Academic & Employability Skills: A Reflective Development Report

This report provides a detailed account of the author's journey in developing key academic and employability skills, focusing on presentation, teamwork, and communication. The report is structured around weekly journal entries that describe the skills learned, the problems encountered, and the strategies employed to overcome these challenges. Specific topics covered include time management, communication skills (with emphasis on seminar and discussion techniques), presentation skills, reading and advising skills, and academic argument and writing. The author reflects on the difficulties faced, such as procrastination, ineffective communication, and technical writing challenges, and explains how resources like the Cottrell S study skills handbook and practical exercises were instrumental in improving these skills. The report highlights the importance of these skills in enhancing employability and achieving professional success.

Academic and
Employability Skills

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Academic skills play a huge part in determining an individual's career growth and their
success in the professional path they choose to undertake. These skills are developed at a young
age and form a basis of the standards of teaching imparted to them during the time they spend in
schools and colleges (Bala and Singh, 2021). This report will detail the journey that the author
undertook while learning key employability boosting competencies such as presentation,
teamwork and communication skills. Weekly journal writings will be described and expand upon
by detailing the type of skills learned, the problems in achieving them and the measures taken to
overcome these perceived hardships.
MAIN BODY
I underwent many sessions focusing on development of abilities that can better my
chances of gaining rewarding employment options and develop a robust standard of academic
skills and they are all stored in the form of journal entries. These entries along with detailed
description regarding the types of skills learned and problems encountered are listed herein.
Week 1, 24th January to 28th January
Topic: Time Management
Time management for me means the activity of getting organised through making plans
to compartmentalise my time between various tasks. Managing my time effectively would
connote that I do not have to work relatively as hard and completing tasks in shorter time spans.
I could manage my time well by assigning priorities to each tasks. According to those priorities I
can schedule my tasks and set goals. Maintaining concentration is a skill which have to be
evolved constantly in order to effectively and efficiently manage my time. This was another
academic curriculum that was very helpful in inculcating time management skills in me
which is a very important factor to be considered when it comes to an individual becoming
employable and performing well in any job role. Being knowledgeable about the given tasks is
not enough to satisfy employers and superiors as executing them within a specified time frame is
a compulsory requirement for every job as employment as a concept has always been bound by
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timely constraints (Clarke, 2018). This session also included various approaches to wards
properly managing time which are stated below.
1. Keeping the workplace and location of the task to be performed organized and tidy so
that time is not wasted in finding and arranging various things
2. Use of technology to keep records of previously executed tasks and keeping track of the
things to be done helps save time tremendously
3. Proper scheduling and planning of tasks and operations is needed at any job level as they
help allocate proper time for the completion of such activities (Nirmala and Kumar,
2018).
I faced many problems when it came to executing any given task or operation to me in a
specified time frame as I spent a majority of time indulging in idle thought and procrastinating
needlessly on things that weren't worth giving attention to. But by reading the chapter about time
management after the session got over which was given to us in the form of the Cottrell S study
skills handbook proved vital as it helped me understand key elements of managing time. This
session also involved in me learning about how to get the most out of my university course
which was a useful learning experience.
Week 2, 31st January to 4th February
Topic: Communication Skills “Seminar and discussions”
During this week I learnt that skills associated with communication are needed to be
developed and evolved in order to be employable in modern times. These skills are the abilities
through which I can use when I give or receive information. Communication skill involves
listening intently without interrupting others. Speaking confidently with clarity and in a friendly
manner. Giving and getting feedback regarding the conversation. Empathising and respecting the
person with whom I converse. And lastly an ability to understand and make people understand
through nonverbal means such as hand gestures.
This seminar was very important for my personal development and for boosting my
employability skills as it is a compulsion of every job role irrespective of industry and
competencies to have proper standards of organizational and peer communication. This week
included 2 important sessions with one standard seminar to clear basics of communication while
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the other was concentrated on government and business specific communication. It was helpful
in developing key concepts for building effective communication such as:
1. Tips to become an effective verbal speaker
2. Learning how to capture the interests of the audience and making the spoken content
interesting
3. Highlighting how businesses and government interact with each other and how
communication channels are operated in these separate organizations.
There were many problems that I encountered while studying this module and
participating in these sessions as my spoken content was not delivered in a concise and
streamlined manner and I was also including a lot of technical jargon in my normal way of
informal communication which was making it hard for others to understand me.
This week’s learning session’s also helped me identify and differentiate various forms of
communication events such as chats, meetings and seminars and the reading material which was
allotted to us also helped me build solid foundation of personal and business communication and
helped me learn new concepts such as CREAM strategy for learning.
Week 3, 7th February to 11th February
Topic: Presentation Skills
During this week I learnt that skill of presenting is essential in efficacious execution of
each stage while giving a speech. This encompasses the researching, organisational delivering
aspect in conjunction with analysing the speech after the delivery. In the organisation that I may
work for in future, I would need to present various reports to my peers or superiors or to the
clients. For maintaining their attention and earning my keep, my presentation would need to be
much organised, have a tendency to engage and most importantly maintain relevancy.
This module was very helpful in shaping up my presentation skills with an expert focus
on how to make and deliver effective presentations. Another session also took place highlighting
the process of reading used in the field of research. Forecasting important company information
and holding corporate or team meetings is a compulsion in every job role nowadays and being an
expert communicator is necessary to hold the audience's interest and deliver a strong message
(Cazan, 2020). This session included various tips and ways in which effective presentation skills
could be developed by me such as:
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1. Present useful and filtered information and avoid the use of blocks of information which
the audience has trouble taking in.
2. Learning how to properly conduct research on a given topic and how to effective read
secondary sources of data
3. Add visual cues to the presentation as it prevents the entire session from getting boring
and gives the chance for the target audience to grasp the content in a better way.
There were many problems that I personally encountered while learning and making
changes to my way of presenting information to a varied number of people such as starting the
presentation on a boring and non-impactful note resulting in audience's not getting excited for
my further delivery, boring the people with giant uninteresting slabs of information and using too
many technical jargon's making my content confusing.
I overcame these problems by effectively changing my style of delivering the information
to the intended audience by starting on an entertaining and joking note to make them comfortable
with me and also using lots of visual cues such as graphs and charts to make the conversation
appear more professional and technical. This week revolved around me brushing me up my
presentation skills and also about reading patterns and habits which were solidified after studying
the chapters from the Cottrell handbook.
Week 4, 14th February to 18th February
Topic: Reading and Advice
Reading and Advising skills include an assortment of abilities which permeate through
every facet of my life. If I have powerful reading skills I would be able to constructively reach a
meaningful interpretation. By evolving my reading skills I could in turn also evolve my
communications made through writing. To evolve this skill I need to decipher the content
fluently not previously known to me, on a continual basis to make meaningful inferences by
connecting it to my previous knowledge. Also developing my ability to retain relevant
information.
Academic learnings are very important as most of the important competencies developed
in schools and colleges are used in jobs and professional environment for the entirely of one's
life (Pitan and Muller, 2020). This session was important in helping me learn various smart
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and effective approaches to efficient reading such as skimming, scanning and also helped me
understand the various importance of critical reading skills in benefiting one's employment such
as:
1. Developing methods of effective verbal and non-verbal communication between various
parties to prevent miscommunication and fights
2. Filtering large blocks of information and separating needless flux for optimum efficiency
in data collection and forecasting
3. Reading skills are also needed in drafting business e-mails and business documents for
departmental use
Personally, there are many problems that I encounter in my day to day life when I try to
read and make sense of the various academic texts presented during my holistic learning process
such as wasting time reading nonsensical and unneeded parts of the text, forming baseless
conclusions and assumptions and skipping important parts of the text by improper methods of
skimming.
These problems that occur with me during reading and this module which was taught to
me are a regular sight for many students going through their academic learning process and I
managed to overcome them by learning to use different types of reading styles such as detailed
reading for important texts and practical manuscripts, skimming and scanning to save my
time reading routine slabs of data and using surveying when reading and analysing research data.
Week 5, 21 February to 25th February
Topic: Academic argument and Academic writing
Academic argument could be said to be the stance or judgement which one makes pertaining to a
given topic. I would need to use these skills while writing scholarly articles or reports. It is
important for me to able to put my view forward without getting emotional and basing my
arguments on sound evidence and logic. I would need to utilize the format for proposing a theory
and forming rational judgements. To achieve this I have to be adopt a logical structure whilst
making use of authentic resources so that no error creeps up in my argument or writing.
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This week involved 2 highly technical lectures which were completely focused in
developing my skills at developing quality standards of academic style of writing while
understanding how to present and research on a variety of hypotheses (Pusey, 2018). These
seminars helped in becoming a better and more smart writer while also helping in
improving my research and critical thinking skills by imparting the knowledge about the
below given concepts.
1. Developing an argument and choosing a hypothesis and problem to work upon
2. Supplying carefully researched evidence to support every major argument and
assumptions
3. Learning the proper grammatical and language skills required to properly write a
professional document.
4. Gaining complete understanding of the methodology and frameworks that goes into
undertaking a research or academic project
I encountered a lot of problems during these sessions and the modules which were to be
studied as the content being taught was very technical and my lexical skills were quite weak
which affected by ability to form meaningful phrases and sentences. I was also having trouble
forming proper text structures as my grammar and punctuation skills also needed work.
These problems were solved using the various post sessions writing exercises provided to
us along with the assigned chapters of the Cottrell handbook which dealt with both nature of
academic arguments and helped me understand ways to undertake research while avoiding
serious mistakes such as plagiarism.
Week 6, 28st February to 4th march2022
Topic: Graduate attributes (Job satisfaction and teamwork)
Teamwork attribute is indispensable for achieving success as every job requires an
individual to play well with others. To properly satisfy the superiors, clients and my peers I need
to inculcate a habit of teamwork, in order for the company to keep a robust culture of work and
reaching the objectives and goals assigned to me. Proper teamwork requires that I take
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responsibility for my actions, properly communicate my ideas and listen actively to ideas of
others and resolve any conflict should one arise in a efficacious manner.
This was a unique session as the seminar helped me gain important skills needed to
work in unison and display standards of performance while working with other people and
methods by which I can make my job interesting to me and people working under me in
the future. By teaching me rules and approaches to working in a team along with various
practical group exercises top drive home the basics of teamwork in a professional environment.
This seminar helped me learn important fundamental so teamwork such as:
1. Clarifying and properly communicating the different roles and expectations from every
individual member of the team.
2. Conducting group exercises with a positive and inspirational mind-set so that the
atmosphere in a team remains productive.
3. Establishment of clear and flexible team rules for proper functioning of every tasks in an
operational loop (Phillips Galloway and Uccelli, 2019).
This week helped me introspect about what motivation and job satisfaction means to me
personally and helped me acquire practical knowledge through reading books and material
pertaining to motivational theories and what makes employees satisfied with their job. Most of
my doubts were laid to rest by reading the Cottrell S handbook and focusing on role of teamwork
in job satisfaction and impact of management styles on workforce satisfaction.
CONCLUSION
The above concluded report went into detail regarding the various modules used to
develop the academic and employable skills and competencies of individuals which impacts their
personal and professional life to a great degree. The report included detailed descriptions of
various learnings that occurred over a 6 week period and took journal entries as the base for the
topics learned. Various important skills such as reading, presentation skills, critical thinking
skills, decision making and teamwork were detailed along with their importance and the
problems students and professionals face while learning them. The report also discussed the
ways in which people overcome these challenges using smart strategic approaches.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cottrell, S., 2019. The study skills handbook. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Garcia-Gorrostieta, J.M. and Lopez-Lopez, A., 2018. Argument component classification in
academic writings. Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems, 34(5), pp.3037-3047.
Dahlke, S., Stahlke, S. and Coatsworth-Puspoky, R., 2018. Influence of teamwork on health care
workers' perceptions about care delivery and job satisfaction. Journal of Gerontological Nursing,
44(4), pp.37-44.
Silfiani, S., 2018. Plagiarism in English Academic Writing: Students’ Perceptions. English
Education Journal, 9(1), pp.102-123.
Cottrell, S. and Morris, N., 2017. Study skills connected: using technology to support your
studies. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Cottrell, S., 2017. Critical thinking skills: Effective analysis, argument and reflection.
Bloomsbury Publishing.
Cottrell, S., 2010. Skills for success. Palgrave Macmillan.
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