lessons about myself In my personal development planning, I have discovered that I am a fast learner and can easily comprehend new skills and knowledge. This has made me learn and understand different things about effective practice of public relations; I have also been in a position to effectively implement different approaches towards effective practices in public relations. I have set new goals to achieve to address some of the challenges that I feel are still unaddressed and can easily determine my level of effectiveness in public relations. This includes creating social networks on social media so that I can be better placed to learn about new opportunities in public relations in Britain. In addition, I will also be better placed to apply and attend interviews through this platform, since most international companies have reliable infrastructure to use it. I look forward to perfecting all areas that are important towards achievement of goals in my career as well as other life endeavors. I will continue to reevaluate my personal development plan and make possible amendments where necessary until I achieve my destined career. Bibliography Duffy, R. D. 2006, Spirituality, religion and career development: Current status and future directions. Career Development Quarterly, Vol 55. No. 2, pp. 52-53. Gagne, M & Deci, E. L. 2005, Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol 26. No. 1, pp. 331-362 Read More