Professional Development and Job Interview Process

The assignment details the importance of professional development for skill and ability formation according to requirements. It outlines a step-by-step job interview process, from initial contact to job offer and background check. The document also references several books and journal articles on professional identity formation in education and other fields.

Professional Identity and
Practice

INTRODUCTION
Professional identity is created through the one's beliefs and attitudes, values, motives
and experience through which individuals define themselves in their current or anticipated
professional life. The self skills and competencies enables the person to develop their personal
and professional life. I am a person who wants to work in the housekeeping department of a
hotel. Due to my hobbies of cooking and housekeeping I want to pursue my career in the
hospitality sector and I have also experience of working in same industry. To better understand
this concept, IHG group of hotel is being selected for this report. The importance of on going
professional development is being discussed in this report. There various approaches for learning
and developing own skills and capacities is also explained in this report. Professional
development plan for the self development is prepared in this project. The range of service
industry and transferable skills for the job application is explained in this report.
TASK 1&2
1. Key benefits of ongoing professional development
Ongoing professional development is term which is used to describe the learning
activities professionals engage in to develop and enhance their skills. It is very important for an
individual to develop their skills and abilities during the work as it helps an individual to perform
their work effectively and efficiently (Hoeve, Jansen and Roodbol, 2014). This ongoing
professional development helps the employee as well as the different stakeholders also like,
Manager, colleagues and external people etc. The skills are being developed through the ongoing
development and these skill can be used by the employees at their workplace which can helpful
in increasing IHG profitability. This professional development fill the skills gap of the
organisation. There are various benefits of continuous professional development which are
discussed as below:
Increase retention:
The high staff turnover is a major problem for the every business organisation and
employers are using every tool in order to lower the staff turnover. Employers are cutting cost
for opportunities like training which assist employees in their professional development. As this
professional development is an aid to the human resource of manager. The HR managers have to
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less worry about the high staff turnover because employees will be doing their work with full
potential and capacities (Fredriksson and Johansson, 2014).
Build confidence and credibility:
It is very important for employees to have the skills at their workplace because it enables
employees to perform their job with their full potential. The adequate skill set capabilities helps
to employees to build their confidence and credibility at workplace. This confidence will help the
organisation to get their goals achieved on time with proper utilisation of resources. The IHG
hotel needs to provide opportunity of professional development to their employees so that they
can work effectively for achieving goal of organisation. As the manager of hotel will have more
faith on the employees and they can give provide responsibility to the capable employees which
will help them to grow.
Make succession planning easier:
The professional development plan is a great tool for training of future leaders in
organisation. This enable the organisation to promote an existing employees from the business
rather than hiring from outside for achieving organisation goals. This will also reduce the
knowledge gaps which are inevitable with the turnover and outside hires. By choosing
professional development programs which helps employees master skill for their progress and
IHG can shape he development of future leaders (Edwards, 2015).
Improved efficiency:
The continuous professional development is very helpful for employees to develop and
improve efficiency at workplace. An efficient employee is very beneficial for the organisation as
well as for other member of company. The efficient employees enables an organisation to
achieve goals and objectives with optimum utilisation of resources. Apart from this, it motivate
the subordinates and colleagues also to work with their full potential and get the organisation
goals achieved in effective manner.
These above are the several benefits to the organisation and its stakeholders of this on
going development.
2. Investigation and evaluation of professional employer expectations of skills and competencies
in relation to managerial position
Skills are capabilities of the person which enables employees to perform their jobs
effectively and efficiently. With the help of these skills and competencies an individual perform
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the job effectively and efficiently and gets done the occupational functions successfully. People
perform their job and task effectively on time with the help of these skills and competencies. The
power and competencies are different different for every job role. The skill differ for each and
every managerial position in organisation so one can not work at every position with same ability
and capabilities. In today era, there is a huge gap between what skills employees have and what
skills employer required for the position. So to fill this gap organisations have started the
continuous development program so employees can develop the ability and work effectively.
There is various kinds of skills required for the housekeeping manager of IHG, these are
discussed as below:
Coordination:
The coordination is one of most important skill which needs to be posses by a
housekeeping manager of IHG. As it is very important to coordinate the work among the
employees according to their capacities and skills. Coordination skill is very crucial skill for the
housekeeping manager in order to perform its job effectively and efficiently (Davey, 2013).
Management of personnel resources:
The management of personnel resources includes motivating, developing and directing
people and identifying the efficient worker at job place. This is very important skill which an
employer look while recruiting manager of housekeeping. It helps the manager to prepare the
reports regarding room occupancy, payroll and department expenses.
Time management skill:
The time management skill is very important for manager to manage their own time as
well as to manage their subordinate time. This is the expected skill from an employer for the
position of housekeeping managers. As a housekeeping manager it has to manage time of its
subordinates according to the day and nigh shift in organisation. So manager has to decide who
will do the job in day shift and who will do the night shift job according to their capabilities. The
IHG employer would prefer to hire that person who will have better time management skill.
Communication skill:
This is a basic but very important skill for the every individual who wants to be sustain in
this competitive market. As every employer will look for this skill in the candidate while hiring
for managerial position at IHG. The housekeeping manager of IHG have to convey its thoughts
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and ideas to its subordinates which needs an efficient communication skill. With proper
communication manager can delegate the work to their subordinates and get their goals achieved.
Reading comprehension:
The reading is a very basic and crucial skill which an employer of IHG expect in their
candidate who is applying for managerial position in organisation. As housekeeping managers
are supposed to understand and read to various work related documents such prescribed
standards of cleanliness. So reading skill would be an ad hoc for the employer.
Guiding:
Guiding is a crucial skill for the person who are applying for the managerial position in
organisation. The employer of IHG expect that one should have instructing ability in order to
give direction to the subordinates who are working under manager guidance. If manager will
have this ability than manager can guide their worker in right direction and they can achieve their
goals effectively and efficiently (Crigger and Godfrey, 2014).
Negotiation skill:
Negotiation is a dynamic skill which is used at every department and at every level in
organisation. The employer of IHG expect that the person who is applying for managerial
position needs to have bargaining power which help organisation to grow and maximise their
profits. As the managers are supposed to purchase new furnishing for the rooms so one should
have negotiation skill in order to communicate effectively with the supplier.
4. Assessment and evaluation of own abilities, skills and competencies
The assessment of own abilities, skills and capacities is very important for identifying
own strength and weakness and than according to allocate the work. This assessment will enable
me to see my strength and how I can use this strength at workplace. Similarly I will also come to
know about my weaknesses and how I can improve these weakness. There are various capacities
and skills which enables manager to perform their task effectively and efficiently. As lacking at
these can be huge loss for the company as well as individual employee also in organisation. The
assessment can be done by the SWOT analysis, it is discussed as below:
Strength Weakness Opportunities Threat
 Management  Communicatio  To learn new  The candidate
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skill is my core
strength.
 Direction and
motivation
comes under
one of my core
capabilities.
n skill and
decision
making skill is
considered as a
part of my
weakness.
skill such as
technical and
reading skills
at workplace
and help
organisation to
grow.
who has more
skill has higher
chance of
selection and
promotion.
Belbin team role:
The team is not a bunch of people with job titles, but it is collection of individuals and
each of them has a role which is understood by other members. The Belbin has 9 team roles
which are as follows:
 Resource investigator
 Teamworker
 Co – ordination
 Plant
 Monitor evaluation
 Specialist
 Shaper
 Implementer
 Completer finisher.
As a house keeping manager one should have all these nine feature of Belbin in order to
carry out their task in effective and efficient way. I have some of the team feature which is
discussed as below:
Team worker:
I am a good team worker and I always try to help my team to get their goals achieved
effectively. I always try to be co operative, perceptive and diplomatic and also listen the
grievances and ideas of team members (Clarke, Hyde and Drennan, 2013).
Co – ordinator:
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Being a manager it is very important to coordinate with team members and focus on team
objectives. The manager have also delegate the work according to capacity of team member. So I
have this feature of Belbin which helps me to coordinate work effectively.
Implementer:
Manager of housekeeping need to plan the strategy and carry out it as efficiently as
possible. So being a manager of housekeeping at IHG I have this feature of Belbin model which
allows me to turn ideas into actions and organises work that needs to be done.
5. Range of learning theories and approaches for personal and professional development
The learning theories enables an individual to groom their personality at workplace and
perform the task with effectiveness and efficiency. There are various theories which is helpful in
the personal and professional development which are as follows:
Network learning theory:
This is the process of developing and maintaining an interaction and connection with
people and information and communicating in such a way to support as one another's learning.
The networking is very helpful in the professional and personal development of a person. It
enables the person to make more number of connections as network helps very much in the
corporate and personal life (Chang, 2015).
Situational learning theory:
Situational learning theory an another theory which helps in acquisition of knowledge of
real world. This theory helps in growing socially and learn the new skills. This theory states that
learning is a product of context in which it happen and should be presented authentically. As one
can learn through the real world situation and daily experiences and develop themselves as
professionally and personally.
Approaches:
There are basic ways and approaches which helps to grow professionally and personally
which are as:
Books and web:
The web is major source now days for learning anything at anywhere. This is a simple
and basic approach that can be helpful for the people to learn and grow personally as well as
professionally. There are ample number of sources online which can help an individual to learn
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new skills and develop the competencies that can be helpful at workplace. Apart from this, books
are the major source for gaining knowledge and apply these knowledge for their growth.
6. Critical evaluation of own skills and competencies
There are various skills and competencies which are required for a housekeeping
manager at IHG. These competencies enables the managers to meet employer expectation and
perform their task effectively. My strength is management skill which is beneficial for me as
well as organisation. As I can manage the work effectively and also it will help me to manage the
workers who are working in my team. Similarly I am good at motivation and direction also
which helps me to delegate tasks to workers according to their capabilities. The motivation helps
employees to perform their task with full potential. Apart from this, communication skill is my
weakness and it is an disadvantage for both IHG and me. As this weakness can be a barrier for
growth of my professional and personal life. Being a human resource manager I am supposed to
take various decisions in organisation but I am lacking at this part so this can be a major
disadvantage for me and organisation. As a part of development I can learn new skill such as
technical which can help me in my career for future growth.
CONCLUSION
In the conclusion it can be said that on going professional development is very beneficial
for an individual as well as for the key stakeholders of organisation. There are various skills and
competencies which are required for the managerial position at hotel and these are expected by
the employer. As there are various learning theories and approaches which are helpful in
personal and professional development .
TASK 3&4
1&2. Professional development plan
The professional development plan is process of creating an action plan based on
awareness, values, goal setting and planning for professional development with context to self
improvement. Professional development plan for the housekeeping managerial position required
various skill and competencies and as from above SWOT analysis it can be seen there are some
weakness which needs to be improved. So PDP is prepared for overcoming weakness.
Target GAP Remedial Outcome of Deadline
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Strategy learning for
remedial
actions
Communication
skill
I am lacking at
communication skill as
it is an important skill
for getting success in
personal and
professional life. So I
am looking forward to
improve this skill.
To improve my
communication
skill I will try to
communicate
with more and
more number of
people and will
also take
personality
development
training which
will help me to
improve my
communication
promptly.
This skill will
help me to
communicate
more effectively
and efficiently
with people and
will also be an
aid for
accomplishment
of goals.
1 Months
Decision making
skill
From the above SWOT
analysis I have come to
know that I am not good
at decision making in
professional life. So it is
important for me to
enhance this skill.
To enhance my
skill at
workplace I will
try to make
decision with
proper analysis
and evaluation.
As an outcome
this will help me
at workplace to
take better
decision for the
growth of
organisation and
accomplish the
goals and
objectives.
1 Months
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2. Interview process
This is a process which start with screening interviews which takes place on the phone,
followed by in person interviews, second interviews and even some time third interviews. As
every organisation has different process, the IHG follows the process for hiring housekeeper,
which is discussed as below:
Shortlist:
This is the first process is to get shortlisted interview. It includes the sending a
customized CV and cover letter in response to an advertise position or going through an online
application process. It requires scanning skills for the interviewer to find out suitable candidate
for the post. So at this process I came to know about my decision making skill as I have chosen
one candidate from various number of applicants.
Screening interview:
The screening interview assess the qualification and general aptitude to do the job. This
mainly for checking whether one can do the job or willing to do the job how it will fit in IHG. At
this I came to know about my communication skill while talking with candidate over the phone
and I have asked some simple question like ''Tell me about yourself”.
Written test:
This is a test to identify the theoretical and practical knowledge of candidate. This also
enabled me to know regarding written skill of candidate as well as myself by assessing the
candidate test (Campbell and Groundwater-Smitheds., 2013).
Final interview:
This is the process for the interview as at this stage I have asked various kind of questions
to the candidate who applied for housekeeping job at IHG. These questions like, What are your
skills, hobbies and what is your expected salary for the particular post that you have applied. As
this helps me to become aware about my own abilities such communication skills, decision
making skill and it also boost my confidence.
Job offer and background check:
This is the last phase where it has decided that whether candidate needs to be selected or
not. As at process I have checked the reference of candidate and also checked his documents of
its qualification. If candidate is happy with the packaged offer than it gets selected otherwise
deselected.
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CONCLUSION
In the conclusion it can be said professional development is very helpful for development
of skills and abilities according to requirement. There is complete process for interview which is
used by various companies according to their business nature and it does not have any pre set
format.
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