Academic Skills and PDP

This report explores the concept of personal and professional development, the value of short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals, and the significance of a personal development plan. It discusses the skills and abilities needed for personal growth and career advancement, as well as the importance of setting goals and creating a plan to achieve them. The report also includes examples of short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals and highlights the benefits of each. Overall, it emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and self-improvement for personal and professional success.

Academic Skills and PDP

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
1. Concept of Personal and Professional Development...............................................................3
2. Value of Short — term goals...................................................................................................4
3. Value of Medium — term goals .............................................................................................5
4. Value of Long — term goals ..................................................................................................6
5. Value of a Personal Development Plan...................................................................................6
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
APPENDIX : PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN....................................................................9
INTRODUCTION

Personal and professional development are two perspectives of life which are important
for an individual. Personal development is defined as the growth of an individual during the
entire lifespan (Allen, Palermo, Armstrong and et.al., 2019). Professional development is defined
as the career development including the individual's academic growth in study or to acquire a
certain job to reach at a particular desired position. The report will examine the concept of
personal and professional development, value of short — term, medium — term and long —
term goals will be identified along with preparing a Personal Development Plan which will
describe in detail the three goals mentioned.
MAIN BODY
1. Concept of Personal and Professional Development
Personal Development is defined as the skills and abilities that builds the human
behaviour, enhances the quality of life and fulfilment of dreams and aspirations which a person
desires for (Tattum and Tattum, 2017). It consists of building or renewing identity, improving
wealth. Personal development is a process which undergoes the whole life span of an individual.
Individual development leads to improvement in the weak aspects of an individual and
strengthens them for the long run.
The concept that falls under personal development explains that an individual's life is
very important. Personal development is significant for an individual because it gives clarity to
personal vision, sharpens existing skills, improves effectiveness and efficiency in the work and
overall develops individuals weaknesses to strengths. It is an important aspect for individual's
growth and development as it will aid in self-help and enhance the skills to work better. Personal
development is the key ingredient to happiness and through this factor one can achieve whatever
an individual wishes to. Thus, personal development evolves the personality of an individual to
acknowledge the life which has been offered to him.
Professional development is defined as the learning process to earn or to reach at a career
position along with the academic degrees to formal coursework, attending conferences, formal
learning practices which helps an individual to reach heights in the career wished (Evans, 2019).
Professional development is concerned with the career development which an individual chooses
over his lifetime and reaches a certain point in the career where the individual is satisfied. It is
very important for an individual to set a goal in professional to make sure life is secured.

The concept behind professional development is that individual is able to identify the
path through which goal has to be achieved. It is very important for an individual to seek
professional development through self as it helps in analysing where a person is in life and what
has to be achieved in the future. The purpose of professional development is to improve
knowledge and skills including the technical, qualitative and analytical skills. Professional
development helps in enhancing the career by seeking the best of what one individual can apply
to the life.
2. Value of Short – term goals
Short — term goals are those goals which are set for the short — period. These type of
goals are to attained in a short time span and are thus created by keeping in mind that they take
less time in its completion (Carey, Nevile, Kay, and et.al., 2020). Short — term goals made to be
accomplished soon by an individual. These goals seem small, but they lead to big
accomplishments in an individuals career. The more motivated a person is to achieve that short
term goal, more is he motivated to accomplish the next step in the process. Thus, short term
goals help to reach at the big goals as it is considered as a step by step process.
Short term goals are important for an individual because through them he is able to set his
priorities and plan his daily work procedures regularly. These goals help the individual to reach
the long term goals by progressing with step by step process (Roberts, Moberly, Cull, and et.al.,
2020). Short term goals are made so that there life runs smooth by keeping in mind the aim to
achieve those goals which are being set by an individual. These goals lead to success which
allows focusing on one thing at a time. The process takes time as short term goals are either
quickly attainable or are for the future perspective for an individual. The purpose short term goal
defines is by the ability and the skill an individual possesses. These goals are beneficial for both
personal and professional development. Short goals leads to success and an individual is able to
assess his position in his personal life. Short — term goals can be for long run and can be for
short time span. Some are achieved within limited time while other short goals are a stepping
stone to the achievement of long goals. Therefore, short- term goals play an important role in life
of an individual.

My three personal short — term goals are — To earn a new certificate, to go on a
holiday and to build a morning routine so that I can enhance my personal and professional
growth by keeping in mind to achieve them within short a short period.
3. Value of Medium-term goals
Medium term goals are the those goals which takes longer period to achieve compared to
short term goals (Nicholls, 2017). The time period associated with the medium term goals are 1
year to 5 years. Medium term goals are effectively to make progress as compared to short term
goals. In feel that medium term goals are the stepping stones and a guiding principle to achieve
the long term goals. I also feel that medium term goals are effective in terms of making progress
and keep me in the sync for achieving my ultimate goals. As short term goals are so short that I
do not get time to perform efficiently and making significance progress and in case of long term
goals the time I achieve the goals I see myself as a completely different person with diversified
qualities and values.
My first medium — term goal consist of undertaking digital marketing training in
coming 6 months. The training should include search engine optimization, search engine
marketing, content marketing, web analytics and many more and getting a trusted certificate for
the same. The training of this digital marketing will give many benefits to me in the future as
after this pandemic all the jobs and businesses are getting online therefore it is a very good
opportunity for me to enhance my skills and get an advantage in the future.
My second medium — term goal consist of getting a job. Job as a digital marketer in a
reputed organization. Getting job helps in converting my theoretical knowledge into practical
world and also helps in knowing about the workplace environment . Doing job will also help me
to gain and acquire certain skills such as communication skills, research skills, presentation skills
and dealing with clients, also my creativity will enhance by performing diversified tasks.
My third medium - term goal is to go for a trip with friends and doing various types of
adventure sports there. The adventure sports that I want to try is river rafting, snowboarding.
Also, I want to go trekking and para gliding. I have also planned to go camping and born fire in
night.

4. Value of Long — term goals
Long — term goals are those goals which an individual fulfils in the future. Long — term
goals help an individual assess his abilities and skills pertaining to the performance which he
attains (Hughes, 2019). These goals are for the long run and analyse the aspects which are to be
consummated or the goals which are to be accomplished while taking time to complete them.
Long term goals imply to an individuals capabilities and desires to where he wishes to reach in
his life. The positive aspect of long term goal is that it takes time to accomplish those goals and
in the process those goals improve at every stage of life (Lo. and Anderson, 2020).
Long — term goals are very important for an individual as he is able to clarify what he
wishes to achieve by analysing his present position. These goals require time and planning which
means that if the gaol is set to achieve in the near future all the factors and effects are to be
identified (Butt and Weinberg, 2020). This will result in the best performance an individual
delivers in achievement of those goals. These goals help an individual to analyse his current
position and make aim to where he wishes to reach. Long — term goals are helpful for an
individual who has set priorities so that he can achieve those goals and lead a life of his choice.
My three personal long — term goals are — To buy a house so that I am able to lead a happy
life. This is my long — term goal which I wish to accomplish soon and lead life ahead on my
terms. My second Long — term goal is to build a career which provides me safety and security
in my lifetime, and I am able to see my growth and development as an individual in near future.
To attain a career of my choice I will decide the way or the path which will help me in going
through the process smoothly. My third long — term goal is to learn a foreign language which
will help me to communicate better with the English people.
5. Value of a Personal Development Plan
Personal Development Plan is also known as Individual Development Plan. It is the
process which is based on values, beliefs and reflections of an individual (Shaheen and Hameed,
2020). Personal development plan is made so that the individual is able to evaluate his
performance and know the aspects where he can develop his personality and enhance his career
related to his personal and professional growth. Personal development plan helps to identify the
skills to be developed with proper development plan along with the resources from where the

information is taken and the target date within how much time period the goal will be
accomplished or completed.
Personal development plan will help me enhance and acknowledge my current position
adding up to attain a certain goal or objective which I wish in the short, medium and long run.
This plan holds a purpose that an individual is able to judge himself and improve his loophole
aspects. The plan holds great value to an individual as it assist in future development goals by
setting priorities straight and what all are the needs and desires engage an individual to set those
goals.
CONCLUSION
Thus, it is concluded from the above report that concept of personal and professional
development helped in knowing the true meaning of these two aspects. Value of short — term,
medium — term and long — term goals were identified consisting of the personal goals which
were mentioned concerning the future life an individual aims for. And lastly Personal
Development Plan was formed consisting of the aspects like skills which are required to be
developed, the development plan needed for it, resources taken and the target date to accomplish
those goals within specific time period needed in the plan formed.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Allen, L.M., Palermo, C., Armstrong, E. and Hay, M., 2019. Categorizing the broad impacts of
continuing professional development: a scoping review. Medical Education.53(11).
pp.1087-1099.
Butt, J. and Weinberg, R., 2020. GOAL-SETTING. The Routledge International Encyclopedia of
Sport and Exercise Psychology: Volume 2: Applied and Practical Measures.
Carey, G., Nevile, A., Kay, A. and et.al., 2020. Managing staged policy implementation:
Balancing short‐term needs and long‐term goals.Social Policy & Administration.54(1).
pp.148-162.
Evans, L., 2019. Implicit and informal professional development: what it ‘looks like’, how it
occurs, and why we need to research it. Professional development in
education.45(1).pp.3-16.
Hughes, S.J.D., 2019. Self-management support and goal setting in group programmes for long
term conditions.
Lo, L. and Anderson, A., 2020. Personal goal setting behaviour and professional outlooks of
academic library employees. Journal of New Librarianship, pp.204-236.
Nicholls, A.R., 2017. Goal setting. In Psychology in Sports Coaching (pp. 33-42). Routledge.
Roberts, H., Moberly, N.J., Cull, T. and et.al., 2020. Short-term affective consequences of
specificity of rumination about unresolved personal goals. Journal of Behaviour
Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry.66. p.101519.
Shaheen, S. and Hameed, M., 2020. Personal Development Plan (PDP). Middle East Journal of
Family Medicine.18(4).
Tattum, D. and Tattum, E., 2017. Social education and personal development. Routledge.

APPENDIX : PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
SKILLS TO BE
DEVELOPED
DEVELOPMENT
PLAN
RESOURCES TARGET DATE
Short — Term Goal
— 1
To earn a new
certificate.
In order to keep
myself motivated and
continue to learn
something new from
the online course will
help me gain
knowledge.
Through Online
website.
Within two weeks.
Short — Term Goal
— 2
To go on a holiday.
For going on a holiday
I will check out the
new places where I
wish to go which
provides some
adventures.
Through magazines,
newspapers, online
websites.
Within four weeks.
Short — Term Goal
— 3
To build a morning
routine.
For building a
morning routine I will
wake up early and plan
my day accordingly so
that my time is utilized
and not wasted.
Learning through
online tutorials for
waking up early.
In one month.
Medium — Term
Goal — 1
To take digital
marketing training in
upcoming six months.
Training in digital
marketing will help
me to learn online
marketing process and
help me gain
knowledge for the
Training through
online lectures and
training classes of
digital marketing
course.
In four months.

same.
Medium — Term
Goal — 2
To get a job.
For getting a job I will
search jobs online
which provides
occupation to
individuals.
Online apps,
newspapers,
magazines.
In one year.
Medium — Term
Goal — 3
To go on a trip with
friends.
To go on a trip with
friends I will decide
the place where to
visit, make a budget
plan and take along all
my friends.
Online websites. In 1½ year.
Long — Term Goal
— 1
To build a career.
I wish to build a career
for which I will plan
my life further
accordingly.
Consult my family,
friends.
In five years.
Long — Term Goal
— 2
To buy a house.
To buy a house I will
earn so much money
in my career so that it
helps me build a
house.
Online sites. In six years.
Long — Term Goal
— 3
To learn a foreign
language.
To learn French I will
learn through online
classes.
Online language
tutorials.
In two years.