Planning Your Career in Business: Professional Portfolio

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
Business entity is an organization which is created by one or more individuals. It
describes the structure of the business and its operations, which produces different goods and
services to meet the need and requirement of customers. Business organization are
differentiated depending on how business is established, owned and operated (Dietz and
Mulder, 2020). The report is based on Marks and Spencer ,is a listed British multinational
retailer, which is founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. The company has
its headquarter in Padding-ton, London, England. It is specialists in selling clothing, beauty,
home products and food products. The organization has its stores all around the globe and
retain a good brand value. The job role selected for this professional portfolio is operational
executive. This report includes a professional portfolio which comprises of personal
statement and CV along with skill development action plan. It also discusses an overview of
business organization along with personal SWOT and action plan with SMART objectives.
1.1 Justification
The reason for which I want to join this organisation is because it is a well reputed
and large organisation, which offers a lot of opportunities to their workforce. It holds a brand
value all around the globe. In addition to this I want to gain employment at role of operations
executive because it will develop my knowledge in field of operations management, where I
would like to pursue my career. The key reasons which drives my focus to work in this
organisation at the role of operational executive are discussed below-
 Flexible business structure: Marks and Spencer have flexible business structure
which makes organisation adaptive to the changes quickly and respond effectively.
The organisation has different shifts for their workers which provide convenience and
comfortable environment to their employees.
 Global reach: The company holds a brand name and has its multiple stores all around
UK and other countries, which allow the company to have a great customer base and

wide range to market their product and services. It enables the organisation to explore
other market and determine the needs and preferences of the customers which leads
the organisation to hold a competitive advantage.
 Growth opportunities: I will be able to improve my knowledge in case of operations
management by working at large scale organization such as Marks and Spencer. This
will provide me suitable professional experience and credentials to gain promotions in
the field of operations management and achieve my ambition of securing high level
role in operations management. In the current competitive job market experience in
international organizations is essential for career growth (Simmonds, 2018).
 Working with experienced professionals: Marks and Spencer has lot of experienced
professionals which manage different departments of the firm. Working at the role of
operational executive I will learn about the latest technology, practices, approaches
and methods used in the field of operations management. This will help me
understand the ways of practically implementing my management knowledge for
overseeing various operations in a global firm.
Section B:
2. Personal Statement
Personal statement is a statement which determines and discuss the account of your
achievements, talents, interest and goals. It is provided along with Curriculum vitae which
showcases an individual professional and academic skills. It is an important document, which
suggest the recruiter whether they should be suitable for a job opportunity for not and is of
crucial importance to reflect the personality of an individual (Balasubramanian and Balaji,
2021).
PERSONAL STATEMENT
I am an enthusiast and hard-working person who is passionate about the professional field
of operations management because it plays an important role in delivering products and