Professional Development Research Paper 2022

Reflection: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

1PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
Graduate labor market can also be termed as the preferences of the graduate candidates in
the labor or employment market where the employers look for certain attributes, skill and
competencies in the candidates that would preferably be found among the graduated individuals.
Employers look for people who know the dynamics of teamwork and team learning (UNESCO
Bangkok. Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, 2012). Graduate labor market has
become increasingly common among the employers and job seekers. The respective paper is a
reflection of my academic and professional development based on my career portfolio. The paper
is intended to critically introspect and evaluate the desired “graduate labor market” where I wish
to enroll myself as my professional choice. The respective paper also gives a precise and lucid
account of my own professional strengths and weaknesses for my desired graduate employment
role.
Discussion
Graduate labor market can be termed as a specific labor market that focuses on the fresh
graduates who becomes eligible for getting recruited in any kind of job according to his/ her
subjects and capabilities. Graduate employability, on the other hand, means that higher education
alumni have developed the capacity to obtain and/ or to create work. Employability also means
that the employers and the institutions have supported the student knowledge, skills, attributes,
reflective disposition and identity that the graduates need to succeed in the workplace (Gordon,
2013). As soon as the candidate completes his/ her graduation, he/ she become eligible to be
hired by the employers or the corporate sectors. In the present world of fierce competition and
struggle, the employers are seeking for best among the better candidates for their organization or

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enterprise. Therefore, graduate labor market has been getting utilized and popularized as the days
are passing. As far as Vietnam is concerned, the graduate labor market is complex and
complicated. It has been a growing and worrying trend in Vietnam over the last few years that
even the fresh graduates with Graduation and Post graduation degrees are not able to find
suitable professions for them. They have accepted working in the fields that is completely
different from the subjects on which they graduate or do major or are professionally trained.
Therefore, there is a demand- supply mismatch in the graduate labor market of Vietnam. The
reasons can be multiple, such as constriction of the markets, lack of infrastructural facilities and
economic slowdown or lack of economic growth (Tuoitrenews.vn.2019).

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Overview of the designation
The labor market of marketing profession, even though has risks associated with it, is a
creative and exponential labor market where the individuals might be given the task to showcase
their creative talent in order to sell their products. The marketing profession consists of
advertisement, digital content marketing and promotional activities of the respective products
and services. All over the employment of advertising, promotion and marketing management has
been projected to be growing at a reasonable magnitude, especially in Asia. Over the past few
years, the marketing industry of Asia has been a melting pot for the individuals who wanted their
marketing career to grow. Emerging as a developing market, the country has provided the
prospective marketing experts with a large space for growth and expansion (Forbes.com.2014).
A plethora of reasons are responsible for such situation, the most common being the wave of
constant change in different segmented markets, the huge cultural and neo- cultural influences,
evolving online portals/ platforms and technological upheaval. Therefore, Vietnam can be
considered a prolific place for beginning my career in marketing.
Marketing Career statistics in Vietnam and Asia

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Reflection
As an ametur professional in the area of marketing, I believe that I have certain strengths
and weaknesses in my professional and personal skills which need to be identified, recognized,
analyzed, evaluated and enhanced. I believe that to become an expert in the marketing field, one
needs to have an aptitude towards marketing, buyer or consumer behavior, psychology and
market development dynamics. A person who is expert in marketing is also expert in
understanding the psyche of the consumers in the lesser as well as greater society, apart from
being creative and innovative in the ways by which he/ she should present the service or the
product the companies might be offering. As I believe that self- reflection is an integral part of
the human development and it not only develops the persona but also the professional arena of an
individual, I hereby present my speculated and calculated strengths and weaknesses regarding
my desired career of “marketing” which is provided hereafter.
Strengths
1. Creativity: creativity is considered to one of the most important skill which is necessary
for a marketing official/ professional/ expert/ manager/ executive. Creativity in marketing
means generation and execution of ideas that communicates the message to buy a
particular product/ service in a unique way. Creativity is often called the nerve center of
marketing. If original, authentic and unique way of promotion, advertisement and sales is
carried out by the marketing employees or in charge, there is a high opportunity for the
customers to buy the products (Taillard and Glăveanu 2012). I believe that I have a sharp,
creative bent of mind. I am able to not only show my creativity and power of imagination

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physically on the field to the customers, but also digitally. I consider myself to be a
fiercely creative digital marketing expert as well as I can procreate and deliver unique
contents in the websites, blogs and different online portals. As I am a good painter as well
as possess creative bent in writing, I am confident that I would be able to draw unique
logo and write unique tagline for the company under which I would be designated as
marketing professional. As a marketer, I constantly keep on updating my cognitive
thoughts, ideas and approaches so that I am able to sharpen my creative bent of mind.
Through my higher sense of creativity and imagination, I would be able to keep the
organization where I would be working stand apart in the fierce competitive situation in
terms of marketing and sales. As a marketer, I am constantly trying to find favor and
sentiments in the eyes of the consumers. To increase my creativity, I always try to
indulge into stimulating conversations with intellectually rich people, read as much
literature as I can, try to work or get myself into a completely new environment to
increase my cognitive development. Therefore, I believe that my creativity skills would
make me more eligible and employable to get myself recruited in the reputed companies
or corporate as a marketing professional.
2. Communication skills: Communication skills and proper knowledge of interpersonal
relationships also considered as the basic skills necessary for a marketing professional. A
marketing professional, sales expert or associate should always try to convince the
customers (both prospective and functional) to buy the products. With the help of
appropriate and creative communication skills and interpersonal relationships, a
marketing professional or associate is always in a constant endeavor to sell the maximum
products/ services they can sell (Shankar, Carpenter and Farley 2012). A marketing

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professional should have remarkable communicative skills in the form of team
communication, visual and written communication, interpersonal communication and
interactive communication. I believe that I have the communication skills that are needed
for the marketing departments in the corporate sector. I have excellent verbal as well as
written communication skills, and apart from that, I am also a multilingual person. I am
sociable and always enjoy interacting with the other people. I am master in the art of
convincing people regarding a particular matter or a product. I am an analytical observer
of the human psyche and with the help of my observation skills; I understand what should
be said to which consumer and at what time. Therefore, I am confident enough about the
fact that my skills would get recognized by the prospective employer and I would be
eligible to achieve a marketing oriented designation in the reputed corporate sectors of
my country.
Weakness
1. Inattentiveness: Despite of being well equipped in the arena of marketing, such as being a
prolific creative thinker and an expert in communication skills, I have been facing certain
cognitive disturbances, one of which is inattentiveness. As I am a dynamic person who is
always engrossed with new ideas, perspectives and approaches, I tend to become
whimsical in my thoughts, therefore, lack of attentiveness prevails in me (Sroubek, Kelly
and Li 2013). Being inattentive is one step backward from becoming the perfect
marketing professional because a marketing professional always have to be attentive
towards his/ her customers and any kind of distraction would adversely affect the
marketing process and might create an obnoxious impression on the mind of the
prospective customer. Therefore, I believe that it is my weakness that I get distracted

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easily which is why, I sometimes become inattentive. However, I also believe that
carrying out certain cognitive exercises such as mindfulness, meditation and exercises
that would boost my self- confidence and increase my concentration power would
eventually help me in coming out of the inattentiveness and make me not only
professionally but personally capable to shine in my career path.
PART B
C.V. OR CURRICULUM VITAE
Name:
Address:
Gender:
Marital Status:
Educational Qualifications:
About me: I am a confident communicator and a creative person well equipped for all kinds of
marketing procedures, beginning from on- the- field marketing to digital marketing. I am highly
motivated by my imaginative and intuitive power and have a keen interest in the subject
Marketing. I am eager to begin my career as a marketing professional. The virtues that I have are
that I am patient, caring, having a good hold in interpersonal communication and relationships
and easily understand the problems which customers might be facing, their needs, wants and
immediate preferences. I have good intuitive skills that help me to find out or guess the
psychology or the psyche of the consumers (both prospective and functional). The intuitive skills
in me help me to detect any kind of problem and accelerate my decision making skills. I also

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believe in kindness and compassion in my work. I believe that if a task is to be executed, the
subordinates, employees and the customers with whom I shall be dealing should be carried out
with compassion and kindness. As I am a team player, I find myself to be adaptable and
enthusiastic individual who would be ready to face any kind of challenge that the organizations
might put me in the path of my career. I am assertive and have the capability to lead any team. I
can be an asset to the employer who takes loyalty and responsibility solemnly.
Key Skills
1. A flexible approach to the needs and requirements of the respective organization which
would recruit me.
2. Ability to communicate with people fluently and efficiently, expertise in business
communication, interpersonal communication and interpersonal relationships.
3. Patience, perseverance and politeness are the rules which I strictly follow while working
in an organization at the designated post.
4. Taking eager responsibility and accountability of my own self development through self
reflection and introspection.
5. Excellent verbal as well as written communication skills
6. Highly innovative and creative towards work
7. Have adequate experience in the marketing related jobs earlier, such as digital marketing,
SEO (Search Engine Optimization), on- the- field sales and sales associate/ team leader in
sales department
8. Always eager and enthusiastic to learn new abilities and competency which would help
me enhance my profession.

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Employment history:
My desired graduate role
My desired graduate role would be marketing and Sales course which is available in most of
the universities and colleges of Vietnam. Vietnam also offers premium digital marketing
courses as well in different educational institutions, professional training and development
institutions and online skill development organizations thereafter. Marketing and Sales
course is important as a graduation course because it provides the individuals with
appropriate knowledge and wisdom related to the marketing field. Pursuing a graduation
course in marketing and sales does not only offers a goo salary package to the candidates, but
also gives the candidates the opportunity to take up jobs in the marketing sector which they
find interest or passion in. The courses offer comprehensive syllabus that covers intrinsic and
instrumental knowledge, wisdom and intellect regarding the respective field.
JOB SPECIFICATION TEMPLATE
Job Title: Marketing and Sales professional/ associate/ assistant executive/ executive
Skills required: For a profession such as Marketing and Sales, certain hard and soft skills are
necessary. For example, for being a marketer or a sales professional, one needs to have a
creative bent of mind. The person is required to be a good communicator who would be
expert in pacifying as well as influencing the customers (potential or functional) to purchase
the product, or at least, ponder about the product in order to buy it. The person also needs to
have prolific analytical skills. The person should be analytical towards the customers and

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need to introspect deeply regarding their behavior, manner, needs and preferences. The
individual should also possess soft skills such as attentiveness, mindfulness, team building
skills, motivational and manipulative skills and a sound knowledge about different marketing
techniques. The individuals should be confident and smart enough to deal with different
kinds of customers during their job.
Skills to be built: As I am already a creative person and a good communicator, I am confident
of the basic marketing skills. However, I need to develop certain soft skills such as
attentiveness, mindfulness, patience and perseverance more than what I possess now so that I
am able to deliver my work/ task properly. I also require learning digital marketing skills in
advanced level to become a virtual market expert.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENTAL PLAN
Serial Number Skills needed to be
developed
Commentary
(details)
Time frame
1. Advanced SEO
skills(Search Engine
Optimization) (digital
marketing)
In order to develop
advanced SEO skills,
I can get myself
enrolled in the
universities of
Vietnam that offers
digital marketing
courses. Apart from
that, I can avail
Approximately 6
months

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different books, e-
books, journals,
articles and
newspaper articles to
learn more about
advanced SEO.
2. Patience and
perseverance
To acquire the soft
skills of becoming
patient and
perseverant in the
workplace, I can
avail for the
mindfulness courses
and counseling
sessions that are
available in self- care
centers in the
country. I can also
practice meditation to
deal with such issues.
Approximately 8
months
3. Attentiveness To acquire the soft
skills of
attentiveness, I can
Approximately 10
months

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get myself enrolled
in mindfulness
activities such as
Yoga, Tai Chi and
Vipassana
meditation. Such
actions would help
me to self introspect
my psyche and make
me more attentive in
my workplace.
Conclusion
The respective paper concludes to be a reflection of my academic and professional
development based on my career portfolio. The paper has been concluded to critically introspect
and evaluate the desired “graduate labor market” where I wish to enroll myself as my
professional choice. The respective paper has also provided a precise and lucid account of my
own professional strengths and weaknesses for my desired graduate employment role.

13PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
References:
Forbes.com.2014. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattsymonds/2014/07/29/is-it-
time-to-take-your-career-to-asia/#1c728eaa3cb4
Gordon, D.A., 2013. Employability and social class in the graduate labour market (Doctoral
dissertation, Cardiff University).
Shankar, V., Carpenter, G.S. and Farley, J. eds., 2012. Handbook of marketing strategy. Edward
Elgar Publishing.
Sroubek, A., Kelly, M. and Li, X., 2013. Inattentiveness in attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder. Neuroscience bulletin, 29(1), pp.103-110.
Taillard, M. and Glăveanu, V., 2012. Creativity and Marketing: Interview With Marie Taillard.
Tuoitrenews.vn.2019. Available at: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/education/20170919/in-vietnam-
new-graduates-accept-unskilled-jobs-to-earn-fresh-money/41644.html
UNESCO Bangkok. Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, 2012. Graduate
employability in Asia.