MFP Postgraduate Skills Development: Reflective Journal and Personal Development Plan

This reflective journal and personal development plan focuses on the development of transferable skills through independent learning strategies in both professional and academic contexts. It evaluates current skills and competencies against professional standards and presents strategies to achieve personal needs. The content includes a personal SWOT analysis, LinkedIn profile, and SMART goals.

MFP Postgraduate Skills Development 1
MFP Postgraduate Skills Development
Name of the Student:
Academic Affiliation:
Date:

MFP Postgraduate Skills Development 2
Introduction
My experience as an academic learner has been marked by various instances that have
defined both my academic and personal life. The major aim of this assignment is to produce a
reflective journal, a reflective essay, and an online portal which depicts the development of my
transferable skills. This will be achieved through the application of independent learning
strategies in both professional and academic contexts. That apart, it will also deal with the
evaluation of my current skills and competencies against professional standards in numerous
academic and professional aspects (Guixia & S.O.N.G., 2018). It will further present an
identification of my own personal needs and designing of viable strategies in order to achieve
them.
The Skills
In the past lectures, it was ascertained that comprehension of what was taught was quite
important. It is also through the past lectures that I was able to learn the current lessons in a
better way. I noted that the marketing individuals normally used some form of evidence in order
to persuade their viewers regarding the value of different inventions. To the marketers, I learnt
that such a value was highly determined mainly by whether if anything could be old or bought
and this in order words implied if a product or service was marketable (Adeyeye, M.M.P. &
Bamidele, 2018). The past lessons have greatly helped me to reflect or think on the major aims
of my course. It has also made me to learn that the communication skills are not generic but
rather, they usually differ to place and time. I have learnt that in order to effectively comprehend
the contents of the entire course, then it was important for me as a learner to become aware of all
the listening and communication styles so that I apply the same in my learning.
My personal skills

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In my learning process, I have made use of the field notes which I wrote by hand on the
lines papers. They were thus comprised of both mental triggers and jotted notes which were
personal notes that reminded me of some specific items when writing the notes. That apart, I also
took direct observation notes by recording what I saw so that I got a better sense of the learning
environment. The note taking process was quite essential in my learning process since it helped
me in ensuring that I carefully listened and decoded the information that was being disseminated
by the lecturers. However, I noted that not all of the recorded information was relevant but
through noting, I was able to find out relevant information which ultimately contributed to my
personal ability of forming an overview on the re-reading (Dow, 2017). However, I also noted
that the reliability and dependence on the jotted notes could at times prove to be quite
questionable. For example, such notes were not actually a “direct transcription or occurrence” of
what had been spoken but rather, it was comprised of interesting and pertinent information.
Owing to the fact that I did not find enough time that I could use in order to transcribe
direct quotations, I heavily relied on rapid paraphrasing that ultimately risked to change a
meaning of what had been said. Apart from that, it was also difficult to accurately note down
some of the technical information that I came across during the lectures. In fact, I regretted not
having a tape recorder since it could have been the best and most accurate method of recording
information (McKenzie, Coldwell-Neilson, Palmer, 2017). However, I noted that during one of
the meetings, one of the students came along with the recorder but was requested to switch it off
by the speaker who felt uneasy about having his comments being recorded directly. It seemed
like the speaker indeed felt differently on being photographed or recorded as observed by taking
of notes by the participants. This implies that it was important to seek consent or permission
before some of the technologies could ultimately be used.

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A portfolio of Personal management Skills Developed
 Punctuality-I always ensure that I am punctual not only at the university but also at my place of
work.
 Honest-I am always trusted to “cash out” at the end of every working day.
Team work Skills
 Friendly-I take it easy and my personal responsibility to ensure that I meet customers and aid
them in a professional manner (Mercer-Mapstone & Matthews, 2017).
 Problem solving-I am always ready to work with other team members in ensuring that the
solutions to the practical problems are found.
 I work in retail shops so that I can be able to gain the much needed experiences that will enable
me to open my own retail business in future.
 I have got good public speaking skills.
The Fundamental Skills
 Easy learning-I believe that learning is a continuous process in the entire of my life and thus
always try my best and enjoy in trying out new schools both at the university and at the place of
work.
 Digital Skills-I am competent in the digital skills which aid me to both develop as well as
enhance my skills in both the Microsoft software and in Adobe (Jorre & Oliver, 2018). I am
therefore competent in various Microsoft Office packages such as in Excel, Word, Adobe
Photoshop, PowerPoint, In design, Illustrator, and in Premiere Pro.
My Personal Smart Targets/Goals
In order to have a clear learning mindset, I realized that it was important to set my positive smart
goals. This is attributed to the fact that the development of SMART goals will enable me as a

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student to tackle any of the challenges that I may encounter in the course of my learning (Fenton-
Smith & Humphreys, 2017). In full, SMART is an abbreviation of the goals which imply to
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Realistic, Rigorous, and Results focused, and lastly
Timely and Trackable.
My personal smart goal is that I intend to carefully take notes and ensure that I review
them at least for two days before I sit for my examinations. This is quite important since it will
help me to ask the lecturer any questions in places which I have not understood so well. I will
always ensure that I work hand in hand with other team members in ensuring that the goals
which have been set in any group work are achieved (Clarke, 2017). I also aspire to in future
open my own retail store like Walmart so that I can deal in the retailing of groceries. However, I
will only do that after gaining the relevant experiences.
Specific-I need to ensure that I have accomplished all the tasks and assignments for this term and
ensure that I pass all the units on the module.
Measurable-The goals that I set will be measurable and in that, I will ensure that I get at least a
credit in all the units of this Module.
Achievable- I will ensure that I work hard in order to achieve the grades that I have set in the
module. I will always ensure that I set enough time for each and every activity so that I do not
miss deadlines (Huq & Gilbert, 2017).
Results Focused-I will have clear and distinct outcomes that will be used in meeting myself and
ensure that I hold myself to them.
Time Bound-I will set deadlines for my goals set above and ensure that the deadlines for them
are not missed.

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My Personal Development Plan (PDP)
It will be quite important for me to ensure that I effectively balance my time for work,
studying, and relaxing. The creation of a Personal Development Plan or PDP will thus ensure
that I effectively achieve this objective. A PDP will thus help me to document the numerous
developments which I have attained and ensure that a good momentum is maintained in my
entire learning period (Miletzki & Broten, 2017). This PDP will among other issues formulate
my mission, vision, and goals and help me effectively reflect on my current relationship between
personal as well as professional values.
In the next six years, I see myself being a well known and respected CEO of a large
organization who will be able to give good leadership to the people who will be working under
me. In addition to that, I also anticipate becoming a reliable individual who will be respected not
only by family and friends but also by numerous people in my work circles (Kyoung, Lattuca &
Alcott, 2017). I thus look forward to making positive changes to any person that I will encounter
in my life and ensure that I create a positive impact on their lives. I will reflect on my personal
values so that I enhance the lives of the people that I will meet and ensure that I embrace the
internet in order to improve the manner or way in which I will be working.
My personal values which are also well linked to my professional career include among
others honesty. I am always honest in my dealings and will always ensure that I become assertive
and polite so that other individuals cannot trample on my personal rights (Nabi et al, 2017). That
apart, my personal values and ethics are also effectively associated to academic integrity and
thus ensure that I do my own work without copying from the internet or through collusion. I

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always ensure that any of the outside sources that I use in my work are well acknowledged, cited,
and referenced.
My LinkedIn Profile
My LinkedIn profile helps me to grow my network and thus be in a better position of
meeting people in my professional network (Ninio, 2018). This will quite definitely help me get
mentors in my professional career field who will help me and direct me towards the right
direction. I will thus strive to ensure that my I grow my LinkedIn profile grows on a daily basis.
My Personal SWOT Analysis

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SWOT is any acronym that implies to the Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
(Dow, 2017). Some of them are listed on my LinkedIn Profile:
As a student, these are some of the aspects that I will encounter in the course of my learning
career and it is indicated in the table below
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
 I am good at character recognition
 I am capable of making presentations in front
of large crowds thus I am a good public
speaker.
 I am tech savvy
 I am capable of using numerous learning
styles (Meltzer, 2018).
 I am a good public speaker.
 I am easily distracted by small interruptions.
 I usually jump to final images without
depicting the developments
 I am not normally confident with the diverse
poses.
 Sometimes I fail to effectively read through
the briefs thus missing out on some
important parts.
 So as to ensure that I grasp the contents
being learnt effectively, I have to read

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through them loudly (Kim et al, 2017).
 I am impulsive.
 I struggle in making fast decisions.
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
 The fact that the university enrolled students
from all over the world is an indicator that I
will get the opportunity to learn numerous
skills from them and thus become effective
in my career.
 The ability to work effectively with other
people implies that I have a team spirit and
thus can effectively work with other people
as a team.
 Collaboration with other people implies that
it will be easier for me to meet the set goals
and objectives for the organization I will
work for (Huq & Gilbert, 2017).
 My strong communication skills enable me
to get along with other people in an
effective manner.
 The fact that we are many students in
the class makes it impossible to have
personalized attention.
 I have similar styles that are only
applicable to me thus it will be difficult
for me to effectively blend with
crowds.
 Getting easily distracted by small issues
will ultimately affect the quality and
nurture of my work.
 Being impulsive may easily make me to
make drastic choice regarding my
career which may ultimately make me
regret down the line.
In order to effectively enhance my learning process, it will be important for me to not only
comprehend but also apply the independent learning in an appropriate manner. This is quite
essential because it will enhance my entire learning process. I will ensure that the independent
learning strategies are applied in both the professional and academic contexts. Based on the
above information, it is quite evident that an evaluation of my personal skills and competencies
effectively match with my professional and academic areas (Bonin, 2017). The identification of
my weaknesses is quite important because it will help me ascertain my personal development
skills and thus be in a better position of coming up with viable solutions or strategies to counter
them.

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References
Adeyeye, M.M.P. and Bamidele, W.O.P., EFFECT OF CORRUPTION ON ACCESS TO
FINANCE FOR MARKET PIONEERING IN NIGERIA: EVIDENCE FROM KNOWLEDGE-
INTENSIVE BUSINESSES.
Bonin, H., 2017. Economics of education.
Clarke, M., 2017. Rethinking graduate employability: the role of capital, individual attributes
and context. Studies in Higher Education, pp.1-15.
Dow, K.L., 2017. Strengthening quality assurance in Australian higher education. In Global
perspectives on quality in higher education (pp. 135-154). Routledge.
Dow, K.L., 2017. Strengthening quality assurance in Australian higher education. In Global
perspectives on quality in higher education (pp. 135-154). Routledge.
Fenton-Smith, B. and Humphreys, P., 2017. Language specialists’ views on the academic
language and learning abilities of English as an additional language postgraduate coursework
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Huq, A. and Gilbert, D., 2017. All the world’sa stage: transforming entrepreneurship education
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Huq, A. and Gilbert, D., 2017. All the world’sa stage: transforming entrepreneurship education
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