Developing Career Prospects Portfolio

This portfolio documents a student's journey in developing their career prospects. It includes a reflective essay and various workshop activities such as a Johari Window exercise, personal branding statement, work-based competency analysis, and a values assessment. The student details their experiences at Marks and Spencer, highlighting skills gained in customer service, sales, and teamwork. The reflective essay further analyzes strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning, communication, and leadership skills. The student also discusses challenges faced due to ineffective leadership within the organization. The portfolio demonstrates self-awareness and a proactive approach to career development.

DEVELOPING CAREER PROSPECTS
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Table of Contents
Part A Portfolio ....................................................................................................................................3
Workshop activities .............................................................................................................................3
1. Johari Window.............................................................................................................................3
2. Personal brand statement and 30 Second Commercial ...............................................................3
3. Work based competency and Exercise.........................................................................................4
4. Your values...................................................................................................................................4
5. Assessment center team based exercise.......................................................................................5
6. Career management seminar task................................................................................................6
Non Workshop related activities ..........................................................................................................6
Experience on employability...........................................................................................................6
Portfolio Summary...............................................................................................................................6
Part B Reflective Essay........................................................................................................................7
References..........................................................................................................................................10
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PART A PORTFOLIO
I have taken assistance from a range of activities so that I can achieve success in personal as
well as in professional contexts. In the below section, I have specified all those activities that are
useful for me and from them, I have learned many things related to my personal and professional
aspects.
WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES
1. Johari Window
I have developed self awareness on my skills and capabilities through Johari Window
through which I have also acquired knowledge about proper management at workplace. According
to Johari Window, I emphasized on a few skills that could help me to become manager at Marks and
Spencer, UK (Wilton, 2011). With the help of such activity, I came to realize the importance of
technical competence for a person and I personally feel that the skill is highly crucial for me
because that could assist me to manage technical issues and constraints at Marks and Spencer, UK. I
give importance of self awareness where in I try to learn different things and aspects so that in
future I can manage my work practices in adequate way. Social and interpersonal skills are also
important for the same aspects because at workplace, every person is required to develop social
bonding with other employees. This, also aids in maximizing the competency of the organization;
further it can also facilitate team management. I have been emphasizing on many facets so that I can
create more innovation and creativity at workplace. The activity states that every person needs to
emphasize on personal values and beliefs (Williams, 2005). I believe in conceptual learning as that
develops my capabilities and also enhances my knowledge level. I keep on sharing things with
others so that I can enhance my communication skills for maximizing the state of potential.
2. Personal brand statement and 30 Second Commercial
Name Key strengths
Rayan Abdulaziz Almalki
Shop Assistant Associate at Marks and Spencer,
London, UK.
I am good in MS Office and this assists me to
work properly on office work. I have good
command over language and this aids me to deal
properly with the customers. At Marks and
Spencer, I communicate properly with the
customers which also aids me to deliver
adequate services to them (Trought, 2012). I am
a hard worker and to achieve more recognition, I
emphasize on learning new and innovative
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things. This further also develops innovation at
workplace. I can also manage a lot of work at a
time and that too in appropriate manner. I have
tolerance power and this maximizes my
capabilities upto higher extent.
Key responsibilities and accountabilities What you want to do next
I am accountable to manage good status of
products and its delivery to the actual client. I
also work as a sales person at Marks and
Spencer where in I am involved to promote the
products and services to different customer
segments (Pratt and Kaplan, 2004). I maintain
better customer relations through maintaining
consistent communication with them. I try to
inform people about all the new products and
services in terms of promoting the products
among other customer segments. Sometimes, I
collect money as well at the billing counter.
I want to enhance my career opportunities and
for that I keep trying for different job roles. I
wish to get the position of manager at Marks and
Spencer, UK and for that I am looking forward
to develop more skills in me.
3. Work based competency and Exercise
With the help of work based competency and Exercise, I am able to analyze diverse skills
that I have and which I can use to underpin my work processes at the organization. Work based
competency exercise helped me to comprehend the relationship of behavioral aspects with that to
organizational work practices (Moss, 2005). I have good communication skills and that assists me
to present my ideas and opinion to management. This is other yet another technique of encouraging
capabilities and skills. There are various factors that drives me to perform all my roles in adequate
manner. According to the activity, I can state that every employer has to recruit people on the basis
of talent and skills so that all the work activities can be managed in adequate manner. The exercise
basically aids in developing competency of the person and I personally feel that through this
activity, I came to know a few skills which I should develop for better productivity. I have been
performing all my job roles in adequate manner and that helps me to facilitate more development in
the career prospects (McKenna, 2004).
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4. Your values
This subsequent activity has helped me to emphasize on several things that could enhance
my personal skills and values. I give preference to my personal values because that motivates me to
conduct all the activities in adequate manner. The particular table has been emphasizing on my
personal values and beliefs and how that aids me to get more opportunities.
Value Evidence Definition
Creative person I think I am a creative person
because I know how to manage my
work process in innovative way.
This creativity also aids me to
contribute more in developing new
skills (Luo, 2009).
I like to make creative
things. While studying,
I try to develop new
items especially at the
time when I get bored
and when I need
refreshment.
Motivated person I am a motivated person and I know
how to encourage others when they
feel low. Self Motivation skills aids
me to
At workplace, this
specific skill helps me
to encourage people for
better productivity
(Klein, 2005). I can
motivate others also in
any ground. I have seen
a lot of people who get
disappointed at the time
of peak work load; but
I always try to motivate
myself to work hard.
Ability to manage different cultural
aspects
I can maintain uniformity in my
work processes because I follow
different cultural aspects (Karp,
2013). I give respect to all the
cultural values and beliefs and that
aids me to give respect to all the
cultural facets.
I am capable of
managing
organizational cultural
values and this aids us
to protect the value of
business.
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5. Assessment center team based exercise
I am learning varied skills and competencies through discussing several things with the team
members. I try to attend group based discussions so that I can explore my potential and further this
also gives me knowledge regarding team management aspects
(Hager and Holland, 2006). Team based exercises are good for me and this helps me to encourage
my communication skills through speaking with different people. In order to promote team building
aspects, I keep interacting with people frequently which also increases my learning capabilities. I
can also implement the activity at the organization where I work where in I can organize group
discussions on diverse topics. To learn more, I can get opinion from my colleagues as well as
friends; however for that I should focus on major activities. Through team based exercise, I can rate
my skills and potential and I can also explore my capabilities to work in a team. Assessment center
aids me to work with numerous and attending sessions at the same source helps me to learn more
about team management aspects (Guskey, 2000).
6. Career management seminar task
Career management seminars are considered as the best source through which one can focus
on professional goals and activities. I have learned many things from the subsequent seminar and
there I get accurate idea about the field which I should choose for future prospects. Since I am
working with Marks and Spencer; therefore I should for sales job profiles. This can also assist me to
implement my communication skills in practical aspects (Gravells, 2010). Thus, in order to manage
my career, I should have to emphasize on different counseling sessions so that I can take correct
decision about my career. This would also assist me to manage career building dimensions
regarding the subsequent field.
NON WORKSHOP RELATED ACTIVITIES
Experience on employability
I started working with Marks and Spencer as a Shop Assistant Associate and my major role
is to make sure that goods and services are delivered to the right customers at right time. Other than
this, I was also accountable to maintain better relationships with the clients through emphasizing on
Customer Relationship Management and I collected feedback from them several times. This assists
me to analyze the areas of improvements required. I worked on billing counters as well which
helped me to learn different software (Gallen and Buckle, 2001). I have got achievements and
recognition from the management. Afterwards, working with the retail entity, I feel that I should
develop my career in the same field so that I can achieve more growth and success. Reason
regarding selection of the same field is that there I can use my experience as well. It was a paid
service and I have achieved monetary recognition as well from the management because I have
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contributed in fulfilling the determined targets. I have worked on team management aspects and I
came to know that I need to develop more skills yet for development and improvement.
PORTFOLIO SUMMARY
All the workshop based exercises helped me to acquire knowledge on several grounds and
through this, I am on the right track for my career. I have learned many things about me that I have
the caliber to motivate others which is appreciable from organizational point of view. While
engaging in these workshops, I realized that every person has to choose right field for the career so
that all the academic and professional knowledge can put to use. I came to realize that I am a
emotional person; thus I need to control the same especially at workplace. Furthermore, to apply for
different jobs, I have given interview in diverse areas. I have been asked with such questions whose
answers were too difficult for me to analyze; thus I can say that I failed in many of the interview
sessions due to lack of information (Durrani, 2012). Hence, on that basis, now I can prepare myself
for further activities and that might help me to succeed. In terms of employability experience, I can
say that while working with Marks and Spencer, I came to realize the importance of communication
and team management skills. I learned that I need to develop time management skills so that I can
contribute in organizational achievement and growth aspects. Employability activities have
developed professionalism in me and I am now able to manage delivery of goods and orders on
time. While working at Marks and Spencer, I had to communicate with different clients; therefore
engaging in such activities helped me to learn different languages. Thus, I am now able to speak and
comprehend different languages regardless of my cultural aspects (Cunningham, 2006). On the
basis of entire discussion, I can say that I have the skills to become a manager because I have
worked with Marks and Spencer on sales department.
PART B REFLECTIVE ESSAY
A lot of things got clear to me while I was conducting the process of self analysis; thus I
know now all the areas where I should improve more. Undertaking different activities helped me to
know about my potential; therefore accordingly I am able to manage my work processes. I am a
hardworking person and I know where I need to put more efforts. I always emphasize on continuous
learning so that I can comprehend new things coming in my path. Specifying about my qualities, I
can say that I need to manage my strengths for future prospects as well so that it could underpin my
performance (Boyadjieva and Petkova, 2005). I am that kind of person who loves to learn things
and for that I take assistance from diverse training and coaching session. Similarly, I have also
acquired assistance from the experts so that they can teach me correctly regarding all the areas
where I should improve more. While working at Marks and Spencer, I have attended counseling
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sessions of various experts and leaders and through that only, I came to realize that team
management skills are vital for every person of the team.
Considering the portfolio, it can be said that I have a few skills that could assist me to
develop my career prospects. Apparently, in order to become more competent in present scenario, I
have to focus on continuous development and learning so that I can create competitive edge over
other employees (Beausaert and et. al., 2013). I always give importance to my career; thus for the
same aspect I try a lot for different job profiles. I have acquired good experience while working
with Marks and Spencer and there I realized the importance of better communication skills. I have
seen a lot of people at the business entity who are unable to meet customer's expectations due to
improper knowledge about the products. Considering work related aspects, I can say that being a
sales agent, it is vital for me to develop convincing power so that I can persuade large pool of
customers towards the existing product line. I have dealt with many customers and there I realized
that it is essential for all the sales associated employees to demonstrate only actual use of products
so that business can retain its value in external market place (Ashcroft, 2004). Furthermore, I have
seen the importance of product demonstration to the customers; thus I need to acquire training on
such grounds. Related to my job profile, I can say that prior promoting or selling the product at the
market, it is imperative for the sales agent to acquire training on the usage of subsequent product so
that all the doubts and problems can be resolved.
Being a sales agent, I must have full knowledge about the product and service so that I can
inform customers about all the quality aspects of the product. Thus, concluding skills, I can
articulate that I have developed many skills while working at Marks and Spencer (Albahussain,
2006). Moving towards my key strengths and capabilities, I have the potential to meet team goals
and aims; hence I can use such skill in other organization as well to enhance the productivity
aspects. There are several areas where I need development such as I need to develop the capability
to delegate duties among the employees in appropriate manner. Proper duty delegation skills could
assist me to maintain coordination with the team mates and through this, I would be able to
ascertain the potential of my team mates. Articulating the discussion, I could say that personal
values and beliefs of every individual helps in managing job roles in adequate way. Likewise, I
personally give preference to quality and diversity and that particularly aids me to treat all the
customers in equal manner (Alawneh, 2010). Personal values aids me to deliver prominent services
to the customers and through this, I can also acquire knowledge regarding the cultural dimensions
of different people.
I further need to build interactive skills so that I can communicate properly with people and
along with this, I have to make sure that right information is conveyed to others from my end.Apart
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from this, I need to develop complexity management skills on greater extent so that I can manage
technical errors and constraints (Beausaert and et. al., 2013). Since, I am supposed to handle cash
collecting processes, I need to focus more on using technological products. Furthermore, as far as
my skills are concerned, I should pay more attention towards my competencies so that I can manage
future activities of the organization in adequate way. Among all my skills, I emphasize chiefly on
communication skills because that could assist me to give more opportunities to my career. Client
management is the basic objective of all the organizations and I have the potential to manage client
interest in adequate manner. Thus, I can say that such skills could support me more in every aspect
of my job profile (Durrani, 2012). Emphasizing on different training and coaching session could
assist me to manage career aspects and through this, I can also learn diverse aspects related to my
job profile. The skill that could help in future activities is, the ability to manage self motivation
even in peak work load.
However, while working with Marks and Spencer, I found one of the major difficulty in the
area of proper leadership where I faced inadequate suggestion and direction from the leader. As far
as his leadership style is concerned, I am highly disappointed with the way he treats people. The
leader was not at all concerned about time management and he does not shows any concern towards
employee welfare (Gallen and Buckle, 2001). I found difficulty while managing work with him
because he was unable to communicate properly. Further, I could say that working with such
careless people would hamper the efficacy of my work and this can also affect my morale. Moving
towards the workshops, I have attended a few sessions where I did not get satisfied answers when I
asked them from the expertise. This might be affecting my potential (Karp, 2013). Hence, to
conclude the entire study, I can say that accenting on these aspects helped me to analyze the
importance of self awareness. I have learned that through self awareness, I can find out the areas
where I should develop more. The entire study is useful for me because that probably aids me to
explore my potential. I am able to implement many changes in my personality afterwards
formulating this module (Gravells, 2010). However, due to lack of support from the organizational
leaders, I faced several constraints. All such constraints could be managed if I am able to guide
myself for my own competency. All the key strengths which I have, had come from continuous and
self managed learning; thus I would appreciate self efforts as well as of those who helped me in
exploring my prospective.
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