Personal Career Plan - Coursework Example

Career plan Name Institution affiliation Write a short analysis on your planned career and propose where you intend your career to progress to over the next five years after graduation, in terms of role and organization. Identify five specific skills, capabilities, qualities or characteristics that you think that you will need to develop so as to achieve career advancement, or performance enhancement over the next five years after graduation. Career field Currently, I am a student taking business management with few months remaining before graduation. After graduation, I will move back to China. I haven’t decided on a particular area but am considering human resource management, sales, marketing and financial analyst job. Am more inclined towards human resource management since I like interacting with people and ensuring that there is a safe working environment for the staff. This field will also help me demonstrate my public relations skills I would also carry SWOT analysis (strength weaknesses opportunities and threats) so as to be the best when I apply as many job interviews. I would also compare my options depending on my preferences and find out the opportunities that are in the job market I will also set goals so as to achieve my preferred career, a human resource manager at China development bank. Short term goals (before graduation) Perform a high GPA in the remaining units to graduation to boost my overall grades this will enable me to be competitive in the job market which has a lot of candidates. Improve my public relations skills in order to ensure healthy relationships with co workers. Improve my public speaking skills to enable me articulate issues and to address my employer and other colleagues. Intermediate goals (first five years of working) Get an internship to give me good experience on the work regarding my career path. The internship is a good way to gain experience before getting a real job. It is also a channel of acquiring networks from the people working in the organization. Applying for job interviews from different companies until I find a favourable working condition and a good company where to work from this will give me knowledge on how to apply and also the requirements in the job market. Developing a good relationship with my coworkers this will ensure healthy working conditions in the company and smooth running of activities because when there are good relations in the work place people communicate effectively. Finding a mentor who will guide me on my career path and everything I need to know about the career and also who will mentor on investment and personal life. This will ensure I have good advice to guide in my daily activities. Long-term objectives (five years and beyond) Become more creative and innovative in my company for example come up with a new method of doing something in the company this will ensure that there is growth and advancement in technology of the company. Promotion to the managerial position. I plan on rising to the managerial position in the company within the first five years of working. To ensure this I have to show hard work and leadership qualities which I possess so as to ensure that I rise in position. Start my company which will deal with consultancy in my area of specialization which is management. I will offer these services to other companies and firms that need advice. Establish networks with other influential people in my career field. This will enable me to get better opportunities regarding my career for example jobs, consultations and promotions. The following qualities are necessary for achieving long-term goals Organization entails time management, organizing my files and works to help me achieve efficiency in planning recruitments’ and analysis of new employees and also stress management so that my personal life does not interfere with my work. Handling critical issues such as discrimination in the workplace, sexual harassment, embezzlements of funds by employees and all sorts of complaints from the personnel and solving them Negotiation skills that will help me improve my relations with my co-workers; discuss matters such as salary and the number of working hours. Communication skills are paramount to ensure smooth management of the organization Ability to manage change in an organization such as technological advancement and change in the management. Synthesize how you will, over a six-month period after graduation, use both formal learning and non-formal learning methods to realistically enable yourself to develop any 3 out of the 5 skills that you mentioned in a. above. You are required to use a reflective writing style to fully propose why you have selected these 3 specific learning methods. Organization In the formal learning method, I will create specific goals and list them, analyze disadvantages of disorganization such inappropriate use of time and advantages of being organized such as efficiency, time saving and production of quality work. I will design my organizational goals in such a way that it would be able to solve difficulties that may arise. After the goals, I would develop an assessment plan that will evaluate the level of organization and help improve on the shortcomings and improve my organization skills. In the informal learning method, I will improve my skills by practicing in many events such as workshops, seminars and trainings so that I can learn from experience, participating in mentorship programs which a mentor that can teach it, having sessions with my coworkers that discuss organizational skills and volunteering for leadership in some activities such as group meetings in the work place I can offer to lead a group. Communication Communication is the ability to transfer effectively valuable information from either employer to employee or between employees. It maybe verbal, non-verbal or written In the formal method, I will improve my communication skills by reading materials on how to enhance communication such as communication skills unit, attending public lectures, learning different appropriate presentation formats to pass the message effectively, familiarizing myself with public speaking methods through sources and improve my writing skills for example through writing of articles. Identifying barriers to good communication for example distractions and try as best to prevent them. In the informal method, I will improve my communication by taking up challenges such public speaking, providing forums where workers can express themselves, encouraging the use of social media where the employees can comment and give criticism. Change management Change management involves flexibility to deal with changing situations. It ensures integration of change into the organization for its benefit. I will learn and improve on my change management capability by using formal and informal learning methods. Formally I will assess the environment which includes customers, competitors, and investor. Evaluate for resistance to the change such as lack of participation from the employees; formulate ways of reducing the resistance by encouraging participation, setting goals that are smart, assessing necessary training for the change, planning change that may be beneficial to the organization. Through the informal learning process, I will improve in my change management skills by participating in the process of embracing and implementing change in the institution, providing accurate information to workers at the right time, implementing the change and following up on the impact of the change to ensure that everyone is able to cope with the change. The formal and informal methods will help me improve on my particular qualities: organization, change management and communication thus improving my career and help me realize my intermediate and long term goals. Critically evaluate how leadership learning might take place outside the classroom management for full-time BA students by designing three activities to demonstrate how leadership learning might take place outside the classroom Leadership is the ability to be in charge of a group of people by setting goals, visions and objectives and implementing them. Leadership is also about being an example so that others can follow by it. It is about motivating employees so that they can work to the betterment of the organization. Leadership may be for political, economical and social reasons. Leadership qualities may be inborn or learned through formal training and experience. Leadership learning outside the classroom is achieved in different ways and has some benefits; it is enjoyable, it creates cooperation and encourages teamwork. Qualities developed through The activities include planning, communication, trust, management, patience and responsibility. Activities designed to teach and improve leadership skills. Minefield race This game will comprise of students in each group and one supervisor. A leader elected among them. It happens in an open place, and bottles are arranged in a maze-like manner The task is for the leader to make sure his member make it out of the maze without any obstacles. The head is required to be more creative and direct the members in a unique code that they only understand. This activity teaches critical thinking, creativity, stress management and fast decision making as the leader is supposed to decide on the spot Selling food competition In this event, the class is divided into groups of around ten people. Each group is expected to come up with a particular dish learn how to prepare it and sell it to other students in the university. The group that comes up with the biggest sales wins an award like money. Each member must participate in all the activities This teaches the group some qualities like: Communication-the members communicate to help each other achieve the best. Decisions making as crucial decisions are made on what to sell, price and ways to sell most. Team building as they learn cooperation and trust since they all need to win. Creativity to formulate new recipes, ways of motivating customers to buy Meeting targets by ensuring they sell a certain amount no matter what. Camping In this event, the class is divided into three groups. each with a leader that will coordinate the activity. Each member is expected to participate in all activities which include setting up tents, cooking all the meals and all extra curricular activities The leader will supervise all activities and establish accountability. This event teaches Good decision making because crucial decisions are required to be made during the activity. Accountability as the leader of each team is required to supervise each activity the group does participate in and give a true account on each member of their group. . It also encourages team building and improves communication skills .the members are required to effectively pass information that is crucial for carrying out the events. They also cooperate in these activities therefore team building spirit is achieved after the process. Critically evaluate the benefits of informal learning as an alternative to formal methods for working adults. In your answer you are required to distinguish whether there are differences in the benefits acquired by blue-collar working adults as opposed to white-collar working adults and vise-versa Informal learning is the way where coworkers learn spontaneously through sharing of experiences, mentorship, social media forums or going for company activities. Learning happens in a non structured manner. This method has many benefits over the structured formal learning methods. Cheaper This method is cheaper than formal method since there is not set money for a structured learning process like in the formal learning approach. Formal learning for instance company training requires payment of the personnel, venue and also valuable time is lost during the process therefore its more expensive than the spontaneous informal learning. Relevant The information acquired through this process is normally more suitable to the requirements. It happens in context, for example, an employee learns how to use some policies and technologies from colleagues. The knowledge is long lasting compared to formal training which is readily volatile. The employees grow with experience and learn from mistakes. Reduce resistance Informal learning has lower resistance compared to formal training. Formal requires a concrete structure that is to be adhered to, and it’s compulsory for the workers to attend contrary to their wishes. Since informal training happens spontaneously, there is higher preference and no resistance. Friendly environment Informal learning occurs mostly in a friendly environment for instance between people at the same level unlike formal where there is a coordinator. Learning is personal for instance sharing of ideas and experiences between co-workers. Therefore, there is less intimating and more efficient. Flexibility Informal learning is flexible because it provides the correct information required when needed. For example, an accountant who is not familiar with an individual concept can ask, and the response given by someone who knows the subject almost immediately. The information access through informal method is fast as a response that corresponds to the needs is given immediately Impact of informal learning on white collar and blue collar jobs. Informal learning at the workplace has higher effects on people working at blue collar jobs than those in white collar jobs because it’s less costly. The response takes a little time, and the manual skills that form the backbone of these jobs are best acquired through this learning method. White collar jobs require more of formal learning approach because of the consistent structure of the process. The planning and organization in setting goals and objectives make them more efficient. The informal learning method is also used in white collar jobs such as sharing of experiences through social media sites .it has some benefits such as less costly compared to formal method which will involve orientation of new members. Although informal learning is required and more relevant in blue collar jobs than white collar jobs its important in both cases. References Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2012). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan. Eraut*, M. (2004). Informal learning in the workplace. Studies in continuing education, 26(2), 247-273. Harzing, A. W., & Pinnington, A. (Eds.). (2010). International human resource management. Sage. Kyndt, E., Dochy, F., & Nijs, H. (2009). Learning conditions for non-formal and informal workplace learning. Journal of Workplace Learning, 21(5), 369-383. Marsick, V. J., & Watkins, K. (2015). Informal and Incidental Learning in the Workplace (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. Martin, B. (2006). 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