Importance of Academic Career and Personal Development

The provided assignment details the importance of academic career and personal development in pursuing future goals. It highlights the significance of understanding one's skills and strengths in making informed career choices. The assignment also emphasizes the need to match one's values and ethics with those of a chosen organisation, and to possess essential employability skills. A suitable professional qualification or IT program can be beneficial for improving personal development and career prospects.

Employability Skills Springs
2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
KNOW YOURSELF.......................................................................................................................1
Brief overview about the study and career aspiration.................................................................1
Critical Appraisals.......................................................................................................................2
Key strengths...............................................................................................................................3
Applying the key elements..........................................................................................................3
KNOW YOUR SECTOR ...............................................................................................................4
Compare and contrast..................................................................................................................4
Alignment of Company's ethics and values................................................................................5
Research......................................................................................................................................6
Demonstration of CV and LinkedIn profile................................................................................6
Identifying and analysing the professional qualification............................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Employability skills is defined as the transferable skills which are needed by an
individual in order to get them employable. It can also be defined as group of abilities which are
involved in the development of knowledge base, mind set and expertise level which are
necessary for the success of an individual in the modern workplace (Sharif, 2017). These skills
are also considered essential for the qualification of any job position so, employability skills
have become essential for individual's employment success. In this report British Petroleum is
taken as an organisation. This report reflects on the various themes which help in building up a
career. Present report discusses about the career aspirations, strengths and weaknesses of desired
career and to achieve these career aspirations. This report also discusses about the sector and
making the comparisons within the sector in order to select the best career option.
KNOW YOURSELF
Brief overview about the study and career aspiration
Currently I am pursuing Bsc (hons) in Oil and Gas management, it is a degree which
focuses on the management study related to oil and gas sector and wind energy sector. The
duration of this course is 3 years. I have chosen this area of study because of the following
reasons:
 This course offers theoretical as well as practical knowledge related to the subject
 This course gives the necessary skills in order to pursue a range of career opportunities
within the oil and gas energy sector.
 The career opportunities which are related to this degree includes environment advisory,
project management, health and safety advisory and management, logistics, operations,
commercial management, supply chain management and various roles within this sector.
 It provides the opportunities for work related learning through the project
Career Aspirations
 After completing my degree I want to start my internship in local oil and gas company in
order to get the practical knowledge.
 After completing my internship program I want to continue my job as an employee in
local oil and gas company in order to gain more practical knowledge form the sector.
 After gaining one year of the experience I want to appear in the interview in one of UK's
best Oil and Gas company British Petroleum.
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 After being selected for the job I will work harder and harder till I reach the post of
Operations Manager of British Petroleum.
So, this is the career that I aspire in the future and my study will help me in reaching the
new feats in my career.
Critical Appraisals
Clifton Gallup Strengths: Clifton Gallup stated that each person has got their own strengths and
each individual has got diverse array of strengths (Adam and Mary, 2018). Based upon this
Clifton Gallup developed four distinct domains of strengths which includes Executing,
influencing, Relationship building and strategic thinking. Based up on these four domains my
strengths are as follows:
Executing Themes: There are nine executing themes which are also considered as the hardest
working of the bunch and my strengths in this domain is that I focused on my career needs and
development and this strength will help me in achieving my goal in the future. Also, I have
always been a responsible person, disciplined and consistent in my academic life so, this will
help me in my career development (Suleman, 2016).
Influencing Factors: One of the main strength which helps in influencing other is good
communication skills and I have a good command on it which help me in influencing others or
motivating them.
Relationship building Themes: I always have a positive approach over things that I face and
this positivity will help me in developing my future career as I am willing to accept the
challenges of the future.
Strategic thinking themes: I am a good learner and futuristic person, I learn from my mistake
which helps me in developing my career.
Johari's Window: This model helps in enhancing individuals perception towards others, it helps
includes four quadrants which includes:
Open area: There are certain things which are known to me and other like my positive attitude,
leadership skills, my academic knowledge and my honest behaviour which will help in my career
development
Blind area: There are certain attributes and behaviours which are not known to me and for my
team so, it is important that for me to identify such attributes and behaviours which I need to
show and need to hide.
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Hidden area: There also some areas which are known by me and are not known by others so I
should try show the skills and attributes which will help me in my career development.
Unknown area: I need to identify the attributes and behaviours which are unknown to me but
are known to others so that I can have control over them.
Key strengths
Based upon these two theories my key strengths are as follows:
Good Communication skills: My communication skills is my strength as I will able to
communicate with my colleagues and seniors in effective way. In order to work as a Operations
Manager of British Petroleum communication skills will help to lead and motivate the employees
(Tsitskari and et.al., 2017).
Positivism: with strength I will able to face the challenges of the future and deal with difficult
situations with positive approach this will also help lead a team under me.
Good learner: Being a good learner I will learn from my mistakes and try to improve them.
Leadership skills: This is the skill which I need for becoming the future Operations Manager of
British Petroleum as I would have lead different teams of the company.
Academic Knowledge: Being a Bsc. (Hons) oil and gas management student I can use my
academic knowledge which I have learned during my academic career so that I can apply it
practically.
Applying the key elements
To become the Operations Manager of British Petroleum there are various elements
which will help me in achieving my career aspirations such as:
 I can make effective use of 4 domains of Clifton strengths in order to achieve my career
aspiration like I can adopt more and more executing theme which can make me a hard
worker which will help me in achieving the goal of my career. In order to influence
others I should focus on various factors like competition within the sector, maximise the
opportunities for growth and development, improving my motivating skills will help me
in influencing others this will help me in achieving my career goals. With the help of
relationship building themes I can build up a good relationship with my superiors,
colleagues and other employees of the organisation, building a relationship with others
which will be essential for my professional career (Taylor, 2017.). I also have to think
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strategically for my career aspiration and have to formulate strategies and plans for
becoming the Operations Manager of British Petroleum.
 There are certain areas which I need to share with others and where I need to open my
self to share and gather information with and from others. I also need to identify my
blind spots which will help me aspire my career in the future and the attribute which I
need to share with others so that I can complete my academic career and achieve the
goal. I need to identify the skills and knowledge which are hidden from me and from
others this will positively help me in achieve my goal of becoming the Operations
Manager of British Petroleum.
KNOW YOUR SECTOR
Compare and contrast
Basis of comparison British Petroleum Dana Petroleum
History BP is the multinational oil and
gas company which has it
headquarters at London,
United Kingdom. It was
founded in 1909 by William
Knox D'Arcy. There are more
than 74,000 employees
working in the organisation
across the world. BP is
operating in more than 70
countries across the world.
Dana Petroleum is the oil and
gas company with its
headquarters at Aberdeen,
Scotland UK. It was founded
in 1994 by Tom Cross. There
are only 580 employees
working in the company and
operated only in UK.
Values BP believes in safety, respect
for the employees and for
customers across the world.
British Petroleum's basic value
is its courage and excellence
and believes in one time
working across the globe.
Dana Petroleum basic value is
to operate in effective manner
while maintaining the safety of
customer and employees and
providing the proper security
to the employees and
protecting the environment.
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Ethics To build the organisation with
build the societies, to be the
most trusted company by
following the transparency
policy within the organisation
and provide the best quality
products to the customers and
to serve the humanity.
Dana Petroleum are concerned
over the practices which can
result in the breach of ethical
standards that can be raised by
the stakeholders. It believes in
the policy of HSSE i.e. Health,
safety, security and
environment which is to build
the strong foundation and track
the record of HSSE.
Alignment of Company's ethics and values
While comparing the regional and global companies of oil and gas sector by comparing
their history, values and ethics, both the companies have got strong corporate ethics and values
which are required for renowned oil and gas company and their values and ethic align with the
ethics and values of mine. In my academic career of Bsc (hons) in oil and gas management there
were certain ethics and values which were taught and I have developed such ethics and values in
me (Wolff and Booth, 2017). Like I believe in respecting others and don't want to hurt the
feelings other and I also believe that business can not be operated at the cost of environment by
degrading it so, these are the basic ethics and values which are followed by both the companies.
Company's ethics and values which align to mine is safety of the employees and customers with
in the organisation as safety is one of the major factor in oil and gas industry, such companies are
prone to accidents which may result in the loss of lives. Also, there should be transparency
within the business so, people should know what they are buying and can also judge the quality
and quantity of products which are offered to the customers (Lim and et.al., 2016). One of the
major ethical consideration which align with mine is building of societies in which the
organisation operates as it is the duty of the organisation to support to the society in which it
operates.
Research
The current job title I am interesting is the Operations Manager's post at British
Petroleum as in am pursuing Bsc (hons) in oil and gas management, so this is the post I am
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looking for in order to apply my academic knowledge with in the sector. Base on the job
specification and job descriptions the tasks associated with it are as follows.
 Determining of the staff requirements and conducting of interviews in for selecting the
desired candidates for the organisation and then train them.
 To determine the quality of goods and services which are sold to the customers based
upon customers demand (Suleman, 2018).
 To direct and coordinate the organisation's budgeting and financial activities to the funds
operations and to maximise the investments and to increase the efficiency of the business.
 To monitor the activities which are directly associated with making of products and
providing the quality service to the customers.
 Reviewing of the sales activity reports, financial statements and other related tasks.
 This job requires the minimum experience of 3 years in oil and gas sector.
 Should have the through knowledge of oil and gas operations including the customer
service knowledge.
 Strong oral and written communication skills
 Requires leadership skills and ability to coach the staff with the high level of quality
(Messum, Wilkes and Jackson, 2015).
Demonstration of CV and LinkedIn profile
According to the job specification and job description for the post of Operations Manager
in British Petroleum there are various skills which are essential and desirable for the post. The
skills like communication skills, leadership skills, having the adequate knowledge of the
particular sector. These skills are already mentioned in my CV and LinkedIn profile as I have a
good communication skills as I able to communicate with others like people, team mates,
colleagues etc. I am easily able to understand team and they also understand me in a perfect
manner for example I was chosen a leader for the various events which were organised during
academic career and I have various certificates which I have mentioned in my CV and LinkedIn
profile. I have also mentioned my leadership qualities which are essential for this job which also
matches to the job description and job specification. The skill which does match with the job
specification and job description of this post is training and development skills as I haven't
worked in the company yet so and I am still pursuing Bsc (Hons) in oil and gas management so,
this is the skill which does not match with job description and job specification for the job title
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I also lack the required experience which is needed for the job but my plans is to start up my
career within the chosen sector and gain experience of three years which will cover up my all the
qualifications for this job title.
Identifying and analysing the professional qualification
There are various courses and qualifications which can prove helpful for me in perusing
my career which will also increase my chances of being settled for the post are as follows:
Advanced management program: This professional qualification will help me in strengthening
my leadership skills so I can lead the people in an effective way and achieving this qualification
can increase my chances of getting selected for the post.
Advanced Management Diploma: This program can help me in improve my personal
development as this program is intelligently customised for personal development. This will also
help me to improve my professional career and will also increase my chance of getting hired for
the job.
IT programs: IT programs will improve skills related to information and technology which will
help me in improving my skills and knowledge related to IT and this will also increase my
chances of getting hired for the job.
CONCLUSION
There are various things which I have learned from this module like the importance of the
academic career which can help me in pursuing the future goals and I also can know about my
skills and strengths which are essential for the career choice. I also learned for any company its
values, history and ethics play vital part which can increase its image and I was able to align my
values and ethics with the chosen organisation. Also, it essential that our CV and LinkedIn
profile should match with the job specification and job description of the chosen post.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Lim, Y. M and et.al., 2016. Employability skills, personal qualities, and early employment
problems of entry-level auditors: Perspectives from employers, lecturers, auditors, and
students. Journal of Education for Business. 91(4). pp.185-192.
Messum, D., Wilkes, L. and Jackson, D., 2015. What employability skills are required of new
health managers?. Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management. 10(1). p.28.
Sharif, A., 2017, June. Perceptions, pedagogy, employability: from survey indicators to
improving skills. In 14th Enhancement Themes Conference.
Suleman, F., 2016. Employability skills of higher education graduates: Little consensus on a
much-discussed subject. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 228. pp.169-174.
Suleman, F., 2018. The employability skills of higher education graduates: insights into
conceptual frameworks and methodological options. Higher Education, pp.1-16.
Taylor, B., 2017. Embedding ways to enhance employability skills in teaching practice.
Tsitskari, E and et.al., 2017. Employers’ expectations of the employability skills needed in the
sport and recreation environment. Journal of hospitality, leisure, sport & tourism
education. 20 pp.1-9.
Wolff, R. and Booth, M., 2017. Bridging the gap: Creating a new approach for assuring 21st
century employability skills. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning. 49(6). pp.51-
54.
Online
Adam, H and Mary C. V., 2018. A Comparison of CliftonStrengths and the VIA Character
Theory. [Online]. Available Through: <http://coaching.gallup.com/2018/03/a-
comparison-of-cliftonstrengths-and_27.html>.
Our Code It’s what we believe in. 2019. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bpcountry/en_za/Documents/about_BP_South_Afric
a/bp_code_of_conduct.PDF>.
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APPENDIX
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