Mini Project Workshops and Employability Development

Mini project workshops are task-based workshops that help students acquire knowledge and skills for a specific field. These workshops contribute towards the development of employability skills such as time management, initiative, professionalism, innovation, communication, and presentation. They are designed to provide practical knowledge and real-life challenges that students may face in their future careers. The flexibility and customization of these workshops make them valuable for enhancing employability.

Preparing for Success: Self
Development and
Responsibility

Contents
QUESTION.....................................................................................................................................1
How and why have the mini project workshops contributed towards the development of your
employability?.............................................................................................................................1
PORTFOLIO DOCUMENTS.........................................................................................................2
Time management.......................................................................................................................2
SWOT Analysis...........................................................................................................................2
Group formation..........................................................................................................................3
Sources which facilitates job search............................................................................................3
Academic writing.........................................................................................................................4
CV................................................................................................................................................5

Cover letter..................................................................................................................................6
Interview questions......................................................................................................................6
Skills required to be employable.................................................................................................6
Importance of referencing............................................................................................................6
Reflection.....................................................................................................................................7
SUMMARY.....................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

QUESTION
How and why have the mini project workshops contributed towards the development of your
employability?
Mini project workshops are the task based workshops where students can gain knowledge
and skills for a specific field. It is important for an individual to have employability skills so that
future prospects can be acquired (Schleicher, 2012). As a university student, various mini project
workshops are attended which has helped in enhancing the employability skills. These skills
include time management, initiative, professionalism, innovation, communication and
presentation.
The mini project workshops are usually based upon a task which is required by the student
to complete and at the end of that task, a special knowledge and skill is acquired by student. For
example, as a student at university, a mini project workshop was attended which was based on
time management. In this workshop, a task was given to develop a “to do” list. This task helped
in analysing the importance of prioritising the activities according to the importance. These
prioritised activities are then given the time which they will need to be complete and that’s how
time management skill can be acquired. The workshop of time management is merely an
example; the mini project workshop plays an important role as it contributes towards the
development of employability skills (Pless, Maak and Stahl, 2011). These workshops are
designed in such a way that it helps the students at university to be capable of being working in
large enterprises. These workshops are designed with planning and implementing strategies.
Constructing a mini project workshop involves set of tasks which are aimed to be completed by
students; these tasks are designed in such a way that it will help in building the skills and abilities
which are required at the time of employment. Another example of how mini project workshop
helps in building employability skills is the workshop of communication and presentation. In this
workshop, students are provided a task of developing and then presenting an academic
presentation in groups. Such workshop is designed in such a way that after completion of the
given task, students will build a skill of effective communication, skills of being a presentator
and skills of working with a group (Gond, Kang and Moon, 2011).
There are several reason which can justify that why mini project workshops contributes
towards the development of employability. The most reason is its flexibility; these workshops are
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based upon mini tasks which can be changed according to the requirement. Another reason is
customised workshops; the mini project workshops can be customised according to the
requirements of students. These workshops trigger the practical knowledge of students due to
which lesson learned in these workshops are unforgettable. Mini project workshops are designed
in such a way that students can gain the knowledge and can experience the real life challenges
which they can face in their future. Other reasons which justify the importance of mini project
workshops are exposure in real life professional environment, communication with professionals,
time based tasks and assistance of professionals (Epstein, 2018).
From above analysis, it has been clear that mini project workshops are the assistance for
students which contribute in the development of employability.
PORTFOLIO DOCUMENTS
Time management
TO DO list for gaining interpersonal skills
SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
 I am an honest individual who tends to
believe integrity is a skill which is
important to be successful.
 Time management is my core skill and
I am a disciplined individual.
Weaknesses:
 I am short tempered individual and do
not believe in extensive planning and
strategizing.
 I am weak at co coordinating activities.
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 I have the ability to turn ideas into
practical actions.
Opportunities:
I have the opportunity of being experimental
personnel in a large enterprise.
Threats:
Due to my short temper, I may experience high
competition in this dynamic business
environment.
Group formation
Out of the above 9 roles, according to me I am an implementor. This role is associated
with action oriented roles and it is imporatnt to be reliable and efficient for completion of this
role. Requirements of this role are aligned with my strehths and I belive to take action rather than
planning and startegizing. I tend to be disciplaned and ensure to turn ideas into practical actions.
Sources which facilitates job search
 Dice – This is an online job finder portal where I can upload my resume and recruitment
agencies or human resource manager can review my resume and shortlist me for the
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suitable job profile. This source even acts as a communication portal where I can
communicate with prospect employer and can gain insights about how to improve my
skills so that I can gain a suitable job profile.
 CareerBuilder – This is one of the most effective online job portal of United Kingdom
where thousands of options are available from which I can choose and shortlist most
appropriate opportunity for me.
Academic writing
Academic writing is the procedure of developing a piece of formal information which is
clear and well understandable. It is important to effectively structure the academic writing piece
and backed it up with evidence. This piece of writing have a formal tone in it and it is required to
be not too complex so that it can be easily understood. Such writing involves conventions,
vocabulary and ensures that it is successful in communicating the information which has been
intended to be conveyed.
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CV
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Cover letter
Interview questions
Skills required to be employable
 Communication skills
 Time management skills
 Conflict management skills
 Adaptability
 Resource management
 Co-operative
Importance of referencing
Referencing is not merely used for citations; it helps in acknowledging the work which has
been used. The process of referencing helps in acknowledging the contributions of people and
their ideas. This process provides credit to the writers and scholars from which words and
theories are borrowed. Another major importance of referring is that it helps in avoiding
plagiarism.
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Reflection
According to me, the group presentation had various flaws and all those were the due to the
lack of experience of presenting our thoughts in front of other people. This presentation has
given me the chance of to present my ideas in front of people and if this chance will be given to
me once again then I will make sure to be ready for all the questions which could be asked from
me at the Q&A discussion.
SUMMARY
Portfolio management is the art and knowledge of combining various aspects in such a way
that it can fulfil the aim. In this context, a portfolio is developed which has various documents
that are all related to the skills of employability. The documents in this portfolio are selected in
such a way that they will fulfil the aim of developing employability skills.
It has been observed that for the purpose of employability it is important to have skills of
developing documents using academic writing for this a document is created in the portfolio
which provides the insights about how to write an academic piece. Once the skill of academic
writing is acquired it is important to build a skill by which effective CV and cover letter can be
developed and for this aim a resume and cover letter is developed in portfolio. Only building
effective job employment documents are not enough, it is also important to find an appropriate
job according to the educational qualifications and experience. For this, a document in portfolio
is designed which has the two sources by which jobs can be searched online.
Once the all the pre interview document are prepared, it is not important to analyse the skills
which are required to be employable. Real life professional exposure is important for an
individual so that growth can be acquired; for this, a document is developed in portfolio having
six skills which play major role in being employable. A document having interview questions is
also developed which can help in analysing the type of questions which are asked in an interview
so that an effective preparation for the interview procedure can be done.
Lastly, a document is developed which is based on the importance of referencing. The
reason behind including this document in the portfolio is to reduce the overall risk in the
portfolio. This document states why referencing is important and how it can help in avoiding
plagiarism. After this, a document for reflection is also developed which helps in analysing the
skill of effectively reflect upon a situation which has been experienced in past. This document is
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one of the most important documents in the portfolio as it helps in developing the skills of self-
analysing. To support his document, s document for Belbin team roles and SWOT analysis was
also included in the portfolio. From the SWOT, strengths and weaknesses are analysed and then
they are associated in Belbin team role document. These documents are included in portfolio to
analyse the inner capabilities and strengths and then evaluate them by reflecting upon them using
a situation of the group presentation.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Epstein, J.L., 2018. School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators and
improving schools. Routledge.
Gond, J.P., Kang, N. and Moon, J., 2011. The government of self-regulation: On the comparative
dynamics of corporate social responsibility. Economy and society. 40(4). pp.640-671.
Pless, N.M., Maak, T. and Stahl, G.K., 2011. Developing responsible global leaders through
international service-learning programs: The Ulysses experience. Academy of
Management Learning & Education. 10(2). pp.237-260.
Schleicher, A., 2012. Preparing teachers and developing school leaders for the 21st century:
Lessons from around the world. OECD Publishing. 2, rue Andre Pascal, F-75775 Paris
Cedex 16, France.
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