Development of Employability Skills through Mini Project Workshops

This report discusses the development of employability skills through mini project workshops. It explores the importance of skills such as communication, time management, coordination, and conflict management in enhancing job prospects. The report also highlights the positive and negative experiences of attending these workshops and how they helped in identifying and improving weak areas.

Self Development

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
SKILL REFLECTION.....................................................................................................................1
Employability Skills...............................................................................................................2
Reflection...............................................................................................................................3
Academic Reading..................................................................................................................4
Communication......................................................................................................................5
Presentation Skills..................................................................................................................6
Time and Task Management..................................................................................................7
Negotiation Skills...................................................................................................................8
Interpersonal Skills.................................................................................................................9
Self Efficacy.........................................................................................................................10
Academic Integrity...............................................................................................................11
Numeracy.............................................................................................................................12
Team Working Skills............................................................................................................13
SUMMARY...................................................................................................................................14
How and why has the mini project workshops contributed towards the development of your
employability?................................................................................................................................15
CV..................................................................................................................................................17
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................18

INTRODUCTION
Portfolio is defined as the integration of experience and learning driven by an individual
during a particular tenure or while execution of an activity (Ghanizadeh, 2017). It provides aid to
personnel in recalling what they have experienced so as to enable personal as well as
professional development. The below mentioned report includes skill reflection, summary upon
chosen skills for portfolio and CV. Also, it includes contribution of mini project workshops to
development of employability.
SKILL REFLECTION
While undergoing studies within the confines of University, I leveraged several skills out
of which some were developed during the tenure of coursework while others were already
present within me. A reflective account of such skills is presented beneath:-
1

Employability Skills
These can be defined as the transferable skills which are required by a person to make
them employable within their field of interest. Undergoing studies at university posed me to a
number of instances and activities whereby I got the opportunity to develop as well as enhance
employability skills such as problem solving, technical skills, collaborative working, leadership
skills, adaptability, creativity, marketing, critical thinking and many more. By incorporating
these skills within the tenure at college, an individual inflates the scope of getting employed in a
reputed multinational company.
2

Reflection
This can be defined as the practice of thinking in an analytical manner with the assistance
of which an individual carries out effective analysis of a situation to take judgements in relation
to what has been learnt and what has been experienced (Cottrell, 2017). While undergoing the
lectures, I was taught by my tutor that there are several models or frameworks which are used for
the purpose of reflection. These are acknowledged to be Kolb’s learning cycle, Gibbs’ reflective
model, Driscoll model, Schon reflection in action and reflection on action, John’s model for
structured reflection etc. During one of my assignments, I made use of Gibb’s model to perform
the reflective practice. In future, this skill will provide assistance to me in reflecting upon an
instance or activity to reach out a conclusion.
3

Academic Reading
This is defined as the capability held by an individual to read what is written and to
comprehend it in the same manner as the writer wanted to convey. This is one of the most
prominently used skills during the life of a student at university. After the lectures are over, I
read books and journals related to the subject matter to gain thorough understanding of the topic
in question. Academic reading can also be done via accessing online resources whereby there are
many articles, books, journals and scholarly papers which assist the students in developing their
understanding of a subject. Further, this skill will also provide aid to me in future course of time
in order to score high grades in exams and assignments.
4

Communication
This is defined as the capability held by an individual to deliver what one wants to
convey in front of other persons along with the ability to hear what others want to express
(Chamberlain, 2017). Communication skills include speaking, listening, observing non verbal
cues etc. This is regarded as one of the most crucial skills for an individual in academic as well
as professional context. Within the university, I was taught by my tutor that communication is
mainly of 3 types, namely, visual, written and oral communication. The different forms of
written communication include business letters, CV, cover letters, memos, emails while oral
communication consist of presentations. Additionally, visual communication is executed by
capitalising upon the non verbal cues such as body movement, eye contacts and many more.
5

Presentation Skills
This can be deciphered as the capacity of an individual to engage target audience for
delivery of their views and opinions over a concerned subject matter. Presentation skills are
considered to be extremely important for students during their academic tenure at university.
This is so because the college authorities hand over a number of presentation assignments to
students individually as well as in groups. During our lecture sessions, even our tutor made use
of presentation skills to present a topic in front of us in a manner such that it can be easily
comprehended by all the students. Non verbal cues like eye contact, body movements and hand
movements are considered to be immensely significant for the development of this skill within
an individual.
6

Time and Task Management
This can be defined as the ability of an individual to manage the time period in a manner
such that the allotted task can be completed within pre defined course of time (Edwards, 2017).
Time and task management skills are quite crucial for an individual in academic as well as
professional context. During the tenure at college, I was given a number of assignments and
projects which had to be completed in given period of time. In this relation, time and task
management skills provided assistance to me in ensuring that prioritisation of activities was done
in a manner which could allow timely completion of the given project or task.
7

Negotiation Skills
This can be defined as the quality with the help of which 2 or more than two parties tend
to reach at a compromising situation. This encompasses sub skills like persuading power,
communication skills, planning, strategising and cooperation. During the tenure at university,
this skill was developed by me while working in a group of 5 persons to prepare a project on a
topic. Each and every individual had contrasting views and opinions for doing this project. I
leveraged my negotiation skills to convince the team members about my way of carrying out the
project.
8

Interpersonal Skills
These can be defined as the skills which are used daily in order to set communication
with people individually as well as within groups (Tinto, 2017). This skill is quite important for
an individual to express their views and opinions in front of people and build their interest within
the subject matter raised. The journey at university exposed me to a number of situations
whereby I had to make use of my interpersonal skills in order to interact with my peers. This
skill will further provide assistance to me in developing healthy connections with people who I
come across in academic or professional context.
9

Self Efficacy
This is the belief held by an individual in their ability to attain success within certain
instances or tasks. It is quite crucial for an individual to ensure that they are able to accomplish a
task or activity within due course of time. In this regard, it has been acknowledged that this skill
provided assistance to me in university while completing my assignments and projects allotted
by the tutors. This skill will further provide assistance to me in personal as well as professional
context to deal with the most complex tasks in an easy manner.
10

Academic Integrity
Academic integrity can be defined as the ability of an individual to commit to as well as
demonstrate moral behaviour within academic settings (Chen and et. al., 2017). In this relation, it
can be said that during my tenure at University, I learnt that plagiarism is an academic offence
which violates the academic integrity of a student. It is acknowledged to be of two types,
namely, intentional and unintentional. Further, the lectures given during the week helped me in
learning that an ideal student carries out project work in a manner where he/she does in-text
citations within the work to give credits to the original writer.
11

Numeracy
This can be defined as the skill concerned with dealing in numbers, percentage, ratios and
so on. These skills provide assistance to students during the university when they are given
research projects. The data interpretation section of the research can be done only by leveraging
the numeracy skills as this allows an individual to effectively comprehend the findings. This skill
will in future provide assistance to me in dealing with projects related to finance or any
numeracy concepts in an effective manner.
12

Team Working Skills
This can be defined as the ability of an individual to work in a group of two or more
persons so as to achieve the desired results (Kyte and et. al., 2017). Team working skills are
quite important for individuals to carry out tasks in professional as well as academic setting.
Within university, team working skills assisted me in executing projects in groups by leveraging
effective coordination as well as cooperation. Tuckman Team Development Theory and Belbin’s
Team Roles Theory are two of the most important theories of team working. This skill will
further render aid to me in efficiently completing all the team projects within the allotted time
frame. It is important for individuals to set communication with the members so as to avoid any
kind of misunderstanding arising while working collaboratively.
13

SUMMARY
During my journey of learning at the university campus, I underwent several experiences
which provided assistance to me in becoming a better academic as well as professional person.
The course work and learning made me develop and enhance a number of skills all throughout
the tenure. Time and task management was one of the most prominent skills that were enhanced
by me by undergoing several assignments and projects during the college time. This skill is quite
crucial for an individual to attain success in academic as well as professional context. This is
because no matter what the settings is in which the individual is operating, they are provided
with tasks that have to be completed by them within due course of time in order to attain the
desired results (Edwards, 2017). Further, another skill that was developed me as a result of the
different modules that I underwent was communication. This is regarded as one of the most
crucial skills for an individual in any context, be it personal, academic or professional. This skill
provides assistance to the personnel in expressing their views and thoughts over a subject matter
in front of others (Tinto, 2017). I made use of this skill all throughout my journey at the
university to interact with my peers, tutor and seniors. Another significant skill that was
incorporated within my personality was team working. I learnt about two important theories
which are used for development of an effective team and allotting roles to members as per their
characteristics. While working for group assignments, I made use of this skill to ensure that work
went as per expectations of the team. Academic integrity was another crucial skill that was
developed by me whereby I learnt that plagiarism accounts to academic crime and thus must be
avoided at all times to maintain my stature at university. As a result of this, I was able to
complete all my projects in a manner which could inflate my academic integrity. I did in-text
citations in all the works to give credits to the original writers.
14

How and why has the mini project workshops contributed towards the
development of your employability?
Mini project workshops are considered as the core part of learning which helps individual
developing their own skills and knowledge that further supports them in acquiring their favourite
job and succeeding into the same (Suleman, 2018). These mini project workshops provide
opportunity to individual to learn things in detailed manner. As being a curious person, I always
placed numerous of attempts to learn skills and knowledge that could further help me out in
acquiring best job as per my capabilities and proficiency of performing the work in appropriate
manner. for this, I have also attended various of mini project workshops which clearly provide
support in developing employability skills. While attending these workshops I have gone through
several experiences some of them were positive on the other hand the remaining one was not at
all good as it has developed range of problems for me but still have supported me determining
my weak areas. By identifying the weak areas of mine I got opportunity to develop my weak
skills in appropriate manner.
The positive experience related to these mini workshops was that I got to know about
some of the core professional skills which helps individual like me who are planning to start
working in the organisations. In these, I got opportunity to interact with several people which
ultimately enhanced by communication skill. Along with this, these workshops also help in
learning some tactics and strategies that would definitely support in developing relations with the
team members in company (Suleman, 2016). Also, these strategies would also provide me
guidance towards executing the organisational work that enhances my sustainability within the
corporate context in future time period.
On the other hand, there were few negative experiences related to the same workshops
that have affected me a lot. These mini project workshops were having lots of task based activity
and while performing them I got to know that in some areas I was not at all good. This had
demotivated me at that period of time as I got to know that these deficiencies of skills could
make it difficult for me to acquire desired job. The main skills which were found as deficit in me
were time management, coordination, conflict management etc. The workshop leaders and other
professionals have supported a lot to me improvising my weak areas by simply conducting
additional sessions for me through which I can develop my skill as per the requirement and grab
favourite job.
15

Apart from this, it can be clearly said that mini project workshops have supported a lot to
me in developing my weak skills such as team time management, coordination, conflict
management etc. (Tsitskari and et. al., 2017). Whereas, it had also provided opportunity to me to
improvise set of employability skills through which I can easily acquire good job and perform
my work within the company in the expected manner as I know the specific pattern of
performing organizational work in rightful manner. Thus, from the overall evaluation it can be
said that the mini project workshops has contributed a lot in the development of my
employability skills.
16

CV
Ana Maria Mihalcea
15 Trenchardclose Stanmore HA73SS
SUMMARY
Worked as a waitress in a Romanian restaurant. Also done bar keeping dealing with suppliers.
Worked as a General Manager in absence of my boss and received appreciation for the same.
EDUCATION
 Harrow College – E,S,O,L. 2016
 London School of Science and Technology: 2019 to Present
WORK HISTORY
 Housekeeping
Role: Helping with Cleaning and General Housework Task
Tenure: 2013-2015
Employment Background Check: Maria Iacob – 07449907053
 Shop Assistant
Roles: Cleaning, cashier, online sales dealing with customers over the phone, ordering new stock
Tenure: 2015-2018
Employment Background Check: Krishna Sarees – 02089036616
SKILLS
 Hardworking
 Enthusiastic
 Well Organised
 Collaborative Working
 Good Communication Skills
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cottrell, S., 2017. Critical thinking skills: Effective analysis, argument and reflection. Macmillan
International Higher Education.
Ghanizadeh, A., 2017. The interplay between reflective thinking, critical thinking, self-
monitoring, and academic achievement in higher education. Higher Education, 74(1),
pp.101-114.
Chamberlain, E., 2017. Extending the classroom walls: using academic blogging as an
intervention strategy to improve critical literacy skills with elementary
students. Education 3-13, 45(2), pp.243-257.
Edwards, S., 2017. Reflecting differently. New dimensions: reflection-before-action and
reflection-beyond-action. International Practice Development Journal, 7(1).
Tinto, V., 2017. Reflections on student persistence. Student Success, 8(2), pp.1-9.
Chen, P., Chavez, O., Ong, D.C. and Gunderson, B., 2017. Strategic resource use for learning: A
self-administered intervention that guides self-reflection on effective resource use
enhances academic performance. Psychological Science, 28(6), pp.774-785.
Kyte, R., Muse, K., Wager, D. and Barratt, A., 2017. Enhancing Study Skills: Development of an
Institute Wide Website.
Suleman, F., 2018. The employability skills of higher education graduates: insights into
conceptual frameworks and methodological options. Higher Education, 76(2), pp.263-
278.
Suleman, F., 2016. Employability skills of higher education graduates: Little consensus on a
much-discussed subject. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 228, pp.169-174.
Tsitskari, E., Goudas, M., Tsalouchou, E. and Michalopoulou, M., 2017. Employers’
expectations of the employability skills needed in the sport and recreation
environment. Journal of hospitality, leisure, sport & tourism education, 20, pp.1-9.
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