Development Needs Analysis - Essay Example

College: Development Needs Analysis Introduction With job standards and competition increasing in the market it is very essential that any business academic who is deemed to be a professional, be heads up and have frequent assessments of their skills and make plans of developing them. Basically, this paper is a comprehensive assessment of the level of skills that Student A has proposing a few ways that they can be developed and put out a ‘strategic plan’ for his development and that he can achieve his key goal. Background Personal goals are very important and should have a particular platform under which they are based; for instance on can take Richman’s notion of making them S-M-A-R-T (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-orientated, 2011). Significantly, Student A had a fast food business and is looking to taking a shift after completion of his degree in Business Degree where he hopes to be a financial Analyst after a certain period. Strategic Learner Realizing one-self is a vital factor especially when one wants to be successful; typically, one should know the kind of person they are and what style and mode of learning fits them best. Considerably, the best methods which are applicable when it comes to interpreting of information are through visual, audio and kinesthetic methods and this can go hand in hand with reflection, experience, theories and experiments (Fleming and Mills, 1992: Kolb, 1984). Student A learns most out of seeing and activity, as from the results which he should put much into so that they can impact his life as an academic and a professional. Any good learner with a strategy will identify specific methods (one of them being a main method) that they will use for their personal learning experience and simply apply these methods with Kolb’s cycle. From this a lot can be achieved including Student As goals and aims in both worlds (academic and professional). Moreover, the mindset of a person also matters in any learning situation and a matter of fact the best mind set is one that has room for growth and not the fixed mindset (Carol 2007). In this case, Student A must have a growth- mindset that will help him overcome the different difficulties and challenges in different situations i.e. he can acquire more knowledge out of the normal class/school setting and read further about the current trends of the business world and this will have a great impact and be part of the learning process. Student A will be in a better position if he is able to learn independently and the growth mindset will be easily developed; all the same, this will involve seeing the teacher after class or before for consultation, guidance and feedback. Significantly, there are merits that Student A has like his problem solving and investigating skills that are essential when it comes to independent study but his poor skills in time management and planning might be a big hindrance to his development as a strategic learner. Being a financial analyst requires a lot and for Student A to be successful he must have a lot of self-awareness and high emotional intelligence which he will be likely to apply in most of his working situations. Self awareness and emotional intelligence are applied in social and professional behavior through displaying high levels of maturity and consideration of the people one is working with, respecting both these people and also the cultures of these environments despite the diversity. By and large, Student A must be alert in all the relative areas reflected in his learning journal, core skills and personal SWOT analysis portraying high level of confidence and put into action an active learning style. However, he must also observe his weaknesses and not let them take the best of opportunities or affect his learning and development. Skills Analysis Student A’s has high mark when it comes to his core skills through experiences and a lot of developments that have helped him in analysis; all the same, through the SWOT analysis the threats still set act as a barrier to his goal achievement. For starters, he needs to develop his management skills that will act as a basis for the development of the rest of his skills and also facilitate his success. Mind mapping as indicated from the learning journal is of great in planning concepts and ideas to address and it will definitely assist Student A in written communication skills which is one of his weak points. Incorporation of most of these steps into his studies and development of the preparation skills will positively affect both his academic and professional lives through planning which will eliminate most of the barriers of study and work. Student A should plan for his general life and not his studies alone by making sure that he tackles one task at time, finish each before going the other; this will assist in the development of the professional attitude. Appreciably, administering his own business has provided student A with a great environment where he can develop his leadership and teamwork skills preparing him for the job market and giving him a better chance in his career. Considerably, it is paramount that Student A be keen enough to start taking steps of making these developments as soon as possible as time is running out especially regarding that there are things that he is expected to achieve. Additionally, another factor that might be of great help to Student A is taking up a role in a group, particularly a less authoritative one so that he will be able to make the necessary observations that will assist him in leadership and also working with people. In groups, people are able to understand each other’s feelings and for leaders, how they would supposedly a person would feel if they told them to do a certain thing in a particular way. Generally, this will create Student A’s awareness of other people emotional statures which will have an overall impact on him as leader and will challenge him to think more about his actions and how they would cause unpleasant reactions. Furthermore, it will help him as a leader revise and even re-theorize how to approach some of these situations trending with a lot of caution. Conclusion The strategy set out for Student A can act as a stepping stone for him as he aims at developing as a strategic learner and to achieve his upfront goal and objective of becoming a financial analyst in a reputable financial establishment in earning up to over forty thousand pounds by August 2015. In relation to this, emotional intelligence is a key aspect that most employers evaluate today and for Student A, he has proven that he can have no challenge when working with a team by being emotionally intelligent, self aware and careful calculation of his actions and responses understanding how vital they are to his professional career. A new found self-awareness combined with an ability to manage his time and plan effectively will prove to be the keys to display his other skills he has already developed through work and academia. Personal Development Plan Name Student A Covering the period from October 2011 To: August 2015 My Goals: Attaining a job as a financial analyst in a respected and well established financial organization earning a salary of over 40,000 pounds. What do I want/ need to learn? What will I do to achieve this? What resources or support will I need? What will my success criteria be? Target dates for review and completion. How have I chosen these dates? Graduate with a First class honors degree in Global and Business Management which will help to be at an advantage in the job market. Follow up to the last step of my coursework before the set deadline attending all classes. Produce the best quality work Go a step further by reading more articles on Global Business Management Following up with my tutors for feedback and making the necessary corrections Family and friends support for the course completion Putting my education first before business Classifying my degree immediately after graduation Review Dates: August 2012 (an year after joining to make sure everything is according to plan) August 2013 (Evaluation, correction and developments). May 2014 (completion of the course) CFA Levels 1 &2 completion where I will have a better chance when finishing for a job since I will stand out from the rest of my peers. Apply for CFA course work hard and try to understand most of it before the exams where I put all I can to pass Acquire guidance from tutors who have a lot of experience in the course and possibly ask one to act as my mentor and see me through the whole process Attain my level 1 & 2 CFA certificates for the better good Review Dates: August 2012 After the summer exams for CFA August 2013 After the following years summer exams for CFA Read More