Professional Development and Career Opportunities

This assignment delves into the world of professional development, highlighting its significance for career opportunities and personal identity. The author reflects on their own experiences with interview processes, acknowledging both advantages and limitations. A Thomas Cook case study is analyzed to illustrate how professional development can lead to improved productivity and operational management. The assignment concludes by emphasizing the need for self-directed learning and personal growth in a rapidly changing work environment.

Professional Identity and
Practice

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................1
PART A ..........................................................................................................................................1
Company overview .....................................................................................................................1
Skills and competencies for the specific job roles.......................................................................1
Benefits of ongoing personal and professional development (PPD)...........................................1
Learning theories and approaches for PPD .................................................................................2
Self evaluation ............................................................................................................................2
Development approaches.............................................................................................................3
PART B............................................................................................................................................3
Development plan........................................................................................................................3
PART C............................................................................................................................................7
Undertake a job interview for a suitable service industry role ...................................................7
Key strengths and weaknesses of an applied interview process..................................................8
Job interview process and the obstacles and challenges to overcome.........................................9
Critical reflection.........................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Professional development is defined as the process of continuous improvement in the
professional and personal skills so that career growth opportunities can be identified and
explored. For sustaining and regular improvement of professional identity professional
development is one of the essential element. The continuous development can be accomplished
by self evaluation and incorporation of various learning theories (Smith and Dodds, 2017). The
report will discuss the importance of professional development for the career growth. It will also
provide a professional development plan on the basis of assessed skills. Further the study will
also demonstrate the range of transferable for a particular job.
PART A
Company overview
Thomas Cook is among one of the most successful travel agency which provides its
services all over the world. The organization provides vast range of services such as travel
insurance, holiday packages for both international and domestic destinations and foreign
exchange services. The continuous professional improvement of employees is one of the key
success element and strategy for Thomas Cook to sustain its position in competitive market.
Skills and competencies for the specific job roles
Thomas Cook provides its services in different countries and cultures thus the
organization expect its employees to have specific skills for the particular job roles. Being a
travel industry interaction with customers is a routine task and thus manager of Thomas Cook
is expected to have excellent verbal and written communication skills (Karhu and Ritala, 2018).
In order to ensure the customer satisfaction and operational efficiency, manager is also required
to have necessary technical skills and good problem solving skills. The manager of organization
must be creative as well so that they can develop strategies as per the long term success goals of
Thomas Cook.
Benefits of ongoing personal and professional development (PPD)
The ongoing PPD is vital element for the growth of company as well as individuals. With
the advent of globalisation and advanced technologies Thomas Cook is facing extreme
competitive from other companies. Also, the organization is able to have vast range of options
for the talented resources. Thus, with continuous PPD employees can enhance their capabilities
and work efficiency can be improved. It will not only bring profitability to company but will also
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enhance the contribution and career growth options for the individuals. The improved skills can
help people to explore wide career opportunities at global level as well (Voogt and et.al., 2015).
Learning theories and approaches for PPD
For the continuous professional development various learning theories and approaches
can be used. The key theories which can be used are discussed as follows:
Kolb's experiential learning:
As per this approach individuals can enhance learning by following the four stages
namely experience, observation, conceptualisation and experimentation. When people analyse or
experience the need of any skill they can evaluate its various aspects through reflection. The
reflection and necessary actions can help to build concepts and thus the learned knowledge can
be applied into actions.
Behaviourism learning theory: Travel industries are rapidly changing organizations and thus
individuals in this sector must observe the external stimuli (Robinson, 2018). The observation
can help to understand the need and methods of enhancing new knowledge and learning.
Social and contextual learning theory:
The best way to enhance the professional learning is to work within teams and to promote
the shared learning. Working with different people can give lot of experience and opportunities
to learn. Thus, this approach can also be used for promoting PPD.
Self evaluation
For the job role of managers designation specific skills are required. Thus, the self
evaluation models such as SWOT analysis will help to identify the needs and areas of PPD.
SWOT Analysis:
Strength  Problem solving skills
 Creativity
 Conflict resolving
 Analytical skills
Weakness  Decision making and time management
 Presentation and communication skills
 Management skills
 Technical skills
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Opportunities  Gaining knowledge can help to get better job opportunities
 Overall efficiency can be improved
Threats  Inefficiency to achieve goals on time can have adverse impact on
my overall performance.
 Competitive threat from other colleagues
Self evaluation maintenance model (SEM):
This evaluation model emphasis on relation between two people. Thus for evaluation of
my skills I can compare my performance and skills with my other colleagues. It will help me to
analyse my drawbacks as well as my excellent skills which makes me better as compare to
others.
Development approaches
The best approach to PPD is to adopt the reflective practices. The individuals must
analyse their own growth, skills and mistakes so that they can assess themselves and can grow as
per the needs or current professional trends. Another approach which can be used for the
professional development is to enhance the knowledge through training or working under
experienced mentors (Marić, 2017). It can help to learn from their experience and to apply their
experience into practices. For the development individuals must also evaluate the performance
honestly and must observe the current skills and knowledge related to the concerned industry so
that it can be improved.
PART B
Development plan
Professional development plan is used to establish career development goals with
strategies and goals to meet them (Grant, 2017). It is also used to identify all the skills that are
needed to be improved and the ways by which it can be improved within a specific duration of
time. It can be used as a road map that is used to outline strength, weakness, area needed to be
improved and available resources (Hamilton, 2018). For writing a professional or personal
development plan self awareness is required the most. Here we will create a development plan to
evaluate one's own skills, abilities, competencies for the job role of a manager that are required
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to be improved to fulfil their job role in the organization. In this both hard and soft skills will be
evaluated (Rhode Richter and Miller, 2017). Here skills of Manager of Thomas Cook Ltd.
Company will be evaluated and analysed.
Skills
need to
be
improve
d
Current Status resources
required
duration evaluation Priority
Oral
Commun
ication
Skills
I want to improve my
oral communication
skills as I feel hesitation
while speaking or
addressing many
audiences. Due to this
my presentation skills are
also getting hampered.
These skills are required
to be improved in many
ways as it is affecting my
work in many ways.
Reading books,
Communicating
with team
members,
Attending
online
workshops,
watching
YouTube videos
15 days Evaluation of
this oral
communication
skills will be
done by
evaluating
results of online
workshop.
Medium
priority
Written
communi
cation
skills
I want to improve my
written communication
skills. As I make lots of
grammatical mistakes
while writing. It is
needed to be improved
because it is working as a
hindrance in my work
and in making reports. It
is improvement to be
Attending
classes to
improve written
communication
skills, practising
online, reading
books
1 month Evaluation of
this written
communication
skills will be
done by
evaluating
feedback
obtained from
attending
classes.
Medium
priority
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improved as report
making is an important
part of my job
responsibility.
Manage
ment
Skills
I want to improve my
management skills as
well. As it is quite
difficult to mange my
work while managing all
the sub ordinates and
their work
simultaneously. It is
important to be improved
as management of my
subordinates is a most
important part of my
work.
Attending
workshops
related to
management,
attaining
guidance under
senior
managers.
15 days By obtaining
feedbacks from
the speakers or
trainers of the
workshop
evaluation of
management
skills can be
done.
High
priority
Presentati
on Skills
As it has already been
discussed that there is an
improvement required in
my oral and written
communication skills
which is directly
affecting my presentation
skills which is required
to be improved the most.
By attending
others
presentations,
attending
classes for
improving
presentations,
asking for
guidance from
the seniors.
1 month By asking from
feedbacks from
others, by asking
for feedbacks
from mentors
presentation
skills can be
evaluated and
improved
Medium
priority
Decision
Making
Skills
My decision making
skills are quite good,
however, I get confused
By participating
in team
activities,
20 days By evaluating
the results of
training
Low
priority
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mostly whenever
someone gives me
suggestion regarding the
same topic which
increases doubts and
confusion and hinders
my decision making
skills. So, I need to work
on improving my
decision making skills.
attending
training
programs and
workshops.
programs and
team activities
or by
communicating
with team
members and
asking for their
suggestions
evaluation of
decision making
skills can be
done and
improved.
Technical
Skills
As a manager in travel
and tourism company it
becomes extremely
important for me to know
Microsoft office such as
excel, work, power point
etc. because I need to
maintain and manage all
the financial records. So,
it is important to
improve my Excel
knowledge in a better
way as I am not that
efficient in working on
Microsoft Excel. So,
improvement of technical
skills is my first priority.
By attending
classes for all
the required
skills, applying
and giving
professional
exams for the
same, attending
mentoring
programs to
improve the
same.
2 months By evaluating
the results of
given
examinations or
by analysing the
feedbacks
obtained from
mentoring
programs
evaluation and
improvement of
technical skills
can be done.
High
priority
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Time
managem
ent skills
Sometime it becomes
quite difficult for me to
manage all kinds of
workshops, training
programs, work assigned
and manage all my
subordinates efficiently.
Many times I think that I
fail to manage all my
responsibilities and work
on time.
Watching
YouTube videos
based on time
management,
attending
training
programs for
time
management.
1 month By analysing the
feedbacks
obtained from
training
programs and
working on it
evaluation of
time
management
skills can be
done and can be
improved.
Medium
priority
PART C
Undertake a job interview for a suitable service industry role
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Title: For the post of a trainee at Thomas Cook, London office
Report to: Regional Manager
Qualification required:
 Masters in Business Administration
 Experience from 0-1 years
 Computer proficiency and fluency in multiple languages
Summary of the Position:
The candidate is required to make observations regarding the operations of Teams allotted in
the Projects Department. Additionally, the seeker must make reports on the procurement
materials handling and acquirement of the customers for smooth running of activities and
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minimise any delays or confusions.
Responsibilities to be fulfilled:
 Learning about the functions and operations of projects department
 Seeking support and assistance from the supervisor regarding tools and software
 Managing the work under the policies and legislations made by the company's
management
 Maintaining record keeping of the clients, customers and daily transactions
 Conducting meetings for the interdepartmental meetings and discussing it with the
manager and ensuring it is done on time
 Giving weekly reviews on the training sessions and recommending if any changes are
required
Job Interview for the above Job Profile
The following questions have been asked in direct interview round for professional individuals
for the post of Trainee.
 Tell something about yourself?
 Why do you want to join this company?
 What are the key strengths and weaknesses?
 How do you see yourself in five years?
 Do you feel burden when put under pressure or take it as challenge?
 What is your expectations from the profile and the company as well?
Key strengths and weaknesses of an applied interview process
The applied interview process was smooth and well organised. However, there were few
drawbacks which could have been overcome in the near future. The strengths included were the
direct approach that had been adopted by the management to filter the candidates. Moreover, this
is practical in terms of analysing the candidate's body language, confidence level and overall
preparation levels (Wiens, 2017). Another advantage was that the job seekers were given a
transparent platform to showcase the skills, knowledge and responses and were judged
impartially. The precise method helps in minimising the ambiguities and impact the response
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rates properly. Here the entire decisions were made on the performance levels of the candidates
to hire the right person for the right profile.
Furthermore, there were few weaknesses and it includes that this one to one direct
interview rounds are time consuming and the entire procedure was long and tiring. The focus
was to hire suitable candidates and for this, the setting took up the resources and might led to
ineffectiveness. There were also chances of some referrals and back supporting to few candidates
and might have hampered the transparency component (Smith, Rees and Murray, 2016). Thus,
this setting up of interview rounds needed capital and was considered as an expensive method of
recruitment. Lastly, sometimes there were some unclarity and false perceptions on the same topic
and might misled the interviewer and impact the outcomes for the job seeker.
Job interview process and the obstacles and challenges to overcome
A job interview round is based on the oral presentation of the candidate who is seeking
for a job at any company. It is made up of several stages including writing the job description,
scheduling and conducting interviews for selection and lastly, following up with the individual
who has been hired. There are several challenges and obstacles that might take place and must be
overcome using a systematic manner (Sandvik and McCormack, 2018). This is a long standing
method of recruitment and the management must be in sync to conduct each task properly or else
wrong decisions might take place. This situation leads to hiring wrong people and must be tested
before the interview round by using written tests. In addition to this, this is not as reliable as it
claims and sometimes misinformation leads to more weight-age in decision making by the
interviewers. Moreover, there are also discrepancies from the candidates side who gives false
details to get hired and this must be verified properly by asking the interview panel to be strict
and honest. Henceforth, this method of recruitment needs reinvent to minimise the discrepancies
from both candidates and interviewer as well.
Critical reflection
This interview processes are effective in terms of giving a direct podium to impress the
specific person or the panel. I felt that this method gives an equal opportunity to make
conversation about the skills, experience and knowledge regarding the job profile. However, this
process takes time and also leads to inefficiency in terms of using resources and manpower. On
personal levels, I realised that interviews rounds must be attempted by doing proper evaluation
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of the job and company's details. A complete preparation is beneficial when attending this
recruitment method.
CONCLUSION
It has been summarized that professional development is an ongoing process and has
been self directed to improve the career opportunities and the professional identity. This
assignment has shed light on the skills and competencies that should be outlined in regard to
specific designation or role. This would help the employer like Thomas Cook to maintain and
manage the operational activities and overall productivity at the workplace as well. Along with
this, a professional and personal development plan has been formulated to gain insights about the
strengths and weaknesses regarding the career prospects of the manager of Thomas Cook. Lastly,
it highlighted the need to conduct an interview process by understanding the associated
advantages, limitations and challenges on the whole.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Grant, J., 2017. The good CPD guide: A practical guide to managed continuing professional
development in medicine. CRC Press.
Hamilton, N.W., 2018. Leadership of Self: Each Student Taking Ownership Over Continuous
Professional Development/Self-Directed Learning.
Rhode, J., Richter, S. and Miller, T., 2017. Designing personalized online teaching
professional development through self-assessment. TechTrends. 61(5). pp.444-451.
Karhu, P. and Ritala, P., 2018. Dilemmas and paradoxes: how managers make the toughest
decisions. Journal of Business Strategy, 39(1), pp.24-31.
Marić, S., 2017. Interacting and Learning within Digital Environments for Continuous
Professional Development. In 6th ELT Malta Conference (pp. 12-14).
Robinson, M.G.P., 2018. Open Pathways to Professional Development: A Survey of the
Continuing Professional Development Activities of Special Librarians in Jamaica.
Sandvik, B.M. and McCormack, B., 2018. Being person-centred in qualitative interviews:
reflections on a process.
Smith, B. and Dodds, B., 2017. Developing managers through project-based learning.
Routledge.
Smith, L., Rees, P. and Murray, N., 2016. Turning entrepreneurs into intrapreneurs: Thomas
Cook, a case-study. Tourism Management.56. pp.191-204.
Voogt, J., and et.al., 2015. Collaborative design as a form of professional
development. Instructional science, 43(2), pp.259-282.
Wiens, A.N., 2017. The interview: Research on its anatomy and structure. Routledge.
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