Employability Skills: A Self-Reflection on Job Readiness

This report delves into the importance of employability skills, focusing on self-reflection and the development of key competencies for career success. It explores the role of networking, sector awareness, and professional qualifications in enhancing job readiness. The report also examines the STAR method for interview preparation and provides insights into personal growth and areas for improvement.

Employability Skills
1

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Know Your Sector...........................................................................................................................5
How can networking help you become more commercially aware of your sector? (you should
relate aspects of theory specifically to your sector).....................................................................5
Reflect on the networking experiences you have attended and discuss what skills you used
during these events......................................................................................................................6
Know Your Sector...........................................................................................................................7
How you can use your overall degree programme to help develop the skills set required for
your desired career. Use specific examples.................................................................................7
Analyse a professional qualification you could acquire alongside your degree and explain the
rationale for the undertaking this qualification to meet your career ambitions...........................8
Discuss how you plan to acquire these recognised professional qualifications and evaluate how
they could add value to an employer and make you the preferred candidate in an interview.....9
Let them know you........................................................................................................................10
Describe a current job description and the specification for the desired job in your sector......10
I am currently looking for a job in retail sector. My main responsibility is to look to the needs
of the consumers........................................................................................................................10
Include what skills the job requires and how your CV and LinkedIn profile demonstrate the
essential and desirable skills......................................................................................................13
Reflect on the interview process and how well you were able to apply the STAR method and
give an example of how you responded to a question...............................................................14
2

Reflect on what you have learned about yourself (throughout the whole module) and what
aspects you need to improve on for work readiness..................................................................15
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
3

Report:
Introduction
This assignment is a self-reflection regarding the manner in which a person looks for a job
opportunity and credibility makes the CV and proceed to the interview procedures. This report
shows the role of networking experiences and to be commercially aware in the particular sector
or area of interest. Further, this report also outlines the STAR method and a justification for the
undertaking of the qualifications or degrees top meet the career goals and objectives.
4

Know Your Sector
How can networking help you become more commercially aware of your sector? (You
should relate aspects of theory specifically to your sector)
Networking is all about sharing information and experiences. I share my view and experiences to
be commercially aware in my sector. Through networking, we get to meet new companies and
people who help in building better corporate relationships with one another. I can develop a
better approach towards my work by networking or building robust connections with my
superiors and subordinates. With the better networking, I can collect more information about my
sector and I can be more competent in accomplishing earlier opportunities which are arising in
my sector. Networking is really important for me so that I can easily survive in the competitive
market. Moreover, through networking, I will be able to develop new approaches to solve the
problems and issues which are faced by me in my sector. I will be more aware and flexible in my
sector through networking (Collet, 2015)
5

Reflect on the networking experiences you have attended and discuss what skills you used
during these events.
While being on job roll in numerous companies in different sectors I came across the pros and
cons of networking in the company. I understood that networking is really important for the
development of my career. While working in Harrods, I took part in various events and
recognized the importance of networking. I developed connections with my superiors and
subordinates. I am now more responsible towards my duties and responsibilities in my sector.
Moreover, networking provides a basis to me for improving my communication skills and
decision-making skills. Networking plays a pivotal role in building my career. I am more
responsible towards my duties in my sector. Another networking experience was encountered by
me when I was working at ZARA. There I interacted with people who ate coming from
numerous places having different skills and specialties in the fields of work (Hesk, 2016)
6

Know Your Sector
How you can use your overall degree programme to help develop the skills set required for
your desired career. Use specific examples.
My degrees in fashion and designing will help me in accomplishing my career goals and
objectives. I have Diploma in fashion Designing, Masters in accounting. I even have Practical
information regarding the POS dealings with Bachelors in Business Management. Moreover, I
have Masters in tally and other accounting software like an SAP. All these qualifications and
degree will help me in building a better career. The degree programmers will help me in
gathering better interactive and decision-making skills when I will be working in a more
complex organization. Having good knowledge about the accounting software’s like SAP will
help me in developing knowledge in other areas. My work and knowledge or skills will not be
limited to a particular area I will turn out to be a better and flexible person towards my present
and future career plans
7

Analyse a professional qualification you could acquire alongside your degree and explain
the rationale for the undertaking this qualification to meet your career ambitions.
Apart from all the degrees I have, I can also acquire masters in accounting software like an SAP.
Having a degree specific is goo’s but having additional knowledge will make me more flexible
and goal oriented. The prime reason or rationale behind obtaining the professional qualification
together with the degrees is to be more competent in every field. I myself believe that education
must be acquired when one works as there is no age and limit to work and learn. I myself took
several degrees so that I can excel in my duties or jobs. I to make my career shine and grow
acquired several digress and went through numerous degree programmers.
8

Discuss how you plan to acquire these recognised professional qualifications and evaluate
how they could add value to an employer and make you the preferred candidate in an
interview.
To get the knowledge and skills regarding the Sales associate. I will firstly undertake all the
required degrees and diploma in the fields of fashion. Acquiring the required knowledge and
skills will help me to perform my duties in a more organized manner. The professional
qualifications are essential for me so that the interviewer can consider me. Moreover, I am an
appropriate candidate for the job as I have cleared all the stages of the interview i. my required
qualification will add a significant value to the employer. I even worked in various clothing
stores which also helps me to develop better knowledge and understanding of the clothing line. I
have knowledge regarding the POS sales and trading. I even have qualifications regarding the
computer and programming languages (Browning and Cunningham, 2012).
9

Let them know you
Describe a current job description and the specification for the desired job in your sector.
I am currently looking for a job in the retail sector. My main responsibility is to look to the needs
of the consumers
Job description
Position: Sales Associate
Reporting To: Design Director
Job brief:
We are looking for an action-oriented retail Sales Associate to be totally responsible for all sales
related responsibilities.
Key responsibilities:
 Actively looking for consumers in store
 Conforming with the inventory mechanism procedures
 Remaining well-informed on the products and services
 Cross-sell merchandises
 Regulating the revenues of merchandises
 Co-coordinating with the staff members for providing accurate services
 Procedure point of sale (POS) acquisitions
 Developing honest connections with the consumers
Basic requirements:
 Simple Math expertise
 Practical information on POS dealings
 Proficiency in English
10

 Developing information on the subject of the catalog procedures
 Effective social and interaction skills
Start Date: As soon as possible
Job Type: Permanent
Schedule: Full-time
Person specification
Educational qualification
Diploma in fashion Designing
Masters in accounting
Practical information regarding the POS dealings
Bachelors in Business Management
Masters in tally and other accounting software’s like SAP
Previous experience
2 years of working experience at M&S
1 years of working experience at ZARA
The familiarity with garment manufacturing which is acquired at the time of internships
Personal skills
 Excellent interactive skills , organization and communication (written and verbal )
skills
11

 Proven competence to put effort into own creativity.
 Outstanding IT skills and CAD skills
 Flexible attitude
 Commendable time management abilities
 Have Capacities to work in burden and meeting the deadlines
Include what skills the job requires and how your CV and LinkedIn profile demonstrate
the essential and desirable skills.
The skills which are required for a job comprises of:
Soft skills: soft skills are mainly the interpersonal skills. They cannot be quantified. Soft skills
are really important for the accomplishment of organizational goals. Soft skills consist of
effective interactions, empathy, critical thinking and conflict resolution
Hard skills: these skills are quantifiable. They comprise of particular abilities and knowledge
which are required for performing the duties in an effective and efficient manner. Such skills
consist of accounting skills, computer and programming skills, mathematics and data analysis
(Blomme, 2012).
Having a set of both soft and hard skills is essential to work in organized and effective manner.
Both my CV and LinkedIn profile reflects all the above-specified skills.
12

Reflect on the interview process and how well you were able to apply the STAR method
and give an example of how you responded to a question.
The interview procedure which I went through is based on the STAR method. STAR methods
denote to situation, task, action, and result. All these stages are followed by me while going
through my interview procedure so that I can complete my interview in an effective and efficient
manner. I have gathered numerous skills while being on the roll. I during my interview was able
to answer everything in a proper manner. I was able to understand all the questions when I was
going through my interview procedure. STAR method is a very effective and efficient approach
to use in the interview procedure. I will respond to each of the questions by understanding it and
adopting the right approach to answer that question. My whole and sole way of answering the
question will be in an effective and efficient manner. The questions answered by me should leave
a good impression on the interviewer (Andrews and Russell, 2012).
13

Reflect on what you have learned about yourself (throughout the whole module) and what
aspects you need to improve on for work readiness.
I have learned a lot about myself while conducting a study in this field or sector. I can now take
better decisions for myself regarding the areas of interest. The STAR method assisted me in
building my self-confidence and boosted my morale to excel in the interview. I realized that a
good format of CV and resume plays a pivotal role in the job procedure. Moreover, I can now
look for better things in an optimistic manner. I developed new skills and potentials to manage
my everyday duties during my job days. In all, I turned out to be a very flexible and bold person
14

Conclusion
From this report, it can be concluded that skill of a person plays an important role in the
employment process. A person is able to excel in its career and sector through this qualification
and skills. Further, from this report, it is concluded that star method is important in the interview
procedure. Various learning’s and self-analysis are presented in this report regarding the job
environment.
15

References:
 Andrews, G. and Russell, M., 2012. Employability skills development: strategy,
evaluation and impact. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 2(1), pp.33-
44.
 Blomme, R.J., 2012. Leadership, complex adaptive systems, and equivocality: The role
of managers in emergent change. Organization Management Journal, 9(1), pp.4-19.
 Browning, B.W. and Cunningham, J.R., 2012. Students better be on their best behavior:
How to prepare for the most common job interviewing technique. Communication
Teacher, 26(3), pp.152-157.
 Collet, C., Hine, D. and du Plessis, K., 2015. Employability skills: perspectives from a
knowledge-intensive industry. Education+ Training, 57(5), pp.532-559.
 Hesk, G.C.O., Stanley, A.M., Coleman, A.R., McCaughan, S., Shahin, M. and Davies,
C., 2016. Collaboration project to embed skills for employability.
16