Personality Development and Portfolio

This study material provides insights into personality development and portfolio. It covers topics such as self-awareness, short and long term goals, personal values, definition of success, expectations of a degree, personal SWOT analysis, learning objectives, and developing plans. The document also includes reflections on the learning experience and a sample cover letter for a media content reviewer position.

Running head: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT AND PORTFOLIO
Personality Development and Portfolio
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT AND PORTFOLIO
Part 1: Self-Awareness
1a. Personal Introduction
I am a student of the Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland. I have been born and
brought up in Dublin and have spent my childhood here itself. I have done my primary as
well as secondary schooling from the Country Cavan where I have acquired knowledge in the
subjects like English, Mathematics, Science, History as well as Music, Geography and Art.
Apart from the English language, I have learnt other languages as well, like, Irish, French and
German. However, it is since then that I have gained my interest in the English Language and
I decided to learn more about the language. Apart from my degree and my academics, I have
a varied types of hobbies. Among everything sports is something that I excel at. I have been
playing basketball since my childhood and have also played in the school as well as national
team. However I had to drop off playing in the national team due to my higher studies. In
accordance with this, I also have interests in social work, and I love to feed the roadside
animals. Photography is actually my passion and my camera and nature is something that
helps me find peace within my own self.
1b. Short & Long term Goals
I have just finished my post-graduation in English Literature from the University of
Dublin, in Ireland and now am planning to pursue my further studies in a Post Graduate
Diploma Course in Journalism, Mass-Communication and Public Relations. Since
photography is my passion, I see myself pursuing it and giving justice to my interests. I am
planning on to do an internship in an advertisement agency during the summer vacation of
the course that I am going to pursue. They indeed have it integrated in their course, however,
I also have plans onto shooting a short film along with my friends or shoot an advertisement.
Along with these, and with an English Literature and Mass Communication background, I

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will be able to communicate easily and the career options will turn feasible. In the long tern, I
see myself working for a popular advertisement agency or any film production, where I can
make use of my degrees and knowledge.
1c. Personal Values
Personal values are something that we possess and it includes the characteristic and
the behaviours that motivate us and helps us to be a better person.as a person I am extremely
kind and whatever comes on my way, receives an honest decision or a response (Parks-
Leduc, Feldman, and Bardi 2015). People can easily depend on me since I am responsible
enough to carry on any sort of task with proper expertise. I love adventures and challenges
excite me much. I make sure that I complete a task in proper time, with the utmost perfection
and sincerity, keeping a strong determination and understanding of the topic. In accordance
with all these, I am extremely friendly and have fellow feeling towards others. I make sure
that the people I work with are comfortable enough, working with me, and they receive a
positive vibe from my side.
1d. Definition of success
Success according to me is the fact of achieving respect or fame or wealth. It is
always doing one’s best in whatever one does. The secret of success is nothing but devotion
and putting one’s heart, mind and intelligence as well as his soul in the smallest acts and tasks
that he performs (York, Gibson and Rankin 2015). One can perform his best only if he has a
proper, written and concrete goal. Success according to my perception is the apprehension
that there is a slight difference between one’s need and want. If the basic needs and
requirements are fulfilled, with the strong belief within oneself that he or she can and has the
capability, then nothing can stop him from being successful (Heitner, Kahn and Sherman
2013). Success for a person is also about maintaining the effective balance between one’s
profession and his passion. Working without passion is eventually useless and if a person is

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unable to sort out his priorities in his work, he cannot achieve success. He should try to do all
the important tasks without spending time in the unimportant ones. Fear is one’s greatest
enemy. A person must overcome his fear in order to achieve success. As we have learnt from
our childhood days, failures are the pillars of success. It is not that if one fails, he cannot ever
be successful. Giving up is not the policy. People should keep trying hard. Nothing should
stop a person from trying hard, neither loss of confidence nor any kind of physical disability.
However one should remain grounded even if one achieves or believes in something and
must have the control of one’s own destiny (Petty 2014). Treating people well, and following
one’s own path overcoming all the obstacles actually help people to achieve success.
According to Charles Lindbergh, Success is not something that is measured by the
accomplishments of a man. Instead it is measured by the opposition he has encountered, and
the courage with which he has maintained his struggle against all obstacles and hurdles.
Lastly, a person who tries to live alone will never succeed in live. Companionship and
finding love is essential for attaining success.
1e. Expectations of this Degree
I have decided to pursue this degree that I am going to pursue on Mass
Communication, Journalism and Public Relations primarily because this would help walk
towards my dream and achieve success in the same. Also as a mass media representative,
people would expect me to have responsibility and self-awareness about the subject and the
task, and pursue fair reporting. It would provide me the opportunity to engage actively with
the world and communicate with the people globally. The scope of this degree is pretty vast
and it would provide me the opportunities to venture into the careers in news channels, radio
channels, print media, and advertisements as well as in the Public Relation firms of the
country. This degree most importantly will be an opportunity to expand my network. I would
gain experiences in field studies and also I expect this course to open up doors of my future to

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a broader horizon. It has become very essential nowadays to express views and feelings.
Studying mass communication helps one to improve their skills and inculcate his individual
opinions and views over any topic. Finally this course will give me ample opportunities to
travel and explore and meet new people and gather a variety of experiences en route. And
unlike other professions, the professions of the mass media provide lucrative salary packages,
which a student will necessarily expect at the end of the day.
1f. Personal SWOT analysis
Strength
 I am well educated in the master’s degree, with a fluent English background which
provides me with the confidence to communicate in English properly without any
hesitations and fear. English being the most important language of communication, I
have mastered in it, and have a good command over the language.
 Time management is the technique that involves prioritising the tasks and allocating
time for each important and unimportant task, in order to complete the work in the
best way possible (Sarsby 2016). I have the capability of managing time, and
performing the tasks within the time permitted.
 I have the ability to work in teams and also possess a fellow feeling towards others.
Teamwork is very important for a company or a firm. It helps in the increase of
productivity of the business. I have the capability to work with others without any
discrepancy and without any grudges against the fellow colleagues in the team.
 I can handle the tasks with utmost responsibility and patience. Leadership qualities
are something that is inherent in me and I can lead the entire team for a better future
and for the successful fulfilment of the assignments. Leadership qualities are very
important for a character since it helps the company to progress for betterment.

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 I possess a strong analytical thinking over the decisions and the tasks that are assigned
to me. I do not generally judge solutions with emotional sensibility. Logical and
analytical thought processes help me to deal with the situations in the most
appropriate manner.
Weakness
 I easily tend to get distracted from my assigned task and lack a bit of concentration
over the subject. This eventually reduces the productivity of the work that I am doing
and my work requires more of focus.
 Something that I am weak at is that I have little or almost no relevant work
experience. Since I am a fresher in the field, I have do not even possess any useful
work placement experience.
 Stress management skills are something that I lack at. Workplace atmosphere and the
pressure of the tasks might build in stress in me, which I would be unable to tackle
and deal with.
 Despite what people think of me, I lack confidence within myself. I suffer from a
sense of low confidence and low self-esteem. Due to my confidence level, I cannot
even deal tactfully with conflicts and arguments.
Opportunities
 Recently I have a booming opportunity. I have received a part time job offer in the
advertisement company, where my job description is that of assisting the procedures
that involve in the advertising firms. The script that they provide needs to be proof
read and needs suggestions on the design of the particular advertisements of the
agency. This job offer has brought with it a broader scope for my future. This would
provide me with a new work experience which would enrich my portfolio and allow

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me to learn the job partially, so that I could make use of the knowledge later on in my
career.
 Also I have been offered with a job of editing in “The Irish News” newspaper, which
will also provide me with an entirely new experience of the print media and this
experience will help me in choosing an alternate career option apart from the
advertising agencies.
Threats
 Since I am a fresher, there will be better and deserving persons who would perform
the task more efficiently due to their experience in the field on mass communication
and public relations and this might be a potential threat to me.
 Money is an important factor, which is extremely essential for a person to make a
decent living. Many jobs which even provide the correct experience and the proper
work environment, such as the internships or placements, might make me work for
free, without paying me, since many of such jobs are termed as unpaid jobs.
1g. Learning objectives and developing plans
There is a strong need for my Personal Development. The course on the Mass
Communication and Journalism will provide me with a proper Personal Development
Planning. There are few program objectives which will be achieved if I complete the diploma
degree. It will help me master the professional as well as the oral skills. Even my writing
skills will also improve and I will be able to master the same. According to McQuail and
Windahl (2015), media messages and the tasks of media will be eventually demonstrated with
utmost professional expertise. The mass communication course will help me to discuss the
competing social and commercial constraints upon the creation and production of the public
media messages. I will be able to demonstrate the mastery of behaviours which is expected if
competent media professionals in the public performance and the professional duties. This

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course will improve my oral presentations on a variety of topics, in the public forums. The
basic and the advanced human communication theories and models that I will be learning,
can eventually be applied over academic and professional situations.
The developing plans of the journalism degree that I am going to pursue, are that I
will be able to write a variety of mass media products, including news stories, press releases,
and different advertising copies, with the proper mass communication and journalism
standards. I will be able to develop my working technique sin creation and designing the
media products which include blogs, digital audio , digital video as well as social media,
multimedia and digital photography.
Part 2: Reflections on Learning Experience
While pursuing the diploma course on Mass Communication, Journalism and Public
Relations, I have gained a lot of experiences which I can reflect upon later and use the
knowledge of my future career. I have experienced the impact of the diploma course in
relation to my engagement with the creative industries and career prospects and also my
development with the creative skills and work. The course has expanded my ways of thinking
and self-knowledge. The tutors and the lecturers were highly cooperative and provided me
with a new angle of expressing the creativity and also opened my eyes to the new upcoming
opportunities, which was all new to me and I did not even know of the existing prospects of
the opportunities, which would be quite suitable for me. The experience of the higher
education on a whole different subject altogether involved a process of new challenges and
helped to deconstruct my cognition the rough the critical environment around. My course has
not only given me space and time to reflect in my own practice, but also has given birth to
another identity of myself which could never have been discovered. During the first semester
of the course I have been able to build a minor communication but also have become more

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aware of mass communication as a whole. The course has allowed me to gain knowledge
more about the social networking sites and its usage.

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Part 3: Curriculum Vitae and Cover letter
Job Advertisement

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Cover Letter
Job Applicant
Address – xxx . Email-id: yyy
Date:
To, Mr. ABC
Chair, Local Eyes Group
Cork City Southside,
Cork, Ireland – T12
Dear Mr. ABC,
This is to inform you that I, want to apply for the position of Media Content
Reviewer, that you have advertised in the website of indeed.com.
I have a background in English as I did my graduation and my master’s degree in
English literature. My knowledge of the language and my command over the English
language is supposed to be perfectly fit for the job that I am applying for. The qualification
for the job requires strong linguistic skills, as well as an experience in journalism, with
editorial skills, and interest in music. I have already worked as an intern in the Irish News
newspaper, as an editor. I have a passion for photography and music. I have at presently
decided onto pursuing the degree in mass communication, journalism and the public
relations. Also I have the capability to be work well under pressure and in a deadline driven

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environment as your organization desires. I do possess a concrete knowledge about the
culture, and also the technology. Being fluent and comfortable in English, the catching of
idioms, identifying the author’s play over the words and the mistranslations are not a major
problem. The problems can be translated into proper and correct English. Lastly I do possess
effective and tactful communication skills, with leadership qualities, and the ability to adhere
and abide by the instructions and the guidelines as well. Lastly there is no problem in
working for flexible shift hours, and working in team as well as single, is feasible.
I am confident that my qualification and my experience make me an ideal candidate
for your open position. My opportunity to work for the institution will be assured with
diligence and hard work and I will try to fulfil all the requirements that your esteemed
organization needs.
Curriculum Vitae
Name- XYZ
Curriculum Vitae
D.O.B. 01/01/1994
Address- -----
----------
Phone Number- 1234567890
Email id: --------
Employment History:

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June 2017- 2018: The Irish News
 I have worked as an intern in Editing in the famous Irish Newspaper, called The Irish
House. My duties involved editing and proof reading the news that would be
published.
Skills and Achievements:
 I possess a strong knowledge in the English language and can communicate fluently,
having a command over the language.
 I have a polite nature and am a courteous individual who loves interacting with
people.
 I can work strongly in a team environment and can share a fellow feeling towards the
colleagues but can work excellently if I work independently.
 I have always been focussed towards my goal and am not easily deterred by setbacks
Hobbies:
I enjoy cycling .Sports is something that I excel at. I have been playing basketball since
my childhood and have also played in the school as well as national team. In accordance with
this, I also have interests in social work, and I love to feed the roadside animals. Photography
is actually my passion and my camera and nature is something that helps me find peace
within my own self.
Education:
2012- Present : The University of Dublin
I have recently completed my master’s degree in English Literature and I am
pursuing the Post Graduation Diploma course in Mass Communication, Journalism and
Public relations.

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2006-2012 : Country Cavan Secondary School, Dublin
Graduated with seven honours in the Junior Certificate and attained a score if
400 points in the Leaving Certificate.
1998-2006: Country Cavan Primary School, Dublin.

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References:
Heitner, K.L., Kahn, A.E. and Sherman, K.C., 2013. Building consensus on defining success
of diversity work in organizations. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and
Research, 65(1), p.58.
McQuail, D. and Windahl, S., 2015. Communication models for the study of mass
communications. Routledge.
Parks-Leduc, L., Feldman, G. and Bardi, A., 2015. Personality traits and personal values: A
meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 19(1), pp.3-29.
Petty, T., 2014. Motivating first-generation students to academic success and college
completion. College Student Journal, 48(1), pp.133-140.
Sarsby, A., 2016. SWOT analysis. Lulu. com.
York, T.T., Gibson, C. and Rankin, S., 2015. Defining and Measuring Academic
Success. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 20.