How Mini Project Workshops Contribute to Employability Development

This article discusses the contribution of mini project workshops towards the development of employability skills. It explores the skills gained through these workshops and their impact on personal and professional growth. The article also provides examples of CV writing, communication skills, presentation skills, decision making, and more.

How and why the Mini Project
Workshops contributed towards the
development of the employability

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
How and why the mini project workshops contributed towards the development of the
employability?..................................................................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
Evidence of Skills............................................................................................................................2
CV Writing.............................................................................................................................2
Communication skills.............................................................................................................3
Presentation skills...................................................................................................................4
Decision making.....................................................................................................................4
Job search planner..................................................................................................................5
Barriers to effective communication......................................................................................5
Career action plan...................................................................................................................5
Team working.........................................................................................................................5
Leadership skills.....................................................................................................................6
Numeracy skills......................................................................................................................6
Time management..................................................................................................................6
Personal development.............................................................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
Summary..........................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Portfolio can be referred to as the summarised account of evidences that an individual has carried
out the process of learning and development in an effective manner. This provides assistance to
an individual in recalling the activities and tasks conducted by them during a particular tenure
while in employment or in academic settings. The following project will be a reflective account
of an individual discussing about their experiences and learning throughout. The report is
categorised into 3 tasks. The first task deals with the contribution given by mini project
workshops towards development of a person’s employability. In continuation, the second task
deals with evidence of the skills developed or improved during the tenure at university. Lastly,
the third task
TASK 1
How and why the mini project workshops contributed towards the
development of the employability?
By being a part of mini project workshops, I underwent several experiences which gave a
pace to my process of learning. The whole of the experience allowed me to improve or develop a
number of skills that would be essential for me in future context of time while seeking
employment. There were several skills that were deficient or not effectively inculcated within me
prior to the participation in mini project workshops. However, after going through the
workshops, I was exposed to an atmosphere whereby I got the chance to improve or develop
such skills in an effective manner. Most of these skills were employability, yet some of them
were also handy in academic context. In this relation, the most prominent skill that I developed
in the workshop is leadership skill. In this relation, my tutor handed over the responsibility of
conducting one workshop. This enabled me to exhibit my leadership skills by organising all the
things related to it. My ability to effectively lead the activities and tasks provided assistance to
me in conducting the sessions as per the expectation and requirements of my tutor. I made use of
my communication skills to set networking with the individuals who participated in the
workshop.
I had always been ineffective in working in groups. In this relation, the mini project
workshops made me work in a collaborative manner to achieve positive outcomes out of the
tasks and activities. This enabled me to get over my weakness and take measures through which
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the team working skills can be significantly enhanced to a great extent. Working in groups of 5
made me realise the importance of coordination and cooperating while functioning in teams for
the achievement of team objective. In future course of time, this skill will help me a great deal in
professional field to carry out the tasks with other business associates in an effectual way. One
more skill that I instilled inside me because of experiencing the mini project workshops was the
inculcation of the ability to carry out time management. The workshop was occurring in
scheduled timing and must be gone to by dealing with our time in a successful way. In this way,
I dealt with my different needs in a way to such an extent that I didn't miss even one meeting of
the workshops. The whole of the experience while undergoing mini project workshops
empowered me to upgrade my time management ability that is considered as an imperative skill
within the settings of the commercial scenario.
TASK 2
Evidence of Skills
CV Writing
CV is a summarised account of the academic and professional qualifications of an individual
along with the achievements pertinent to both the settings. It also consists of skills and attributes
that are inherent within a person and are believed to provide assistance to them while working in
a company. While undergoing degree course, my tutor informed that CV has to be submitted to
an organisation to apply for a vacancy within an entity. The CV should be written in an
appealing manner so that it can leave an everlasting impression over the interviewer.
Example of My CV:
Personal Summary
I’m a motivated person, hard worker and always ready to gain more knowledge and experience. I
am open for new challenges and I try all the time to improve my skills, to achieve more
knowledge about the business and to help company to grow up.
SKILLS
 Self-motivated
 Ability to work under pressure
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 Teamwork skills
 Quick learner
 Responsible
 Hardworker
Experience
Warehouse Operative (T J Morris LTD, Amesbury)–December, 2016 to Present
 My main duties are picking on voice and marshalling.
I have gained a lot of experience because I had the opportunity to work in many areas and I met
many people from different countries. Those things helped me to improve my English,
understand other cultures and also I become more responsible
Education
 Secondary Education Exam, 2016
 National College “Vladimir Streinu, Romania
Languages
 Romanian (Native)
 English (Medium)
Driving license- full
Communication skills
It is defined as the technique what we used to deliver any specific information or message to
others, in return of listening what they are saying. By communication skill, it means speaking,
listening, observing, reacting and other non-verbal mode. In this present time, communication is
considered both as necessary academic as well as professional skill that is what world demanding
now days. In my university, I was taught by my tutor about model of communication, where I
learnt that communication is of three types: Verbal, written and visual, with end motive to
communicate something with meaningful message. My tutor taught me that, written
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communication is mainly used when; we are using Email, Chat, letter, application etc. I also
learnt that visual communication is comprises of the conveying message through video, visual
arts, chart and graph. Verbal communication means face to face interaction, at the meeting and
appearing for the GD. Also, communication can be made up by Kinesics (Body movements).
Presentation skills
It is defined as capacity of an individual to engage the target audience for delivery of the view
along with power to impress someone’s or look appealing to motivate. In the university,
presentation is necessary, when I am appearing for power point presentation, campus placement
and any professional meeting. During my university, I learnt that being with presentation skills,
everybody can impress someone. I realized that presentation skills doesn’t mean wearing good
dress and look smart, but it actually mean how you react and show to be your best. Having a
great posture is pre-requisite when using body parts such as hands, shoulder and face. I am
comfortable with every single use of presentation skills and have got good command over this
skill. As I said no one is perfect, so I am learning this skill with higher accuracy.
Decision making
This can be referred to as the ability to make a rational choice in relation to any subject matter.
This skill was exercised by me in the university tenure while carrying out projects in group. This
provided assistance to the group in reaching out to a consensus in relation to any aspect of the
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group project work. This skill will provide assistance to me in context of employability to make
strategic decisions related to the company.
Job search planner
This can be referred to as the technique through which an individual can seek employment in the
field in which they intend to gain entry into. In this relation, this skill will be beneficial for me in
the last year of the university to find out potential as well as suitable jobs for me as per skill set,
qualifications and knowledge base. This is a skill which is very handy for every individual,
especially for college pass-outs.
Barriers to effective communication
Barriers to effective communication can be defined as the hurdles which restrain the process of
communication from taking place in a desirable manner. Within the tenure at college, I learnt
that there are several barriers which break the chain of communication such as linguistic,
psychological, semantic, attitudinal etc. The existence of these barriers within communication
may imply one party to misinterpret the message delivered by other or even the possibility of a
party being devoid of the access to a message.
Career action plan
This can be defined as a route map which is prepared by an individual with a view to ensure
entry into a profession in which they possess interest or expertise. In this relation, the projects
and assignments of college made me realise that I had deficiency of some skills which may
create problems for me in future course of time. Thus, I prepared a career action plan that
consisted of ways through which the entry into desired field can be ensured.
Team working
Team working can be defined as the ability of an individual to work in a group of more than two
persons. This is a skill which is quite handy for a student in their tenure at college. In this
relation, I made use of this skill especially when I was instructed by my tutor to work in group
for an assignment. While working for group assignments, theories like Belbin Team Roles and
Tuckman theory were applied so as to ensure that the group could achieve the team objectives in
a timely manner.
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Leadership skills
This is the ability of an individual to influence personnel in a manner such that their main motive
can be attained. This is regarded to be one of the most important skills in academic as well as
professional context. While working on one of the group projects in the college, I was handed
over the responsibility of leading my mates and things by my tutor. This enabled me to make use
of my leadership skills and ensure coordination between the members. The enhancement of my
leadership skills allowed me to develop a crucial employability skill which would provide due
assistance to me in taking the responsibility of the projects in future course of time.
Numeracy skills
This is defined as the ability of a person to deal with numeric terms and problems. This skill is
significant for students to complete their assignments properly. I made use of this skill while I
was working on a research project allotted by my tutor to be done over a multinational
corporation and their financial performance analysis for last 5 years. Numeracy skills
empowered me to deal with the finance part of the project in an effective manner.
Time management
This is defined as the capability of a person to effectively manage the time they have in a way
that the commitments made by them can be met timely. This is an imperative skill that must be
present within students so that their studies and projects can be managed as per the priority. This
skill was used by me all the time in college to accomplish my projects, studies, lecture revision
before the end of allotted time period.
Personal development
It is important for an individual to identify the set of needs which are required by them in
personal as well as professional context. In this regard, I used to regularly evaluate my strengths
and weaknesses in appropriate manner. This would enable to create a development plan for
developing professional and personal skills, to gain higher scores during academics or to achieve
organisational goals in future context of time.
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TASK 3
Summary
All through my general understanding of learning, it has been felt by me that I have experienced
different encounters that have moulded my scholastic life. Out of these, some experiences helped
me out in learning personal skills while some others shaped my professional personality. Based
on above determined distinctive scholastic abilities, it very well may be said that there some
aptitudes which are very valuable for me as they have helped me improving my working
capacities and odds of development in scholarly life. In this relation, some of the primary skills
that I developed include communication skill, presentation skill, team working, CV writing,
leadership, personal development, numeracy, organisational skills, career action plan, decision
making etc. As indicated by my own understanding, I have understood that communication skills
have led to enhancement of the way in which I present myself and my views and opinions in
front of others. Then again, presentation skills have provided assistance to me in voicing out my
thoughts and opinions in front of others in a proficient way. According to my assessment, I have
acknowledged that the correspondence and presentation skills are largely related to one another.
It is as though if an individual who builds up communication relational abilities then it would be
a lot simpler for them to build up their presentation expertise. This can be stated on the grounds
that, sound communication forms the base for flawless presentation to take place within the
academic settings.
Time management skills allowed me to prioritise all the tasks in accordance with their
importance and deadline. By leveraging this skill, I was able to make out time for my peers,
studies, assignments and revision of my lectures on a regular basis. This allowed me to meet my
personal as well as academic commitments in a timely manner. Additionally, improvement of
group working ability has gotten me out in successful accomplishment of work in teams.
Advancements of this ability have made me figured out how to cooperate with colleagues and
execute every single work by talking about it with the members. Daily conversations with
colleagues have contributed in finishing of collaborative projects in a timely manner and
improving my relationship with them to a great extent. In relation to whole of everything, it very
well may be said that development of skills has enabled me to score better in college and inflate
the probability of getting employment in desired field of corporate world.
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CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion, it can be said that there are various aptitudes that must be
intrinsic or obtained by an individual while undergoing studies so as to complete an effective
scholastic life. Such skills are composite of time management, CV writing, leadership skills,
organisational skills, numeracy, decision making skills, decision making, personal development,
job search planner etc. Such skills provide assistance to an individual in effectively carrying out
the tenure at university. Such skill set even pave way for an individual to seek entry into the
desired field or domain of profession. Further, mini project workshops enable individuals to
develop or improve some skills in order to facilitate employability.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cottrell, S., 2017. Critical thinking skills: Effective analysis, argument and reflection. Macmillan
International Higher Education.
Ghanizadeh, A., 2017. The interplay between reflective thinking, critical thinking, self-
monitoring, and academic achievement in higher education. Higher Education, 74(1),
pp.101-114.
Chamberlain, E., 2017. Extending the classroom walls: using academic blogging as an
intervention strategy to improve critical literacy skills with elementary
students. Education 3-13, 45(2), pp.243-257.
Edwards, S., 2017. Reflecting differently. New dimensions: reflection-before-action and
reflection-beyond-action. International Practice Development Journal, 7(1).
Tinto, V., 2017.Reflections on student persistence. Student Success, 8(2), pp.1-9.
Chen, P., Chavez, O., Ong, D.C. and Gunderson, B., 2017. Strategic resource use for learning: A
self-administered intervention that guides self-reflection on effective resource use
enhances academic performance. Psychological Science, 28(6), pp.774-785.
Kyte, R., Muse, K., Wager, D. and Barratt, A., 2017. Enhancing Study Skills: Development of an
Institute Wide Website.
Suleman, F., 2018. The employability skills of higher education graduates: insights into
conceptual frameworks and methodological options. Higher Education, 76(2), pp.263-
278.
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.
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