Planning Your Career in Business: Professional Portfolio and Skills Development

This module covers the creation of a professional portfolio, including personal statements and CVs, as well as the development of skills through SWOT analysis and action plans. It is designed to help students plan their career in business and prepare for job applications. The module is titled Planning Your Career in Business (BMAF008-20) and includes an assessment requiring a professional portfolio comprising a personal statement, completed application for a volunteer/work experience placement with a relevant C.V. and a skills development action plan.

Student Assessment Submission and Declaration
When submitting evidence for assessment, you must sign a declaration confirming that the work is
your own.
Student name:
ESL ID No
BSU ID NO
Campus
Submission date:
Module name and code Planning Your Career in Business (BMAF008-20)
Assessment No 1
Title / Topic
A professional portfolio comprising a personal statement, completed
application for a volunteer/work experience placement with a relevant C.V.
and a skills development action plan.
Lecturer’s name

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a form of cheating. Plagiarism must be avoided at all costs and students who break the
rules, however innocently, may be penalised. It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand
correct referencing practices. As a university-level student, you are expected to use appropriate
references throughout and keep carefully detailed notes of all your sources of materials for the
material you have used in your work, including any material downloaded from the Internet. Please
consult the relevant unit lecturer or your course tutor if you need any further advice.
Student declaration
I certify that the project submitted is entirely my own work. I fully understand the consequences of plagiarism.
I understand that making a false declaration is a form of malpractice.
Student signature: Date:

No Table of Content Page No
Section A:
- A brief introduction to indicate what the portfolio contains and the reason for both the
personal statement and the CV that will be presented.
- You may also want to consider writing a short overview of the chosen organization in a bid
to justify your peculiar interests in working in such a place.
1. Introduction
1.1 Overview of the chosen Organisation
Section B:
- Personal statement in support of your application for a volunteer/work experience
placement in any organization of your choice.
- A detailed CV that has been carefully designed to fit purpose.
2.0 Personal Statement to support your application
2.1 Detailed CV
Section C:
- Self-assessment reflecting skill gaps (SWOT Analysis inclusive)
- Action plan tailored towards your skill development (reflecting SMART objectives)
3.0 A personal SWOT analysis
3.1 Personal Skill Audit
3.2 SMART objectives for skill development (short-term, medium/long-term
career objectives)
Professional Development Plan and training
4 Conclusion
5 References (Harvard System only)

A professional portfolio comprising a personal statement, completed application for a volunteer/work
experience placement with a relevant C.V. and a skills development action plan.
Section A:
1. Introduction
Professional portfolio refers to the evidence and example to the capabilities, experiences and
potentials in individual for opportunity of employment and professional development. There are
different types of statements are developed in this portfolio which reflects the skills and capabilities
present in individual for fulfilling the requirement of any employment opportunity (Ali and Mehreen,
2018). It is primary document which is analyses by interviewer so it is important for an individual to
develop these documents in such a way to provide information in effective manner and becomes able
to attract the employer. The documents created under professional portfolio plays important role for
personal and professional development of individual because it enables them to get desired job in
market. It is essential for them to add all qualifications and degrees under these documents so that
employer can get the information in effective manner. Professional development portfolio provides
many opportunities to individual as they help to attract number of organizations towards the concept
which helps to maintain their growth in market. The present report is based in preparing effective and
attractive professional portfolio which reflects number of abilities and skill set which helps to get
desired job. The organization which is chosen here to apply for post of HR Assistant is Tesco. The
present report will help to explore the personal statement and curriculum vitae. Further it explores
effective personal SWOT analyses which helps to established effective judgment about personal
strengths and weaknesses. This report will help to explore the skills audit under which different types
of skills which is present in personality are provided ranking according to their importance. The last
section of this report helps to explore different types of personal SMART objectives which helps to
motivate individual to make handwork and efforts.
1.1 Justification
The organization which is chosen here to applied for a Job is Tesco as it is aims to ensure that all
roles carry out practices effectively and efficiently. The top management of Tesco reward hard work
with opportunities and promote from within as well as its help fresher to begin their career by paying
their training. Tesco believes in honest work for fair compensation. It has created a positive, enjoyable
and upbeat work environment in which encourages personal enrichment. The establishment has well
defined set of core values for potential and prospective employees which foster excellence. Working
at Tesco also entitles people various breaks that are staff is expected to work in excess of around 5
hours as well as 15 minutes paid break. The reason behind choosing Tesco for career growth is the
company offers ample opportunities to candidates so to make career in preferred field. Also,
compensation structure set by human resource management of Tesco attracts people to develop
professional career and enhance working skills.
Store of Tesco at London is preferred location as the locations shows fusion of myriad
cultures, backgrounds addition to cultures. Also, career as HR Assistant is peculiar interest as the
profession brings with ample opportunities for wide career progression. The profession engages in
hiring people, acts as support systems addition to extend assistance to personnel of the company.
Working as HR Assistant in Tesco is chosen interest as it is subfield of management that allows an

individual to work with ample number of people engagement to attain personal and organisational
goals.
Section B:
2. Personal Statement
Working as HR Assistant in Tesco can bring candidates with excellent people along with
communication skills. Also, the profession is responsible for day to day administrative as well as HR
duties of the company. HR Assistant also assist in recruitment as well as record maintenance for
payroll processing and provide clerical support to personnel. Key skills that HR Assistant would like
to bring in Tesco are priority management, advises, attention to details, interpersonal skills and many
more. There are large number of policies and programs including recognition of what employees do to
make the company thrive, etc that HR Assistant would like to bring in Tesco for welfare and
motivation of employees towards the work.
Different types of perks and benefits are provided by top management of Tesco for higher
performance of human resource. These efforts help to improve level of motivation and will enable me
to earn extra amount. The management of company also organizes different types of events in which
the employees of businesses are recognized for their higher performance in company. This brings
respect and recognition of employees from other employees of organization and helps them to
motivate towards achievement of organizational goals and objectives. It becomes beneficial for me to
become part of this organization because the level of development which I can achieve in this
organization does not believe to be attained in any small organizations within retail market.
The experience which is hold by me becomes effective and valuable aspect for organization. I have
experience of long time in automobile industry under which different types of knowledge and skills
acquired by me. Earlier, I worked as Car Detailer in which I was responsible for cleaning high level of
interior of cars, repairing small visual defects of paint work on outside of car, picking the car from
location of client along with delivering them to location when repairing is done. I have worked in
dynamic situation which helps me to get effective knowledge about the situation. These knowledge
and experience acquired by me becomes essential for organization. There are large number of projects
and scenarios are developed in workshops of organization where requirement of experience and
knowledge of work becomes essential for completion of task and activity (Amoroso and Burke,
2018). It is important for me to have effective and valuable approach towards policies of organization.
The experience which I have hold becomes beneficial for company for problem solving. There are
different types of problems and difficulties arises in business of organization which negatively
impacts business of organization. It is important for management of organization to take advantage of
my experience which helps them to solve all problems difficulties in effective and valuable manner. It
is important for me to utilize the experience hold by me and becomes able to reached at growth level.
The presence of skills and capabilities in my personality are beneficial for organization in many
purposes. The requirement of skilled employees is always high in any type of business because it
helps to complete work with great accuracy. The effective and productivity of organization are
positively impacts due to presence of skilled employees. It is important for management of
organization to have effective approach in organization which helps to find hidden skills of
employees. The skilled employees help to solve different types of strategic issues which management

of company followed in their business. There are different types of approaches are present in market
which can be used by organization for talent management. There are different types of skills are
present in my personality which I have acquired due to experience of my previous employment such
as driving, car mechanism, communication skills and many more. All these skills which is hold by me
are based on car mechanism and promotes business of organization. At the time of previous
employment, I have reached at doorstep of customers for picking their cars which helps to improve
my communication skills. I have knowledge of different types of languages which helps me to interact
different talents in in work place of Tesco.
2.1 CV
It refers to those document or statement which is developed by job applicant to showcase their
accomplishment in front of interviewer (Dulek, 2022). It is the primary document which represent
candidate in front of employer so it should be important for individual to develop them in effective
manner. There are different types of subjects are there which should be present in CV of individual
such as personal details, past employment, experience, goals and objectives of life, contact details,
skills present and many more (Evans, 2019). For a candidate applying for job position of HR
Assistant at Tesco, CV is important as it is essential piece of personal making to promote own to
employer in order to stand out as well as meet them. CV helps in selling experience, skill and talents
to right person for right job. It also makes good impression on businesses that are looking for a
candidate in competitive job market. All this information should be mentioned in CV in effective
and concise manner which helps to improve the organization in effective manner. The brief
discussion related to CV for job role of HR Assistant is below:
Curriculum Vitae
Loredana Maritanu
Doncaster DN5 8DU
………………@gmail.com
Personal Summary
A confident communicator who is self-starter with dedication along with motivation
needed to achieve success in department of Human Resource Management. Possessing in
depth knowledge related to HR processes as well as procedures and proven track record
of providing support to senior managers. I am easy going by nature as well as potential
for working with colleagues and seniors at the time of providing comprehensive
administrative support to daily practices of human resource department.
Presenting looking for making career through joining an ambitious company which
rewards capabilities and hard work.
Professional Experience

Personal:
 Ability to maintain higher work standards and meet business deadlines.
 In depth understanding about all employment laws and legislations.
 Easy going along with approachable.
 Can work on own initiative.
 Flexible, adaptable together with open to change.
 Ability to multitask as well as prioritise key tasks.
Skills:
 Attention to detail.
 Performance management.
 Communication.
 Team Work.
 Interpersonal skills.
 Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite along with related software.
Languages:
 Italian-Intermediate.
 English-Fluent.
 Romanian-Fluent
 Spanish-Fluent
Academic Qualification:
Bachelor’s Degree.
References
Available on request.
Your career HR Assistant
List of your Skills to meet the Why those skills are important

career goal
Communication skills It is important for establishment of effective relation with client.
It also helps to interact different types of client in workshops.
With Communication skill, HR Assistant is able to share
information freely and take in feedback related to effectiveness
of HR programs. It is important for HR Assistant as with this
skill, the professional body understand people along with
situations properly (Evans, 2019).
Technological skills For HR Assistant, technological skill is important as it helps in
building credibility with others in the workplace. Technological
skill can help HR Assistant to create more collaboration as well
as see more success on initiatives from people to back to safety
and hence forth.
Leadership skills Helps to lead different types of employees in organisation.
Leadership skill is important for HR Assistant to resolve
complex situations together with consult with managers on
issues with personnel (Harris, 2022).
Conflict resolution skill The skill is important for HR Assistant as it helps in finding
peaceful solution among parties facing disagreement. Using
conflict resolution skill, HR Assistant is better equipped to learn
from along with teach others in professional and personal
realms. It also prevents people to face situations that are
escalating. The skill also enables people to respectfully,
effectively and fastly resolve any kind of conflict.
Section C:
3.0 SWOT ANALYSIS
It is related to those tool which enables individual to make effective evaluation of their personality
with the help of four factors such as strengths weakness, opportunity and threats (Hughes, Kinder and
Cooper, 2019). It is one of important and valuable tool of personal development which provides many
opportunities to individual to I improve negative aspect of their life. SWOT analysis is a tool which
helps to determine the presence of strengths in personality so that it can be utilised to perform any
task or projects. To HR Assistant planning employment in Tesco, SWOT Analysis provides insights
about their personal strengths, present opportunities as well as foreseeable challenges in order to
pursuit career goals.
It is important for individual to analyse different weaknesses of their personality which helps to
established effective counter strategies (Mascello, 2021). There are different types of opportunities are
present ion market under which SWOT analyses helps individual to analyse these opportunities so
that it can be grab in effective manner. The personal SWOT analysis helps individual to analyse
different types threats so that strategies can be developed to mitigate the threats. The brief discussion
related to personal SWOT analysis of mine are given below:
Strength

 Leadership skills is one of the biggest strength of my life which helps me to lead different
types of people in organisation.
 The decision making skills of my personality helps me to develop effective and valuable
decision which makes me more competitive towards different problems of life.
 The time management skills help me to become punctual in different activities of life. This
also helps me to complete all task and work in organisation with great accuracy.
 The experience which is acquired by me due to multiple jobs and long term in industry helps
me to become more desirable in market.
Weaknesses
 The biggest weakness of my personality is that the level of avoidance is very low in my
personality which disables me to avoid negative aspect of life and takes more stress.
 The anger management aspect of my personality are not effective which enables me to face
many problems. There are many acts and work perform by me which should not be perform
due to less anger management.
Opportunity
 To participate in various online courses for improving management skills.
 To work at top position at leading company so to handle work pressure.
Threats
 Personal level competition frightens me at the core.
 I have lack of knowledge regarding the field work.
3.1 PERSONAL SKILL AUDIT (Gap analysis)
From the above SWOT analysis of a HR Assistant, it can be observed that the strengths are
good interpersonal skills, better communication skills, excellent conflicts management. Weaknesses
includes lack of time management, no prior experience, indecisive nature. The opportunities lie with
the handling of work pressure, have a good hand with soft skills, strategy building ability (Phionah,
2019). Threats involve afraid of personal level competition, lack of field work knowledge, addicted
to technology. This will help the organization to develop a quick & easy report of an individual
regarding the job role, payroll functions, leave applicability, etc. It is rated below from highest
proficiency level to the lowest one below:
Personal Skill Audit
List of
Knowledge
Rating List of Skill Ratin
g
List of
Behaviour
Rating
Mechanical 2 Communication 3 Entrepreneur 4

engineering skills behaviour
Advance
knowledge of
vehicles
5 Time
management
skills
4 Team operator
behaviour
2
Market knowledge 5 Leadership
skills
5 Enthusiastic 5
Mechanical
engineering
2 Communication
skills
3 Entrepreneur
behaviour
4
Advance
knowledge of
vehicles
5 Time
management
skills
4 Team operator
behaviour
2
Rating should be Between 1 – 5. Where 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest.
3.2 SMART OBJECTIVES
Goals and objectives are the important part of personal and professional development which provides
effective direction to individual (Presbitero and Teng‐Calleja, 2021). It is important for all the learners
to have effective goals in their life and some motivating factors which helps to achieve these goals
and objectives. There are also some personal goals are present under which I want to develop different
types of skills in my personality so that weaknesses can be mitigate.
Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-Based
Developing
multitasking
skill
Using
standardized
multitasking
test and using
gamified
multitasking
testing.
Prioritizing
tasks, avoiding
distractions,
scheduling
multiple breaks
and prioritizing
challenging
tasks.
Multi-tasking
skill is relevant
with skill set of
HR Assistant.
To achieve the
objective,
required time
is 2 months.
Higher level of
confidentiality
Handling
complex
working easily,
developing
good habits,
managing
available
information and
communication
with others
Recognizing
what is good
and building the
things,
performing
right things and
acknowledging
improvements
(Rubtcova,
Higher
confidentiality
level is relevant
with HR
Assistant as it
makes them
feeling ready
for life
experiences.
To achieve
higher level of
confidence,
required time
is 3 months.

fluently . 2022).
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND TRAINING
Skills Required for
Professional
Development
Training /
Method
Duration
(Short, Mid and
Long term plan)
How they relate to employability
Anger management
skills
With helps
of practical
situations
2 months Helps to control emotions at time of
wicked situations in business.
Patience By reading
different
types of
books
4 months To avoid different types of negative aspect
which creates problems.
Research skills With help
of internet
7 months To make effective surveys of market for
collecting data related to employment
(Scott, 2020).
4 Conclusion
It is concluded from this report that development of effective professional portfolio is very
important for success in professional aspect of life. This report concludes different types of statements
in relation to professional portfolio. It is concluded from the report that selection of organization
should be based on growth so that professional development aspect can be satisfied. Effective CV and
personal SWOT analyses. This report concludes skills audit under which different types of skills
which is present in personality are provided ranking according to their importance. The last section of
this report concludes different types of personal SMART objectives which helps to motivate
individual to make handwork and efforts.
5 References
Ali, Z. and Mehreen, A., 2018. Understanding succession planning as a combating strategy for
turnover intentions. Journal of Advances in Management Research.
Amoroso, L.M. and Burke, M., 2018. Developing career-ready business students: Three curriculum
models. Journal of Education for Business, 93(8), pp.420-429.
Dulek, R., 2022. Take Two Xanax and Call Me in the Morning; or, Career Tension in Business
Communication. In The Business Communication Profession (pp. 9-29). Routledge.

Evans, A., 2019. Highlights of a Distinguished Career. The Journal of Financial Management, 68(1),
pp.58-59.
Harris, E., 2022. Job interviews: How to prepare when you're just starting your planning
career. Planning News, 48(1), pp.26-27.
Hughes, R., Kinder, A. and Cooper, C.L., 2019. How to Get on in Your Career. In The Wellbeing
Workout (pp. 71-76). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Mascello, B., 2021. What approach do you pursue for your career planning?.
Phionah, N., 2019. Comparison can make or break your career.
Presbitero, A. and Teng‐Calleja, M., 2021. Effective Planning for an Expatriate Career: What Roles
Do Career Adaptability and Cultural Intelligence Play?. Journal of Employment
Counseling, 58(3), pp.119-140.
Rubtcova, T., 2022. Wedding business events: career tool and emerging market sustainability
solution. In Trade Shows in the 21st Century (pp. 59-79). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Scott, L., 2020. Managing yourself and your career. In The Practitioner Handbook of Project
Controls (pp. 401-411). Routledge.