Personal Insight into Personal Development and Employability Skills

This report discusses the importance of personal assessment in the recruitment process and the relevance of SWOT analysis and personality tests. It also covers job clusters, industry expectations, and criteria, along with an evaluation of the author's skills and capabilities. The report emphasizes the need for self-awareness and continuous learning for personal development and employability. Course code, course name, and college/university are not mentioned.

PERSONAL INSIGHT INTO PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND
EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS
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PERSONAL INSIGHT INTO PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS
NAME OF THE STUDENT
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1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In the present age of competition, business requirements are changing rapidly. Along with this, the
recruitment and selection process underwent noticeable transformations. Most of the candidates fail to
leave a mark on the interviewers, which necessitate the need for personal assessment. Herein lays the
appropriateness of SWOT analysis, which makes the candidates aware of their current skills, abilities and
competencies. Different personality tests also help the candidates to assess the effectiveness,
appropriateness of the skills, which they possess. Experiment with the possessed skills makes the
candidates aware of the real requirements and specifications for getting selected in the companies and
organizations.
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2 CONTENTS
1 Executive Summary.............................................................................................................................2
3 General Information About Short Reports...........................................................................................4
4 My Job Cluster(s).................................................................................................................................5
5 Industry and Employer Expectations and Criteria................................................................................5
5.1 The Profession.............................................................................................................................5
5.2 The Key Expectations and Criteria for (My Cluster/Industry).......................................................5
6 Evaluation of My Skills and Capabilities...............................................................................................6
6.1 Academic Highlights.....................................................................................................................6
6.2 Personal Skills and Abilities..........................................................................................................6
6.3 My SHAPES Evaluation................................................................................................................6
6.4 Current Experiences.....................................................................................................................6
7 My Gap Analysis..................................................................................................................................7
7.1 GAPS in Current Skills and Knowledge.........................................................................................7
7.2 My SWOT....................................................................................................................................7
8 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................8
9 Appendices..........................................................................................................................................9
10 References.......................................................................................................................................9
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3 GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT SHORT REPORTS
This assessment is a type of short report (see the Deakin Study Support service). A short report is a
document that presents clear, focused, comprehensive information on a specific subject.
A good way to start your work using a report format is to use one of the existing templates available in
your word or document software.
To structure your report, make sure each section:
 Uses suitable headings.
 Provides a clear indication of purpose.
 Provides accurate and objective information, demonstrating your research and analysis.
 Write in the first person or second person.
 Keep your writing focused on the topic. Short reports often have very tight word limits.
 Use relevant graphics to support or illustrate or demonstrate your information. Graphics can
include tables, graphs or diagrams but make sure they are your own work. Copied tables and
diagrams detract from your work.
Don’t forget to cite your sources correctly and list all your references in your references section at the
end of the report.
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4 MY JOB CLUSTER(S)
Job clusters are the different avenues, which helps the individuals in progressing towards their
career. According to the nature of jobs, the different job clusters are:
 The Generators
 The artisans
 The designers
 The technologists
 The carers
 The informers
 The coordinators
I think interest areas are extremely helpful for us in terms of selecting the appropriate career
option. After the interest areas, comes my strength. Early career jobs help me in gaining experience
from an advanced stage (Caldwell and Hayes 2016).
As the nature of business is changing rapidly, therefore, I need to include evaluation within my
daily activities. This evaluation would make me aware whether I possess the skills needed for
maintaining the pace with the current competitive business.
I affirm with the fact that portability is needed in most of the jobs. Here, I can relate the aspect
of knowledge transfer. This is in terms of mitigating the instances of inappropriate knowledge skills from
the employees (Cottrell 2015).
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By completing the quiz, “can we guess your ideal job cluster”, based on the life choices, I found
my job cluster to be a “coordinator” (Refer to appendix figure 3). This job cluster involves repetitive,
administrative and back office jobs. Occupations under this cluster are-
 bookkeepers
 printer
 cooks of fast food
 bus drivers
 removing furniture
 Clerks
 receptionists and
 attendants for car parking
The industry, I would operate under this job cluster is Administrative Service and Logistics.
Therefore, I need technical skills and database management skills for carrying out the business activities
efficiently and effectively. Along with this, I also need to possess adequate social skills. I think social
media is important in terms of enhancing the awareness regarding the prospective sources from where I
can upgrade my current skills (Cunningham 2017). Evaluating the prospects of the current work would
help me to assess its effectiveness, appropriateness and feasibility in terms of the identified and the
specified goals.
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5 INDUSTRY AND EMPLOYER EXPECTATIONS AND
CRITERIA
5.1 THE PROFESSION
The profession referred here is that of a coordinator.
Skills Industry Job Description
Communication 5 2 This is the most important skill in terms of
presenting the viewpoints in the
workplace.
Technical Skills 1 1 Technical skills are crucial in the present
age of competition. Fluency in
technological skills eases the process of
getting recruited in the prestigious
companies and organizations.
Teamwork 2 3 Teamwork is the most important aspect,
which the managers look for in the
candidates, while undertaking practical
examinations for assessing their capability
towards doing the allocated tasks.
Demands of the employees regarding graduates vary according to the requirements of the job.
For getting employed in the industry, the essential skills needed are communication, technical and
teamwork. The demand for positions varies from person to person. Therefore, tests and interviews are
needed for selecting the right candidate (Serrat 2017). Planning is needed for executing the recruitment
and selection activities in an efficient and effective manner. Within the planning, focus needs to be
placed on the interest areas of the candidates along with their strengths and capabilities.
5.2 THE KEY EXPECTATIONS AND CRITERIA FOR (MY
CLUSTER/INDUSTRY)
Digitization
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The recent trends in Administrative Services and Logistics are based on smart and technical
skills. Technological is essential in this industry for enhancing the efficiency. Technology also helps in
reducing the manual labors in supply chain. This technological advancement has enhanced the stability
in the relationship between the personnel and the customers (Graduate Outlook 2014). This stability, in
turn, has resulted in increasing the sales revenue and profit margin.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence has eased the applications in the warehouse segment. An interesting point
here is the introduction of gesture recognition, obliterating the use of keyboards in the procurement
process. Apart from this, navigation of the vehicles is the latest attractions among the employees.
Introduction of robotics and automation has expanded the scope and arena of Administrative Services
and Logistics Industry (Stott et al. 2015).
In view of the above additions, the job vacancies have changed. Now, the criteria is masters in
Applied science and computers. Here, the latest addition is the consideration of robotics for carrying out
the navigation tasks in an efficient and efficient manner.
On-time deliveries, damage free shipping and accurate documentation are the new plans of
Administrative Services and Logistics Industry. Therefore, there can be job vacancies for delivery agents
Here, one of the criterias would be flexible in Barcode, RFID and IoT for achieving customer
satisfaction(Graduate Outlook 2014).
Elastic Logistics
This deals with catering to the specific needs and demands of the customers. Market fluctuations
are one of an important aspect in elastic logistics. Therefore, in the next five years, the criteria for
getting recruited in this post would be at least 5 years experience as a market analyst. Along with this,
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experience as customer care executive can also be one of the criterias for recruiting candidates in this
regards. Third party dealers would also be one of the requirements in the job profile. Moreover, fluency
in outsourcing and navigation would also be one of the requirements for enhancing the productivity of
Administrative Services and Logistic Industry (Graduate Outlook 2014).
6 EVALUATION OF MY SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES
6.1 ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHTS
When I visited the companies for giving interview, the most common question is “So tell me about
yourself?” At the initial stage, I was confused as what to say to impress the interviewer. Then I started
with my, educational qualifications and other whereabouts. Unfortunately, I did not get selected. I
wondered where I went wrong. Referring to various sites regarding how to give good interviews, I found
that the interviewers look for something which is not there in the CV. Therefore, I started writing
answers for the question. I erased the answers, which I did not like. This process helped me to reach to
the appropriate answer. I can say the persistent efforts towards self-awareness helped me to create
positive image in the minds of the interviewers.
6.2 PERSONAL SKILLS AND ABILITIES
According to the results of the 16 personality test, I am 28% extraverted and 72% introvert.
Herein I can relate my hesitations while communicating with others. This reflects my mental instability in
terms of dealing with personal issues in an efficient and effective manner. I think this is not right, as it is
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compelling me to lag behind others. The score shows that I am 81% intuitive and 19% observant towards
the events taking place in my surroundings. However, I think that I need to increase the score of
observation in terms of enhancing the skills of critical analysis. My nature tells that I devote 32% of my
thought process and 68% feeling while taking decisions. This reflects my kind and compassionate feeling
towards the sentiments of others while taking the decisions. High score for the feelings reflect my
inability to overcome thoughts, feelings and emotions. I feel proud of my tactics. The major drive behind
this is the score, which reflects 57% for prospecting and 43% judging. This is because I feel myself
capable of assessing the prospect of the sources, which I refer for reaching to the identified goals and
objectives. Apart from this, I am hardworking and expose a dedicated approach towards the tasks,
which I am allocated.
6.3 MY SHAPES EVALUATION
Personal Styles and Effective Performance highlights the differing and varying behavioural
construct of the individuals. Using the shapes tool, I can say that while analyzing, I am critical, serious,
orderly and picky. Practicality, strong will power, independent drives me towards my emotions.
Supportive, respectful, agreeable are my attributes in the segment of amiability. I am too ambitious,
which I love to express to people. This compels me to achieve numerous reactions. Some of the
reactions are flexible enough to hurt my ego. However, I try to reveal friendly attitude towards my
friends. This approach helps me to maintain my position in the society.
The shapes analytical tool has four directions- controlling emotions, voicing out the expressions and
asking the appropriateness and effectiveness. I think analysis of the emotions and expressions proves
effective in terms of assessing the progress towards development. This analysis forms crucial in terms of
measuring the social status. On the contrary, if I am determined in my approach towards executing the
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tasks, then I am liable to get praises and appreciation from my friends, peers and relatives. Exposing
severe happiness on this success would act as a deviation for me in terms of the identified and specified
goals.
6.4 CURRENT EXPERIENCES
Currently, I am attending personality development courses to upgrade my current skills, expertise
and knowledge. Here, I am getting training on communication and behavior. This is appropriate in terms
of adjusting within the workplace environment in future life. These courses have inculcated within me
self-organizational skills. I have created action plans for completing the tasks within the stipulated time.
Now, I regularly evaluate the created plans in terms of assessing their effectiveness and
appropriateness. Along with this, I am referring to various external sources for broadening the scope
and arena of my knowledge, skills and expertise. I also indulge in-group discussions with friends and
family for testing my knowledge on the events, which are happening around me. Sometimes, I am
feeling discouraged towards following the developing action plans. This is my weakness in terms of
organizing the tasks according to their priorities. However, I think the short-term goals reflect the
measurability of my progression towards personal development. As I am sticking to the goals, I think I
would be able to fulfill my goals. Undertaking challenging and enduring tasks have enhanced my
confidence. I am giving presentations in various platforms for overcoming stage frights. I am maintaining
eye contact with the people for gaining an insight into the approach of the people towards my
propositions.
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7 MY GAP ANALYSIS
7.1 GAPS IN CURRENT SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE
I lack self-confidence when I am allotted many tasks at the same time. This makes me
puzzled and I commit mistakes. I become nervous, which compels me to suffer from dilemmas
and hesitation while executing the easiest tasks. Along with this, I also experience fear when I
am amidst lot of people. In this situation, many kinds of thoughts hover around my mind. I
think they are mocking my performance. I become depressed and feel that I would be
incapable of carrying out the tasks, which has been allotted to me.
I can also point out that I lack the technological skills. I can access the various sites,
although not as fast as my friends. It takes a lot of time for me to access the sites for
getting information on the research topics.
I lack patience when I am continuously getting negative results. Then I lose my temper
and shout on the person in front of me. I think being short-tempered is not at all good for me
in terms of adjusting with the environment I am placed in.
7.2 MY SWOT
Strengths
I think hardworking, dedication and
commitment are my greatest strengths
in terms of reaching to my identified
and specified goals. Along with this,
sociability makes me easily
approachable, which is assistance for
me in terms of enhancing my
knowledge regarding the prospective
Weaknesses
 Lack of self-confidence
 Poor grasping skills in
technology
 Lack of patience
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avenues for me.
Opportunities
Capability towards working under
pressure acts as an opportunity for me
in terms of adjusting with any type of
workplace environment I am placed in.
My curiosity in new subjects can help
me to get better placement in
prestigious companies. This would
enhance my professionalism.
Threats
 Negligence towards improving
the technical skills
 Gaining confidence regarding
the undertaken activities
8 CONCLUSION
From the assignment, it can be concluded that I need to improve on the aspects of confidence,
presentation appearance. This is as a result of the personality test, which I have undertaken for the
assessment of my skills, abilities and competencies. SWOT analysis proves effective in terms of gaining
awareness regarding the strengths and capabilities, which I possess for getting recruited in the selected
job cluster. Evaluation is necessary in terms of excavating the drawbacks in the exposed performance.
Taking into consideration assessment tools and reflective cycles would prove efficient in terms of
measuring the effectiveness, appropriateness and feasibility in terms of the identified and the specified
goals. Maintaining consistency in the execution of evaluation would help me to upgrade the standards
and quality of my current performance.
9 APPENDICES
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Figure 1: Results of 16 personality type test
Figure 2: Results of Shape tool
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Figure 3: Result of “Can We Guess Your Ideal Job Cluster Based on Life Choices”
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10 REFERENCES
Caldwell, C. and Hayes, L.A., 2016. Self-efficacy and self-awareness: moral insights to increased leader
effectiveness. Journal of Management Development, 35(9), pp.1163-1173. Carson, K.D., Carson, P.P.
and Birkenmeier, B.J., 2016. Measuring emotional intelligence: Development and validation of an
instrument. Journal of Behavioral and applied Management, 2(1).
Cottrell, S. 2015. Skills for Success. Personal Development and Employability. Palgrave. (ISBN
9781137426529)
Cunningham, I., 2017. The wisdom of strategic learning: The self managed learning solution. Routledge.
Graduate Careers Australia Publication: Graduate Outlook 2014, Employers’ Perspective on Graduate
Recruitment in Australia
Serrat, O., 2017. Understanding and developing emotional intelligence. In Knowledge Solutions (pp. 329-
339). Springer, Singapore.
Stott, T., Allison, P., Felter, J. and Beames, S., 2015. Personal development on youth expeditions: A
literature review and thematic analysis. Leisure Studies, 34(2), pp.197-229.
Tattum, D. and Tattum, E., 2017. Social education and personal development. Routledge.
Whitehall, A.P., Hill, L.G., Yost, D.M. and Kidwell, K.K., 2018. Being Smart Is Not Enough to Ensure
Success: Integrating Personal Development into a General Education Course. The Journal of General
Education, 65(3-4), pp.241-263.
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