Planning Your Career in Business: Personal Statement, CV, SWOT Analysis and Action Plan

This article provides guidance on planning a career in business, including creating a personal statement, CV, SWOT analysis, and action plan. It covers topics such as communication skills, leadership, decision making, and problem solving.

Your Career in Business

Table of Contents
Section-1..........................................................................................................................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Section-2..........................................................................................................................................2
Describing my personal statement portfolio in detailed manner.....................................................2
CV (Curriculum Vitae)....................................................................................................................4
Section C..........................................................................................................................................5
Conducting my personal SWOT analysis........................................................................................5
Making action plan for developing skills with support of SMART objectives and PDP plan........6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

Section-1
Introduction
This portfolio will be made for the purpose of showing my skills and knowledge which
will allow me get a operation manager position in the famous global management consultancy
firm McKinsey and company. My job portfolio will include the designing of my personal
statement which will support me to convey what skills and type of knowledge I possess along
with this I will also describe why my application stands out from other competitors present in job
market. Apart from this, the portfolio will also include my CV that will be carefully designed to
attract the HR manager of Mc Kinsey firm in most appropriate manner. Moreover, in this
portfolio I will also perform my SWOT analysis so that I can properly known by strengths and
weakness in proper manner(VILLALOBOS LÓPEZ, 2022). Furthermore, after doing my SWOT
analysis I will undertake suitable action plan for the purpose of improving the relevant skills in
which I am lacking to give my best. I will undertake the proper structure of personal
development plan so that skills can be improved within the specified deadline.
The activities related to CV and making personal statement will benefit me to showcase
my skills as well as abilities that will support me to introduces my self in the detailed manner. In
relation to this, it will also enable me to stand out from the crowd by focusing on the factors that
can make me unique and will also benefit me to showcase my education background and work
experience in the effective manner. If the CV made is creative and cover necessary information
then it can benefit me to persuade the interviewers to select me in proper manner.
I have chosen the McKinsey and company to perform by job as Operation manager. The
firm is one of the recognised global management consulting company which was founded by
professor of University of Chicago James O. McKinsey in the year 1926. This organisation
various professional type of services to the corporations, government and other type of
companies (Sadullayevich, 2021). The McKinsey and company is also one of the oldest and
largest management consultancy firm and also holds third position as largest strategy consulting
firm by revenue. In addition to this, the organisation mainly focus on meeting the operational and
financial needs of the clients. I have chosen this company as it gives proper environment for
excellent professional development and learning opportunities by giving best in class growth
options through offering unlimited access for the E- learning courses. This can allow me to
further improve my professional and academic skills in best manner. Moreover, the McKinsey
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and company also provide numerous incentives which covers comprehensive medical cover,
Annual performance related bonus, best in class benefits and much more. Along with this, the
healthy working culture ,competitive salary as well as positive work-life balance are the other
factors that motivated me to apply in this company.
Section-2
Describing my personal statement portfolio in detailed manner
Introduction about myself
My name is Justin and I am from London, UK. I am the extroverted type of person who
enjoys giving opinion and ideas for the current and relevant ongoing problems related to society,
business, economics and other topic. I am curious type man as I want to know the reasons of the
cause as soon as possible(Hu and et.al., 2021). In addition to this, I have deep interest in the
diverse field of business such as finance, operations, marketing and other but mainly I have
larger interest in the operational and production field of business which motivates me to get
higher professional position in this particular field. My hobby is singing, playing musical
instruments and travelling along with this I always read the published business articles or
journals which helps to keep updated with the current corporate trends in proper manner. My
future goal is to become a well known person and more professional in the field of operations
management of business. I think that I will satisfy my interviewers as I am open minded and
flexible enough to adopt the external environment changes in most effective manner.
Education
I have done by schooling from the EIFA International school London. Later, I have taken
my graduation degree and done MBA in Operation management from the one of the world
famous Business school that is London Business School. This degree has supported to gain deep
insight about business terminologies and models (Deb, Dey and Balas, 2019). Along with this, it
has also enabled me to improve my professional as well as academic skills such as
communication skills, problem solving skills and decision making skills by participating in the
various type of projects as well as case studies. I think that I will qualify the selection process of
McKinsey company as I have developed relevant skills and knowledge regarding how to deal
with complex business environment challenges by applying critical business formulas and
theories. The London business School has also guided me to hold leadership positions as I have
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taken participation as the leader in the various real life business projects. This also enhanced my
leadership skills to the certain extent.
Work experience
I have a work experience of at-least five years in the field of business management and
operations related field of business. I have gained significant knowledge of dealing with the
customers in effective manner by working as the customer service executive for 2 years in
Genpact company(Bottomley, Wright and Pryjmachuk, 2020). This is also one of my first
professional job in which I have improved my listening skills and also developed the habit to pay
more attention in satisfying customers in appropriate manner. By doing this job, I have polished
my customer service skills as well as problem solving skills which can benefit me to give best
performance in my position as operational manager in the McKinsey and company. Apart from
this, I have also gained experience of 3 years as the Assistant Operation Manager in the Tesco
company. This experience can assist me to provide effective performance in my future job role
as operation manager in McKinsey and company. This is because I have acquired strong
knowledge and experience to work with different operational management tools like Enterprise
resource planning systems, Customer Relationship Software along with the six sigma tool. Apart
from this, I have also improved my decision making skills that can allow me to give appropriate
solutions to the complex business problems and take urgent decisions in time effective manner.
Moreover, working as an assistant operation manager has given an opportunity to lead my staff
members through which I have understood that what factors are critical for driving motivation
levels in them leading to higher productivity and morale(Baena, González-Cuevas and Mejía,
2018).
Conclusion
In the last paragraph of my personal statement, I can conclude that my educational
background as well as my long work experience can enable me to hold the tough sides of job
position related to operational manager in McKinsey and company. The skills and knowledge
that I have acquired during working as customer care executive and as assistant operation
manager can benefit to perform better and maintain the good working environment culture.
Moreover, I can also analyse that I can satisfy the condition of McKinsey company for adapting
new skills in faster manner as I am open minded and curious to learn the skills that can be crucial
for me in improving my academic as well as professional skills. Furthermore, I can also conclude
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that I have also improved my decision making as well as problem solving skills which can allow
me to give proper solutions to range of business problems in proper manner(Çelik, Stavicka and
Odina, 2018).
CV (Curriculum Vitae)
Curriculum vitae
Name-XYZ
Address-ABC, London Street,
London, England
DOB-XX-XX-XXXX
Nationality-British
Summary
Self driven professional with an superior skills in managing the staff members. I have the
ability to communicate effectively with workers and retain their loyalty base. I am open minded
and risk taker which allows me to adopt with changes in fastest manner. I am always in search
for improving my skills and find opportunities leading to greater growth and development.
Skills
 I am good in decision making skills.
 I posses good Leadership Skills.
 I also have better customer service skills along with the problem solving skills.
Accomplishments
I have successfully managed a staff of 40+ employees in an business event held in Birmingham.
In addition to this, I have also received best employee reward for giving outstanding
performance in completing team task in efficient and effective manner.
Experience
12/2017- 1/2021: I have done duty as Assistant operation manager in the Tesco organisation.
10/2014- 11/2016 : I have worked as the Customer care executive in Genpact company.
Education
2012: Masters in Business Administration from London business school.
2008: Bachelors in Business Administration from London business school.
Hobbies and Interest-Reading, writing articles, travelling and playing musical instruments.
Declaration
The mentioned information is true to my knowledge and faith
Date- XX-XX-XXXX.
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Section C
Conducting my personal SWOT analysis
The application of SWOT analysis tool can support me to analyse my internal capabilities
and weaknesses. In addition to this, it can also enable me to know in which skills I am lacking
which can negatively effect my professional performance in future(Hinsley, 2018).
Opportunity
 The revolution in Ed-tech platforms can
support me to improve gain relevant
skills and knowledge by taking
specialised certificates as well as
licences that can help me to give better
performance in doing job as operation
manager. I can also grab the opportunity to take
participations in different offline
personality development courses
courses through which I can improve
my professional skills at effective
manner.
Threats
 The rise in the competition level can
become threat to me for ensuring
successful selection in McKinsey
company as the pool of talented and
multi-lingual work professionals are
increasing day to day. This can become
difficult for me to effectively stand out
from the crowd(McRae, 2018).
 The another threat which can occur can
be due to launch of new study concepts
and newer computer technologies
which can force me to re-learn those
new technologies which are important
for me to perform duties related with
operation manager in appropriate
manner.
Strength
 I have realised that I am good in
listening skills which enable me to
draw necessary conclusion and acquire
Weakness
 I have experienced from my previous
work experience that I am not good in
communication skills as I often get
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key take ways which are important for
me. This can support me to not
misunderstood critical business
information sent by my manager(Ashar,
Kamdi, and Kurniawan, 2021). In addition to this, I have also
experienced that I am better in decision
and problem solving skills. This can
enable me to find effective solutions to
the future business problems which I
can encounter while doing job as
Operation manager. It can also provide
me an opportunity to gain higher
professional position in the fastest
manner and I can also reach to the top
of corporate ladder.
nervous when I used to interact with
my team members or while giving a
speech to the large number of
audiences. This has also negatively
affected my professional career as due
to this I got slower promotions
compared with other person who have
excellent communication skills(Neiles,
Mertz and Fair, 2020).
 I also noted that I have a weak
computer skills which can negatively
impact me to give better performance
by taking usage of Microsoft software
and other computer software.
 I have also analysed that I have a weak
critical thinking skills which does not
allow me to paying focus on positive
side as well as negative side of
discussions.
Making action plan for developing skills with support of SMART objectives and PDP plan
SMART Goal:
In order to improve my skills, I will develop the suitable action plan which will be
constructed on the basis of satisfying element of SMART objective(Vasconcelos and Balula,
2019). The following table shows the suitability of my action plan by setting SMART goals
which are:
Skills to
improve
Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound
Communicati
on skills
This goal will
be specific as I
It will be
measurable as
This skills
will be
This goal is
relevant as the
This will be
time bound as
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will take part in
personality
building classes
where I will
improve my
communication
skills. I will do
my best to
convey my
opinions and
ideas by
participating in
Group
discussion
sessions.
I will
compare my
past
performance
with my
current
performance.
I will also
participate in
team related
work practises
where I will
check my
improvement.
achievable as
there are
many
communicatio
n
enhancement
program
available in
market in
which I can
enrol and
attain the
target in
proper
manner(Marti
ns and
Carvalho,
2018).
improvement
in
communicatio
n skills will
allow to give
better
impression to
my
interviewer
which can
increase my
chance to get
selected. Apart
from this, I
can also use
this skill in
improving my
relationship
with family as
well as society
members.
it will take 3
months for
improving
communicatio
n skills.
Computer
skills
This objective
of mine will be
specific as I will
enrol into good
computer
training centre
where I will
give greater
focus in
learning
This objective
will also be
measurable as
I will attend
different
computer
literacy
classes and
can take tests
and give
This goal is
attainable as
there are
many new
computer
training
centres that
has opened
recently in
London. In
This goal will
be important
for me to
attain as the
computer
skills and
knowledge
which I will
develop can
assist me to
In order to
improve my
communicatio
n skills, I will
need at-least 6
months of
time.
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relevant
technological
skills which can
support me in
my career of
operational
management.
For this, I will
lay attention on
gaining working
knowledge of
operating
Microsoft
application
software's and
other operation
related skills.
practical
exams
through which
I can gain
insight about
my current
level related
to computer
knowledge.
Through this,
I can
effectively
improve my
performance
by knowing
the weakness
in timely
manner.
addition to
this, I can also
take online
computer
skills by just
sitting at
home with
laptop. This
will benefit
me to learn
relevant
technological
skills in
convenient
and also cost
effective
manner.
stand out from
the crowd of
job market.
This may also
impress the
interviewers
by seeing
many
computer
certificates
from my CV.
Moreover, it
will also
support me to
perform my
operation
management
job in the
effective
manner(Major,
2018).
Critical
thinking skills
This goal will
be specific as I
will polish my
critical thinking
skills by taking
participations in
the various
seminars related
to different
topics like
This goal will
be measurable
as I can
evaluate my
performance
by taking
critical
reasoning test
as well as
through
This objective
will be
achievable as
there are
many options
through which
I can improve
my critical
thinking
skills. The
The
development
of critical
thinking skills
will be critical
for me as this
can enable to
give better
business
decisions in
I will need 4
months for
improving my
critical
thinking skills
in proper
manner.
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social, business
and other. This
will force me to
think of the
issue by taking
considerations
of both the
positive as well
as negative side.
In relation to
this, I will also
perform puzzle
related games
and brain
boosting games
for the purpose
of developing
my critical
thinking
skills(Rai, 2020)
.
participating
in the group
discussion
activities in
which I can
provide my
ideas both in
positive and
negative side.
first option
will be to take
critical
thinking
assessment
tests as well
as playing
chess or other
brainstorming
exercises can
enable to
improve my
critical
thinking
abilities in
most effective
manner.
my future
professional
career. It will
also support
me to develop
business
reports in a
way which can
be critically
identified and
can make
suitable
judgements.
Conclusion
It has been concluded from the above portfolio that development of professional skills is
critical in ensuring greater success in the field of business related job positions. It can be
analysed that the professional skills such as communication skills can enable me to perform my
future duties as Operational manager in most effective manner as I can build better and
emotional relations with my manager and other staff members. In addition to this, I have also
made my personal statement document as well as CV in which I have discussed about myself,
my educational levels and also related to my work experience. Moreover, I have also performed
my personal SWOT analysis where I discussed about my strengths, opportunities, threats and
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weakness. Furthermore, I have also included the action plan for improving my weakness by
taking the consideration of SMART objective.
References
Books and Journal
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VILLALOBOS LÓPEZ, J.A., 2022. E-LEARNING AND MODERN DIGITAL
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS FOR MEXICO. Annals of the University of Oradea,
Economic Science Series, 31(1).
Sadullayevich, J.N., 2021. Improving psychological technologies for the development of
professional reflection in future teachers. ACADEMICIA: AN INTERNATIONAL
MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH JOURNAL, 11(1), pp.229-232.
Hu and et.al., 2021. The associations between teacher-child relationships and academic skills: A
longitudinal study among Chinese preschool children. Contemporary Educational
Psychology, 67, p.102020.
Deb, D., Dey, R. and Balas, V.E., 2019. Communicating research work: presentation skills.
In Engineering Research Methodology (pp. 89-94). Springer, Singapore.
Bottomley, J., Wright, M. and Pryjmachuk, S., 2020. Communication Skills for your Policing
Degree. Critical Publishing.
Baena, V., González-Cuevas, G. and Mejía, K., 2018. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND
INTERNATIONALITY. AN ACADEMIC TOOL TO IMPROVE STUDENTS'SKILLS
DEVELOPMENT, ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, AND INTRODUCTION TO THE
PROFESSIONAL WORLD. In INTED2018 Proceedings (pp. 4895-4898). IATED.
Çelik, S., Stavicka, A. and Odina, I., 2018. Are we really teaching English for specific purposes,
or basic English skills? The cases of Turkey and Latvia. In Key issues in English for
specific purposes in higher education (pp. 243-264). Springer, Cham.
Hinsley, J.L., 2018. Teacher Perception of the Impact of Professional Development on
Classroom Teaching Skills and Student Academic Performance (Doctoral dissertation,
Southwest Baptist University).
McRae, K., 2018. The value of developing debating skills in Academic English units. EA
Journal, 33(2), pp.20-35.
Ashar, M., Kamdi, W. and Kurniawan, D.T., 2021. Professional Skills Development Through the
Network Learning Community Using an Online Learning Platform. International
Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies, 15(12).
Neiles, K.Y., Mertz, P.S. and Fair, J. eds., 2020. Integrating Professional Skills Into
Undergraduate Chemistry Curricula. American Chemical Society.
Vasconcelos, S.V. and Balula, A., 2019. Teaching English to Marketing Students: Bridging the
Gap Between Academic and Real-World Skills. In Evaluating the Gaps and
Intersections Between Marketing Education and the Marketing Profession (pp. 162-
183). IGI Global.
Martins, S. and Carvalho, M., 2018. Professional skills of the graduates in Library and
Information Sciences and Technologies from the point of view of the potential
employers, students and professors. In EDULEARN18 Proceedings (pp. 2814-2820).
IATED.
Major, D., 2018. Self-assessment of knowledge, skills and attitudinal values through critical
reflection. Transition to Nursing Practice: From Student to Registered Nurse, pp.26-46.
Rai, L., 2020. Writing skills for social workers. Introducing Social Work, p.90.
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