Professional Placement Reflective Diary

This reflective diary is about the professional placement of a finance student. It includes details about the placement preparation program, key moments and experiences throughout the duration of the placement, and personal development.

PROFESSIONAL PLACEMENT
REFLECTIVE DIARY
Student name:
Placement organisation:
Personal tutor:
IMPORTANT
Reflective Diary
1) Background and Reflection

Background and reflection: A brief introduction to the context of your placement (200 words)
Placement is basically the act of placing someone in a particular jobs and in my placement of finance
profession I have learned various interview rounds and questions asked by the company. My placement
preparation program will definitely helps me in getting my finance manager job successfully with the help of
learning new and innovative financial analysis techniques. It is also helpful for developing my personal and
professional skills which further help me in getting my dream job. My placement organizes and deliver
different coaching session related to different topics with the help of which I am able to explore the
qualitative outcome of experience (Sumitro and et.al., 2020). I want to apply for the position of finance
manager in a well-established company and my placement helps in getting so by providing proper career
guidance. For this, they have organizes various pre-placement trainings by using this I am able to build the
bridge between the academic knowledge and industries practical implications. The placement helps in my
career development as they organizes and conducted various personality development program,
communication skills program, group discussion practices, mock interview session, In plant training etc. My
placement training programs also motivate me towards gaining the technical knowledge and soft skills for
setting goals related to my career.
2) Preparation Week 1 & 2 (Placement Launch)
Details should be provided about the elements of the placement preparation programme which you engaged
with.
Learning Experience: What did you do? What did you learn from the sessions? How well do you think you
participated? (100 words)
In the placement preparation program and session, I have learned about techniques to solve the random
aptitude-based tasks constantly and consistently. They have provided me previous aptitude test paper for this
preparation and the impact of which I am able to develop problem-solving skills in myself. This techniques
will definitely help me in passing my test round of interview process. I have solve around two to three papers
a day in order to participate in this program well and effectively. This session also helpful for enhancing my
critical thinking and active listening skills.
What went well? What went not so well? Why? How can you assess this? (100 words)

The session of placement went well because every one is cooperating and helping each other in solving their
issues. The industry internship program and communication skill session helps me in interacting with each
other and understand about the retail industry in deep (Brannon, 2018). But at the time of placements session,
I am not able to communicate and eye contact with everyone. It is because I usually get nervous when more
than one people express their thoughts and ideas as I think that I will made mistake and I have less
knowledge than others. The group discussion practice organized by placement cell helps me in assessing my
this weakness which I need to be further improve.
What did you learn/achieve? Which employability criteria does this event impact upon? Have you changed how you
feel about your placement? If so, how? How do you want to be perceived on placement? (100 words)
The placement preparation program given by the tutor and career advisor helps me in learning and achieving
the innovative and collaborative skills. Not only that I have also learned how to prepare a well-structured CV
and understand the interview techniques. This event put positive impact on the various employability criteria
such as good communication, team work, patience, adaptability etc (Santos and et.al., 2021). with the help of
which my viewpoint and feeling against my placement get change. Now I really feel very positive about my
placement and interview for finance manager position. I want to perceived work placement which was
provided by university as this are important part of their life.
Reflection: How will this experience be used for your personal development? What do you need to do or know before
you start? What practical actions can you take before your placement? (100 words)
This experience helps in in developing my own personal development as during the placement preparation
sessions I have gained various skills and qualities in my self such as teamwork etc. I am also able to improve
my strengths and talents in finanace field and role which further increases my self-confidence. But before
this, I need to understand and develop the leasership skills and work ethics of the company where I will go
for placement. For example, during the preparation session I faces lack of communication on group
discussion practice and low knowledge about business ethics. In order to develop this, I will start reading
various UK companies workplace ethics and CSR prctices (Saric and Steh, 2017). Before placement I will
also take responsibility of my project by becaming leader to get personal and practical experience.
Reflective Diary
3) Placement Weeks (Placement Completion)
Details should be provided about key moments and experiences throughout the duration
of your placement.
Learning Experience: Tell us a bit about your placement. What is the organisation, what does it do? Where is it based,
with how many staff? Are you clear on your role/project/targets? (100 words)
My placement was quite good where I not only get selected for finance manager position but also experience
new phase of my life. During the placement in Tesco Plc. for finance manager role I have identified that
employer are looking for more than just technical skills and degree knowledge. But as I have developed
various skills and qualities in my self during the preparation I am able to pass all the round of interview.

Tesco Plc. is a retail company which offers merchandised grocery products to their customer. The company
was located in London, UK and having around 423092.
What went well? What went not so well? Why? How can you assess this? How did you approach your first week?
What impression do you think you made? What are you excited/confident/nervous/worried about? (100 words)
During the whole placement, I feel both excited and somewhat nervous whether I am able to do it or not. The
placement went so well because I am able to fulfil all the requirenment of job position which particulary
involve skills such as teamworking, communication and problem solving. But I face difficulty in answering
the questions in mock written test because of poor time-management skills (van Smeden, Lash and
Groenwold, 2020). I think my impression towards the recruiters are better because I am confident while
giving answers and saying no to the question which I don’t’t know.
What did you learn/achieve? Which employability criteria does this event impact upon? What might you have done
differently? How confident did you feel? What could help you? Do you know where to go for support? Have you
contacted your Placement Tutor? (100 words)
During the placement, I have learned how to maintain an eye contact with the recruites so that we won’t get
nervous. In the group discussion (GD), I am able to clearly present my thougts and ideas to all other recruitee
and recruiters without getting nervous which I think was quite impressive. Interaction and communication
employability criteria affect by this event. In GD round, I fouced on both theoretical concept and practical
implication while presenting my idea which I think was quite different from others. I feel confident during
placement because I have strong knowledge about retail industry current and expented growth rate and how i
can use various sources of finance for expanding the business.
Reflection: How will this experience be used for your personal development? What is your action plan? What could
you do to get more out of your placement? (100 words)
I will definitely use placement experience for my personal development which involve honesty and openness
to learning. I have visualized other recruitees during the placement that they listen to other viewpoint
careffuly and attentively. After that, I asked them why they do so than they tell me that this helps in
expanding their knowledge on ideas which they don’t get previously. Than I realized I also need to develop
active listening skills in myself which further help me in listening to my employees issues and ideas at the
workplace.

REFERENCES
Sumitro, S. and et.al., 2020. Reflection the concept of power foucault’s. In Proceedings of the International
Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management.
van Smeden, M., Lash, T. L. and Groenwold, R. H., 2020. Reflection on modern methods: five myths about
measurement error in epidemiological research. International journal of epidemiology. 49(1).
pp.338-347.
Saric, M. and Steh, B., 2017. Critical reflection in the professional development of teachers: Challenges and
possibilities. CEPS journal. 7(3). pp.67-85.
Brannon, R. M., 2018. Rotation, reflection, and frame changes (pp. 2053-2563). Bristol: IOP Publishing.
Santos, E. and et.al., 2021. A reflection on explanatory factors for COVID‐19: A comparative study between
countries. Thunderbird International Business Review. 63(3). pp.285-301.