Professional Skills and Acquiring Knowledge - Assignment Example

Professional Skills and Acquiring Knowledge Table of contents: 1. Professional Skills and Acquiring Knowledge 2. Information Security in the 21st Century 3. A Personal SWOT Analysis 4. Presenting to an Employer 5. Works Cited 6. Appendices Often, the expression professional skills fall synonymous with acquiring knowledge. This is a rather narrow scope to some more in depth and deeper aspects of both the terms. When looking at a term such as ‘Professional Skills’ it can be described in various ways. The entire spectre of a person’s ability to perform successfully at their work can be accounted under ‘Professional Skills’. Acquiring knowledge on a subject may also be accounted for being a part of professional skills, but merely knowing a subject well cannot be accounted for being the factor to judge a person’s professional ability. A professional has skills beyond mere knowledge of their subject and ability to reciprocate to the literary and practical works of that field. A person’s ‘professional skills’ indicate to how well they are capable of performing duties. Managing time, workplace ethics and developing skills with time is a part of a person’s ‘professional skills’. The necessary attributes of a person’s professional abilities are can be encompassed and judged on their progress with time. Working on a subject for a substantial period of time in itself cannot guarantee a high degree of professional skills; it depends on how well they have performed in their duties. The correct judgement of professional skills can be defined by how well a person has adapted and improved after working. This strive for betterment of a person for more scope and performing beyond the scope of their peers and colleagues can be called ‘professional development’. Professional development is the process a person can gain professional skills, a progressive process that initiates from an urge to do better than their competition. This can be summed up as “A wide variety of people, such as teachers, military officers and non-commissioned officers, health care professionals, lawyers, accountants and engineers engage in professional development. Individuals may participate in professional development because of an interest in lifelong learning, a sense of moral obligation, to maintain and improve professional competence, enhance career progression, keep abreast of new technology and practice, or to comply with professional regulatory organizations.” (Jasper 44 - 6). Understanding a person’s need for personal development and professional skills, we come to yet another relative comparison between acquiring knowledge and professional skills. This comparison is on the view of how important acquiring knowledge is to personal or professional development. Acquiring knowledge can be considered the key element of personal development and the further honing of professional skills. The knowledge a student acquires during the course of their education is vital for their profession, while professional skills and personal development can be considered the amalgamation of using the gained knowledge in an effective and judicious manner in order to sustain and grow in a profession. Thus, we can sum up that while acquiring knowledge is a part of being a professional, there are more key elements of being professionally skilled. II Information Security in the 21st Century In the turn of the millennia, we came into what is dubbed today as ‘The Information Age’. Almost everything that is taking place in the fields of commerce, politics, economics, science and technology, today relies on regular updates and share of knowledge and how good the information available is. Today, after we have understood that is the cheap global communication medium called the internet and all integrated documents that are regularly travelling miles within fractions of a second; we have also seen the grim picture. Information being the necessary sanction of freedom of knowledge, it also requires to be secured when necessary. Free information that educate does not require protection, it is the private documents and communication between individuals and their easily accessible existence in cyberspace that do indeed need security. Communicating over the internet is cheap and fast, but sensitive information must be protected and monitored by and Information Security expert. The entire idea of protecting data comes from the need to be able to safely do business regardless of size. The BSc (Hons) Information Security course that I am currently studying is concerned only in protecting all private and sensitive information. “Risk management is the process of identifying vulnerabilities and threats to the information resources used by an organization in achieving business objectives, and deciding what countermeasures, if any, to take in reducing risk of an acceptable level, based on the value of the information resource to the organization.” (ISACA, 85) In many of the developing nations of the world today, little about the subject is understood or sought after. Information security itself does not hold much meaning to people unless well the work that falls under the field of information security is categorically defined. Even though I come from a developing country myself, the younger generations of Saudi Arabia have higher aspiration and have a better grip on aims and objectives in education. Thus, in spite of facing a certain degree of handicap in communication, I have opted to continue my further education abroad. University of Wales, and the Newport School of Business have given me this opportunity of studying and acquiring professional ability in the field of Information Security. The subjects I will study and have been studying under this course are: Year 1 •  Computer Forensics •  Computer Systems •  Network Fundamentals •  Professional Skills •  Software Development 1 •  Database Development Year 2 •  Project Management •  Operating Systems •  E-Crime •  Network Technology •  Legislative & Ethical Issues •  Security Management Year 3 •  Network Security •  Cryptology •  Operating Systems Security •  Penetration Testing •  Dissertation / Project Of the aforementioned topics that I will be educated on in the next 3 years, I have so far studied the basic foundations to these subjects, i.e. Computer Forensics, Computer Systems and Network Fundamentals. However, I find that including ‘Professional Skills’ as an individual and practical part of the program itself is a great sign of proper education. A professional cannot be complete merely by the strength of his proficiency in the subject, but also needs to understand the importance in gaining the necessary integral attributes to make it easier to retain jobs and perform their duties with proficiency. On the question that is part of this module, I have been asked to discuss whether my current course is education, training, CPD, PDP, SML? Here I would explain that after my discussion on how I understand ‘Professional Skills’; my present course is both at a stage training and PDP. While The PDP is a necessary part of any proper educational course, the Professional Skills module particularly guides me to understanding and systematically mapping my aims and career path successfully. This part of my course will ensure that I set my career objectives correctly. III A Personal SWOT Analysis A personal SWOT analysis is disheartening at this moment because of a certain number of problems that happen to affect a foreign student over domestic individuals. With my acumen in the language of this entire course is rather limited in its scope, there is a huge communication gap between me and both my educators as well as my peers. To study the subject successfully, I do need to study mathematics well, but I also need to understand the language better. In so far, I have not been very capable on my results after diligent effort. This analysis comes from not only my grades, which I feel have a need of a lot of improvement; but can also be derived from the fact that I have not been able to open up the channels of communication better for improvement in my professional abilities. Systematically breaking up my SWOT analysis: Strength: Currently, I cannot show much support on encompassing my strengths due to the basic major weaknesses. However, my biggest strength is my determination and alertness towards the curriculum realizing my disadvantages. My second biggest strength is the inspiration I take from the basic realization that very few opportunities of studying such interesting and technically challenging subjects exist in my native country. I wish use the inspiration to help in my nation’s development. Weakness: Presently, my biggest weakness is the fact that there is a language barrier I have to overcome above my regular curriculum. I feel that understanding and educating oneself on any language is much more difficult than merely academics which I have already gained some knowledge in. Opportunities: The opportunities that present itself during and after this course are in fact endless. A field in business related intricately with technology, the future use of my knowledge gained in the course of this degree will give me a way of helping my country advance better into the dynamics of modern commerce and science. With very few individuals available in my native country who are thoroughly educated on this particular subject altogether, I will have numerous opportunities after successfully completing my course. Threats: Currently, there are two major threats that lie on the path to my success. Primarily, the challenge in my linguistic incapability may be more taxing on me under the steadily developing and increasing pressure of the syllabus itself. Secondly, I find that the lack of communicative ability may be hindering my fair opportunities of socializing and hence better developing my professional and personal interaction skills. < Note: You will have to fill this part yourself. Write down your results so far subject-wise and module-wise. Do not go much into discussion, but using about 100 words, give your current scores mentioning the exam or test and the score. This will also mean adding the relevant scores to the appendices at the end > III My Personal Motivation for this Course The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is yet a developing nation. It is rapidly progressing towards a fast and competitive tomorrow and ready to face the global contests. An important part of this means developing a more modern curriculum of study and a better generation of technologically and contemporarily efficient and fluent individuals. I intend to be a part of this new progressive generation that will succeed in bringing new light of progress and modernity to my country. When my native country does develop into a global competitor instead of being merely a competing nation as it is currently, I hope to be involved intricately in the process and participate in providing my country with my contribution to its success. Particularly vital is my scoring high in this Degree, to bring inspiration to the younger generations to broaden their scopes and horizons and give them more options to help participate in the development of our nation. There is a pertinent question as a part of the questionnaire that asks me to discuss my future assessment and goals of a ‘job’. Here, I would like to express that getting a ‘job’ is not within my primary objectives at the current moment. I believe in steady progress, and I intend to learn the subject I present well and gain enough proficiency in the subject so as to be professionally capable of performing anywhere. With that being said on the immediate future thoughts on my career path, I would like to discuss that more philosophical aspect of my far future career goals. Career is the ultimate path any individual studying and developing in a subject attains or wishes to follow. Currently, my major concerns are in gaining expertise on the subject of Information Security over merely running after a job, this is because more opportunities await for those who gain more knowledge before implementing it. In the future, I wish to be able to use my knowledge in the service of my nation. Whichever field and location I wish to develop and practice my career goals in, I wish to provide development and of course security in view of my subject. IV Presenting to an Employer The key step to provide my employer with my abilities will not be presented on my mark sheet, but on my performance. I currently do have language problem, so definitely that will be an issue of concern when I seek to provide my employer with a satisfactory assurance. However, I would try to the best of my abilities to provide my employer a clear presentation of my skills rather than advocate my score sheets. I feel it is a form of unspoken bias that many people face in a foreign nation. Speaking a language fluently seems to be the scale by which someone’s potency is measured. Hence, I agree to “The capacities of individuals depended on their access to education” (Kelly) and add to that access to education must be combined with equal acceptance of another nation’s individuals’ skills to truly be a situation of profit for all. In the light of such an important part of my career needing more attention, I will have to double my efforts into a combining experience of gaining ability to secure information and present my skills and abilities or communicate with ease with my peers and seniors. The major crux in my situation currently lies with being unable to manage encompassing education on digital security and language skill development under one roof. As it so happens, that mathematics is a language that is universal, unlike linguistics. Thus, I still feel considerably in need of further developing my personal and professional skills to high degree besides merely gaining a degree and technical knowledge. I have presented a CV within the current scope of my abilities in the appendices, (Appendix II). Works Cited ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association) CISA Review Manual 2006. USA: ISACA. 2006. Print Jasper, Melanie. Vital Notes for Nurses: Professional development, reflection, and decision- making. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2006. Print. Kelly, D. J. “Dual Perceptions of HRD: Issues for Policy: SME's, Other Constituencies, and the Contested Definitions of Human Resource Development.” University of Wollongong : July, 2001 Web. 13th Dec. 2010 ____________________________________________________________________________ These I cannot do for you as you have the material. Read More