Academic Skills and PDP: A Plan for Personal & Professional Growth

This report provides an analysis of academic skills and their importance in personal and professional development. It examines the concept of personal and professional growth, highlighting the value of short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals with personal examples. The report emphasizes the significance of a personal development plan (PDP) for nurturing skills and knowledge, improving effectiveness, and ensuring ongoing employability. It concludes that academic skills are crucial for professionals and students, and goals should be aligned with individual aspirations, with clarity about life aims to set appropriate goals.

Academic Skills And PDP

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Concept of personal and professional development .......................................................................3
Value of short term goals along with three personal examples.......................................................4
Value of medium term goals along with three personal examples..................................................5
Value of long term goals along with three personal examples........................................................6
Explain about value of a personal development plan and construct an example using the
identified goals.................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
APPENDIXES...............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Academic skills can be defined in the manner that these are the skills and habitat which
benefit pursuits of academic such as presentation, learning, report writing and presentation. It
includes technical skills, communication, analysis, social, planning, test taking and studying.
Academic skills is basically a group of learning strategies, study habits and time management
tools which are required for students learning and absorption of the main content. For particular
students learning is more about access to information(Bales, B. L., 2015). These skills are not
only beneficial for time to take tests and also act as advantageous role in terms of future growth
of an individual. There are various kinds of skills which are are covered under academic
spectrum. So academic skills becomes the base for an individual professional and personal
growth. In this report the analysis has been done on concept of personal and professional
development. The analysis has also been done on short term goals, medium term and long term
goals along with the example of personal examples and also about its importance. The research
has been done on value of a personal development plan and along with an example with support
of identified goals.
TASK
Concept of professional and personal growth
Personal Development: It refers to a way for people assessing their qualities and skills,
consider about aims in life and set their goals in order to maximise their potential and to realise
it. Personal development is a long term and also a lifelong process(Murray, and et.al., 2020).
Personal development is a process and it helps an individual to reaches comes closer to targets of
their life. It can also be viewed in a positive manner that how an individual sees themselves and
world also. There are some benefits in investing in personal development of an individual. It
covers three main areas which includes self awareness, develops direction, motivation and

action. The purpose of personal development is that to make the process simpler, think into
decisive manner. There are various kinds of process of developing an individual. It includes from
self help books to training programmes, meditation, painting to poetry. So personal development
is very necessary for an individual.
Professional Development: It can be defined in the manner that it is a combination of
tools, resources and training sessions which are required by educators in terms of their
improvement in effectiveness and teaching quality (Mtshali, L. C., 2019). These resources gives
the opportunity to an individual to further increase their knowledge area and allows for
mentorship. By taking part in workshops and seminar they can enhance their skills in terms of
analytical skills, quantitative and technical skills. Professional development is very necessary for
an employee for giving best results to their company. Professional development is also a life long
process and it has continued till the point when an individual is in working context. It also
includes to further meet out the requirements of customers and in terms of their students also.
Professional development not only raises the confidence level but also gives a zeal to upgrade
themselves to a next higher level. That's why professional development is very important for
their further progress.
Importance of short term goals along with three personal examples
Importance of short term goals: Short term goals are those goals which needs to be
achieved very soon. These are the goals which are simple in nature and easy to accomplish it.
These goals do not require long term commitment. It is the best way to create momentum. These
goals always gives an opportunity to keep motivation high as well as allows an individual to stay
on their track (Golparvar, S. E. and Barabadi, E., 2020). These goals help in boosting the self-
confidence level of an individual. These goals act as a milestone in achieving their long term
goals. They gives a motivation that how far an individual comes for it and how long it has to
travel to further reach to their ultimate destination. For achieving long term goals it is important
that to break it down into short term goals. Having short term goals is very important because
with the absence of it an individual has lost about their clear vision towards it.
These goals helps in seeing an individual their goals in a clear form and sets specific
guidelines about it in terms of attaining their long term goals. In process of achieving short term

goals, an individual has to face failures, discouragement and rejection(Mamaevski, E. V. and
Gavel, O. Y., 2017). These are hurdles which an individual has to face while working towards
an individual goal. These are parameters which continuously reminds an individual about
purpose of all hard work put in and also supports in remaining focused towards it. \
When an individual has the long term goals and it is divided into short term goals then there is
guarantee about success in that particular field(Machado, and et.al., 2018). That's why short term
goals are very important for an individual as well as in the overall manner also.
Three personal examples have been given into following manner:
 Building a morning routine
 To complete reading a particular book
 Improvement in communication skills
Importance of medium term goals along with three personal examples
Importance of medium term goals: These are those goals which takes bit longer time. It
could be achieved in next two weeks, a month or perhaps six months(Haines, and et.al., 2017).
These are goals which becomes the pathway for achieving long term goals. These goals helps in
evaluating an individual progress (Perrin, H. C., 2016). These are goals whose values and
priorities won't change dramatically over period of time when needs to achieve the goal. These
are goals which explains about how to manage their time and in terms of how to take control
over one's own time. In terms of achieving medium term goals an individual has to change their
path in several times when taking steps towards it (Kamal, A. and Kamal, R., 2017).Medium
term goals are those goals which gives opportunity for both kind of world where it is not long
enough to make significant progress towards it and short enough that an individual can't be a
different person by that time when an individual achieve their goal.
Advantage of setting medium term goals is that an individual can set various options
towards it over the course of an individual lifetime(Moran, and et.al., 2016). When values and
priorities change towards it then new medium term goals can be set again. Medium term goals
requires a commitment for a minimum period of time. Medium term goals usually framed in that
period of time when an individual graduated from the college, secured a job and start their career
in real terms. Also it is before the time period of about day to day retirement schedule foe when

working career is over (McCollum, R., 2019).For tackling medium term goals it is important that
to make sequence about it. When individual has meet out the single goal and then move towards
the next goal. In this way, these are very important from every perspective.
Three personal examples have been given into following manner:
 Finding a permanent job
 Savings for a house
 Learning about computer skills
Importance of long term goals along with three personal examples
Importance of long term goals: These are those goals which an individual want to
accomplish in future (Quesada, H. V. and Casalvolone, N. R., 2016). Long term goals require
proper time and planning for it. These are those goals which cannot be achieved within a week or
in a year. To complete a long term goal it requires a lot of steps for it. In terms of career long
term goals are very important. This is necessary for self-improvement. These goals help an
individual to keep that level where they want to be. These goals help an individual to shape their
careers and lives. Long term goals gives an enthusiasm to continuously work towards it and
reminds an individual how all the hard work have invested in short term goals will finally pay off
(Eta, E. A., 2018).For achieving long term goals, it is required to break down into short term
goals so that after a period of time it can be achieved in a positive manner. Long term goals also
need lots of patience and consistency towards it so that on the daily basis regular work has bee
done with respect to it.
These goals gives clarity towards their future transparent pathway and exceptional
motivation towards it. It gives focus towards achieving it. Long term goals empowerment for
working towards it (Brones, F. and de Carvalho, M. M., 2015). Because it shows the future
results when an individual achieve it. In this way, it gives motivation and enthusiasm to work
consistently towards it in any kind of situation. Long term goals gives the opportunity to face
challenges, problems on particular pathway of it but it also gives experience how to face it. Long
term goals not only gives happiness but also gives a sense of satisfaction towards their life and in

terms of professional manner(Hasanudin, C. and Fitrianingsih, A., 2018).That's why long term
goals are very important.
Three personal examples have been given into following manner:
 Establishing company at international level
 Earn a college degree
 Learning a foreign language
Describe about importance of a personal growth plan and using the identified goals construct an
example
There are various benefits of personal development plan. This kind of plan has been
developed at that time when working in a professional way or at a place of learning. Personal
development plan is a lifelong and continuous process for nurturing, improving skills and
knowledge, shaping to ensure maximum effectiveness and ongoing employability. This kind of
plan is very important for professionals because with this kind of development the overall
personality has been changed(Jayawardena, K. P. R., 2015). It gives confidence level, a different
kind of standard at professional level and also enhances the skills and abilities of an individual.
In terms of student having the personal development plan gives pathway for future development
due to which it gives confidence level to an individual. This kind of plan gives idea about what
should be next step that an individual has to follow. It also helps in evaluating in which sector an
individual is strong or in which sector the individual is weak.
Due to which an individual always work towards their strengths and in this way they can
develop their strong professional career(bin Othman, and et.al., 2021). Having a personal
development plan gives idea about how to set their objectives in life and how actions needs to be
taken in practical manner. It also helps in planning a career change or help in building current
skills of an individual. In this way, it gives opportunity to learn something new and achieve new
heights in terms of career. This kind of plan helps in becoming dedicated, enthusiastic and also

have the ability to plan and learn. That's why personal development plan is very important and
their values also.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that academic skills plays a very important
role in life of professionals as well as students also. Academic skills should be designed or needs
to be chosen in such a manner for an individual according to their goals in life.
An individual has to be very clear about their aim in life so that they can set their different kinds
of goals over the period of time. Goals can be for different period of time i.e. short term, medium
term and long term. Skills are the base of achieving any higher targets in their life. On the basis
of skills an individual can stand differently in practical as well as in professional way also. For
achieving long term goals it is necessary that there should be personal development plan so that
they can take smaller steps towards it. That's why academic skills are very important and act as
key parameter in lives of different individual.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Mamaevski, E. V. and Gavel, O. Y., 2017. TOP MANAGEMENT MOTIVATION IN
ACHIEVING CORPORATE GOALS. In
Наука, инновации, технологии и
образование (pp. 447-452).
bin Othman, and et.al., 2021. CABARAN DAN HALANGAN PELAKSANAAN
PENGAJARAN DAN PEMBELAJARAN PENDIDIKAN ISLAM YANG
MENGINTERGRASIKAN KEMAHIRAN BERFIKIR ARAS TINGGI.
Jurnal
Penyelidikan Dedikasi,
17, pp.150-168.
Jayawardena, K. P. R., 2015. Sri Lankan senior secondary school teachers’ practices that foster
students’ science achievement: Towards developing self-regulated learning.
Brones, F. and de Carvalho, M. M., 2015. From 50 to 1: integrating literature toward a systemic
ecodesign model.
Journal of Cleaner Production,
96, pp.44-57.
Eta, E. A., 2018. Enhancing Graduate Employability in Cameroonian Universities through
Professionalization in the Context of the ‘Licence–Master–Doctorat’Reform.
Higher
Education Policy,
31(3), pp.309-332.
Quesada, H. V. and Casalvolone, N. R., 2016. A Leveling English Course for Prospective First
Year Students of the English Majors of the UCR, SO.
All papers/abstracts have been
peer-reviewed ISBN: 978-9968-641-37-1, p.243.
McCollum, R., 2019.
The Role of Metacognition in Visual Art Education (Doctoral dissertation,
San Jose State University).
Kamal, A. and Kamal, R., 2017, November. Good Governance & Community Participation
Efficiency Improvement of Local UUU's in Handling Participatory Planning Projects.
In
1st International Conference on Towards a Better Quality of Life.
Perrin, H. C., 2016.
Rhetoric and reality: The development of professional identity in UK
veterinary medicine (Doctoral dissertation, University of Kent,).
Golparvar, S. E. and Barabadi, E., 2020. Key phrase frames in the discussion section of research
articles of higher education.
Lingua,
236, p.102804.
Mtshali, L. C., 2019.
Investigating an ageing workforce and skills transfer of the
organisation (Doctoral dissertation, North-West University (South Africa)).
Murray, and et.al., 2020. Civil Engineering 4 Real (CE 4 R): Co-curricular learning for
undergraduates.
European Journal of Engineering Education,
45(1), pp.128-150.

Bales, B. L., 2015. Restructuring Teacher Education in the United States: Finding the Tipping
Point.
Athens Journal of Education,
2(4), pp.297-312.
Machado, and et.al., 2018.
Management of development of the Baja: Proposed reference model
for project improvement (No. 2018-36-0255). SAE Technical Paper.
Hasanudin, C. and Fitrianingsih, A., 2018. The Implementation of Flipped Classroom using
Screencast-O-Matic to Improve Students’ Verbal Linguistic
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International Journal of Engineering & Technology,
7(4.15), pp.435-439.
APPENDIXES
Skills to be developed Development plan Different resources Target Date
Communication skills For purpose of
analysing research I
will make some major
amendments in
research and gather
information to analyse
different sources.
Shahnazi and et.al.,
2021. A quasi-
experimental study to
improve health service
quality: implementing
communication and
self-efficacy skills
training to primary
healthcare workers in
two counties in Iran.
BMC Medical
Education,21(1), pp.1-
9.
August 2021
Technical Skills It can be improved
through joining a
course and by
attending specific
technical seminars
where expert people
Rubenson, D., 2021.
Expertise in technical
skills help in career as
well as in personal
life.
October 2021

demonstrate about the
latest technologies.