Professional Development

Professional Development

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Summary of Article................................................................................................................3
Identification of strengths and development areas by using SWOT......................................5
Personal Development Plan to enhance own learning...........................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Professional development refers to the learning that helps an individual or a person to
earn professional credentials like academic degrees to informal learning opportunities, formal
coursework and attending conferences situated in practice (Petrie and et.al., 2017). This report is
based on academic and professional skills that an individual learns during his or her academic
coursework. This academic portfolio includes summary of the provided article and determine the
strengths and development areas by using SWOT analysis. At last, a personal development plan
is prepare to improve the weak areas identified in SWOT analysis.
MAIN BODY
Summary of Article
The article is about employability skills of higher education (HE) graduates. It depicts the
significance of higher education in current labour market. HE has given rise to various
employability skills that provides benefits to the graduates in their future career growth. Higher
education institutions plays crucial role in preparing the graduates for the competitive a world of
work. Universities are pressured to mitigate the employability standards (Sun, Jin and Tan,
2018). These ought to play determinant role in society and highly contributes to job creation and
sustainable growth in Europe. So, it is very necessary for higher education institutions to be
aware of the economic needs and adjust their programmes or activities in such a manner that they
ensure greater compatibility.
In higher education reform, a prominent position has acquired by the concept of
competence in an attempt to enhance integration of graduates into labour market. As per the
research within French economies of conventions traditions, competence is defines as a result
of evaluation or is an outcome of judgement. Two main ingredients are involved in competence
model, that includes a catalogue of skills and their consequent evaluation. The judgement
transforms the skills and knowledge into competence. As per the author, the skills that are
acquired by an individual during his / her education system are not self evident. In human capital
model, useful skills are imparted by education that maximize the productivity of employees and
subsequently entails high wages. Employment skills are very necessary for the graduates as
these makes them more employable. As per the article, it is assumed that employability is