Improving Personal Insight to Build Better Careers

This study material provides tips for young professionals to improve their personal insight and build better careers. It covers topics such as recruitment and interview process, securing practical experience and knowledge, research on the industry and organization in advance, and more. The content also includes a sample application and interview materials using the STAR framework.

2/5/2018
Student Name
IMPROVING PERSONAL INSIGHT TO BUILD BETTER
CAREERS

Contents
Introduction2
Research and discuss the recruitment and interview process2
Securing Practical Experience and Knowledge2
Research on the industry and organization in advance3
Listen, reason than respond clearly3
Write your application4
Interview materials using STAR framework/ interview6
Situation:6
Task:6
Action:6
Response:7
Reflection7
Mock interviews7
What you have learned about yourself & influence career planning8
References9

Introduction
As the number of young professionals increases each year, the pressure increases towards
securing stable employment and maintaining existing jobs. The over-saturation of young
professionals in markets delivers major benefits to the corporate world but only increases the
pressure and burden on the working professional (Twillie, 2014). This makes it important for
young professionals to change their vision towards their career so as to improve the opportunities
they encounter. Unlike the past when career success was directly influenced by academic
qualifications, today a combination of academic qualifications, knowledge, skill, and adaptability
are all traits employers are looking for (Rook, 2013). In addition to this developing versatile
knowledge skills and sets also allows the professionals to build self-confidence and
independence which can also be used to generate income from other sources rather than only
wait for employment income.
Research and discuss the recruitment and interview process
Recruitment is growing more difficult each year as the number of candidates graduating from
college increases and the number of available jobs remains low yet the number of professionals
increases (Ball & Ball, 2010). As more professionals graduate from college and university, the
hiring criteria adopted by major corporate organizations are also becoming most stringent. This
places additional pressure on the young professionals who are expected to deliver more attractive
skills and talent so as to secure any vacant job positions. With this pressure, many continue to
invest time towards developing practical skills and knowledge in different fields since it delivers
an added benefit to the professional’s portfolio (Arthur, 2012). Being a fresher is among the most
negative qualities a young professional can be highlighted for but one is only classified as a
fresher if they have no practical experience in the field.
Securing Practical Experience and Knowledge
One of the most important factors young professionals must to consider is securing internships
and virtual employment as well as volunteer opportunities as these help deliver added knowledge
and skill. Full attention should be delivered towards maintaining a good reputation and high
performance on these opportunities and recommendation letters requested (Allen & Velden, 2011) .
This can be achieved while candidates are still in college and university but by securing practical

and on job experience they would be able to develop their knowledge and understand corporate
expectations. This would, in turn, deliver important strengths which can be used by the candidate
while attending job interviews which will ultimately make recruitment easier. This is achieved
by the individual being able to secure important insight and understanding related to employer
expectations and targets as well as maintaining their focus and attention towards consistently
working under pressure. It’s important to keep in mind that a manager’s job is to constantly
supply work and utilize employee knowledge and skills thus it’s important to be prepared to
demonstrate your flexibility towards adopting new roles. This makes you a more valuable asset
for any organisation which thus delivers more job security and reduces the organisations human
resource costs. This makes it important for they on professional to begin building skills and their
adopt ability skills from an early stage so as to ensure they are versatile and capable of handling
the pressure placed on them by management while on the role. Improving ones skills should be
considered and used as an important tool which can be utilized towards career success thus it’s
critical that young professionals develop and master the skills from a young age.
Research on the industry and organization in advance
In 95% of the situations, candidates would be approaches by the recruitment officer or human
resource officer over the call and informed to attend the interview on a certain day. The
organization's name, address and other important details are usually delivered to the candidate
via email or SMS. Rather than sit tight and wait for the interview coming in a day or two, the
candidate should focus on research on the organization's history, industry, and specialization
(Mackay, 2010). This is a critical aspect many fresher’s and young professionals fail to do and
they attendance views armed with the educational certificates and intuition. Having little
knowledge of organization and industries background helps improve one’s interview experience
and delivers a better impression to the interviewers thus improving the likeliness of them
selecting the individual.
Listen, reason than respond clearly
During the interview candidates must remain calm and be able to listen and reason before
responding. This is critical since it’s important to understand what you have been asked and any
underlying point the interviewer may be looking for. Don’t take too long to reason and make
sure the response is clear and firm. Avoid using questionable terms like I think, maybe, I’m not

sure as this demonstrates hesitation. Instead, you must maintain a firm position with you
responses which contribute towards demonstrating your confidence even if the answer may be
wrong (Denhardt, Denhardt, & Aristigueta, 2015).
Last but not least one should always consider having back up planned an alternative to fall back
on. In many situations, candidates will fall into depression and anxiety for failing to be selected
but this is best handled by having family and financial support and backing (Byers, 2008). Involve
family and friending your daily planning and report result so as to secure moral support and
guidance on alternative approaches to be considered in the future. There is nothing wrong with
being rejected after a job interview but this is something which needs to be discussed rather than
kept at heart.
Write your application
XXXXXXXXX Bl Carter,
Melbourne City
04 February 2018
Ms. P Ramsey
HR Manager
The Hershey Company Address
Dear Ms. Ramsey
Please find enclosed a copy of my Resume and application for the Quality management position
at The Hershey Company Melbourne Branch posted on newspapers on 25 January 2018. I am
currently pursuing my quality management program at the Melbourne University which I expect
to be completed by June 2018.

My interest towards quality control developed over many years and a recall asking my parents
regarding quality control at the tender age of 10 year. Over time my interest has developed in the
field allowing me to determine the role of quality control in operation to be my preferred
profession of choice.
I also have a keen interest towards community work and have enrolled in volunteer services
across several organizations and project where I assisted in education and training programs.
This has allowed me to secure important experience and knowledge in different field which I can
use towards improving my career in future. I also have a persisting interest towards learning and
find myself spending hours learning new skills on the internet as well as by attending skill
development programs when the time is available.
Reviewing my Resume you will quickly be able to pinpoint several volunteer service activities I
have participated in the past 5 years. I have also actively participated on internships which have
helped be secure important knowledge and work experience. Combined with my interest towards
quality control, I feel confident to apply for this position at The Hershey Company. My acquired
educational qualification, skills and knowledge have helped me build confidence in undertaking
these responsibilities and ensure each Hershey product delivers the best experience to the
consumer.
I am available for interview at any time and should you require any further information please do
not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Interview materials using STAR framework/ interview
Situation:
Being from quality control background and having high expectation has resulted in my
experience serious situation while in supervisory roles (Otaibi, 2015). I joined Cargill as a quality
control volunteer in 2014 and was immediately immersed in my work as it involved evaluating
products before shipment to the customer. Initially, the feedback I delivered was accepted with
praise but over time the feedback began causing friction and stress among staff, the management,
and suppliers. The problem was sighted towards my persistence towards reviewing certain basic
requirement which was not being delivered on certain products.
Task:
My role and responsibility were to monitor and manager quality and this requires me to sample
as many products as possible before approval. I would need to review all product and share
feedback and recommendations with the suppliers and management with the intention of
ensuring only the best quality was delivered
Action:
Once identified certain suppliers were highlighted for constantly delivering poor quality and
feedback was shared and some supply contracts placed on hold. This would have a negative

effect on the organizations overall sales and turn over but I was determined it would improve
quality on future and any losses incurred would be recovered. The objective would be to freeze
defaulted accounts with the intention of demonstrating the importance of quality after which
feedback would be shared and supply gradually reactivated.
Response:
The proposed action on the suppliers was taken negatively but it was necessary so as to establish
the correct attitude towards the quality expectations of the organization. To improve quality
drastic measures had to be taken by blocking and freezing problematic supplier accounts so they
could reorganize their operations before reproaching the organization. Their application would
be given priority as many were old suppliers but quality would have to be maintained to the
highest standards without fail.
Reflection
Mock interviews
The mock interviews have assisted me to identify important attributes which interviewers expect
from the candidate while making their response. Simply educational qualifications are not
adequate towards ensuring one is selected for a position and I will need to focus on improving
other areas such as knowledge and skill development. This will be achieved through participating
in extracurricular activities falling under different industries and field which will deliver the
desired experience and knowledge.
Being able to utilize DIEP – Describe, Interpret, Evaluate and Plan approaches during self-
evaluation and analysis is critical towards a self-realization and improvement. Before
considering rectifying others one must be able to review their own performance then be able to
point out others performance and weaknesses. DIEP is there for very important and a powerful
tool towards self-realizations and improvement. This makes it important for young professionals
to be able to describe their expectations and needs after which be able to interpreter what those
expectation will need to be implemented. Implementation is not a matter of simply discussion
but also requires for the individual to set goals towards ensuring success is achieved and the

problems resolved. One must also be able to self-evaluate their performance and develop
additional plans which can be used to further develop their career.
As mentioned earlier the major effort falls upon the young professional who is expected to
develop their own skills and knowledge which will help them boost their moral and confidence
thus helping improve their confidence while attending interviews which will also improve their
success rate. Education is not restricted to school, college and university and must be continued
outside educational facilities so as to build stability, confidence and the ability to secure and
retain the best employment opportunities.
It is important to perform this work practically as this will ensure it is imprinted to my brain thus
ensuring it remains valid and accessible for many years to come. Practical knowledge and
experience have been termed as important assets every individual must develop so it not only
improves their employability ratio but also allows them to be more enterprising. With the skills,
the individuals are more open towards taking up and starting their small projects and work thus
allowing them to generate income even during times when they may not be able to secure a job.
What you have learned about yourself & influence career planning
During this course, I have been able to determine that one’s career path is greatly influenced by
the way in which the individual performs while on the job and this is affected by the amount of
knowledge they have. Being able to acquire vast knowledge and experience is very important
towards one's career success as it delivers many alternatives careers to consider and also allows
them to boost their confidence while attending interviews and recruitment sessions. This is
achieved due to the individual being well informed regarding the field which is a factor which
allows them to respond to interview question sensibly. This is considered as being among the
most important attributes and characteristics and young professional should have which can be
used towards building their career while also keeping in mind the organization development
ingrowth. It’s important that all stakeholders’ focus their attention towards each other’s
development as well since each person expects to register growth and development over time
which and must, therefore, be included to the career objectives and discussed during interviews.

References
Allen, J., & Velden, R. v. (2011). The Flexible Professional in the Knowledge Society: New
Challenges for Higher Education. New York: Springer Science & Business Media.
Arthur, D. (2012). Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting & Orienting New Employees. AMACOM
Div American Mgmt Assn.
Ball, F. W., & Ball, B. B. (2010). Killer Interviews: Success Strategies for Young Professionals.
Indianapolis: Dog Ear Publishing.
Byers, A. (2008). Great Resume, Application, and Interview Skills. New York: The Rosen
Publishing Group.
Denhardt, R. B., Denhardt, J. V., & Aristigueta, M. P. (2015). Managing Human Behavior in
Public and Nonprofit Organizations. SAGE Publications.
Mackay, H. (2010). Use Your Head To Get Your Foot In The Door: Job Search Secrets No One
Else Will Tell You. London: Hachette UK.
Otaibi, O. A. (2015). How To Pass The Job Interview: Job Interview Tips & Questions.
Rook, S. (2013). The Graduate Career Guidebook: Advice for Students and Graduates on
Careers Options, Jobs, Volunteering, Applications, Interviews and Self-employment. New
York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Twillie, J. (2014). Navigating the Career Jungle: A Guide for Young Professionals. Xlibris
Corporation.