Career Development and Employability for Graduates Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of academic and career development, with a specific focus on the employability of graduates. It begins with an introduction to career development as a lifelong process and the importance of academic skills in navigating a competitive job market. The first part of the report offers a critical review of graduate employability, particularly within the UK market, discussing the challenges faced by fresh graduates, the emphasis on employability skills, and the impact of business expectations. It also explores the dynamic nature of employer demands, recruitment processes, and the need for graduates to possess both technical and soft skills. The report then delves into self-assessment and target job analysis, outlining a career plan for an HR Executive role at Deloitte, including job requirements and internal assessment of personal skills. It highlights the importance of communication, writing, and computer skills, and emphasizes the aspiration to become an HR manager to gain global exposure. The report concludes by discussing the increasing role of HR managers and the need for continuous adaptation to market changes.

Academic and career development
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents..................................................................................................................................2
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................3
Critical review of the employability for graduates..........................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................................5
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INTRODUCTION
Career development is the lifelong process of managing learning, work, leisure and
transitions to move ahead towards a personally determined and evolving future. It provides a person
an opportunity for selecting a career or subjects to remain unaffected in this competitive and
uncertain future of external environment. Academic is an concept which provides a person all those
skills which used as a weapons to fight against different factors such as illiteracy, poverty,
discrimination to get their rights back. It creates a sense of awareness among them about their duties
and rights. It provides a kind of platform to all those persons who want to grow in future by
applying their academic skills as staircase to reach future destination.
PART 1
Critical review of the employability for graduates
According to the study of Jackson 2010 which describes that employability remains a
continuous challenge for fresh graduates in many western economies. It has been observed that UK
market is a vast and potentially developing market in terms of providing wide prospects for job and
employment within the market. Policy makers continue to focus more on the employability skills of
a graduates in order to meet all the prescribed challenges by the external business environment. The
graduates of any stream are not getting ample of scope as compared to other master degree holders.
In today's highly competitive educational world where business give more emphasises to the
education of a person in order to match their overall personality with the image of the business. It is
that practice which is common nowadays to give priority to higher educational degrees. From a
business perspective fresh graduate have not enough experience and higher skills to face the
complexities in the business and not able to increase their own potential in order to meet the
business objectives within a reasonable time period. A particular business is not held responsible for
this as business are working according to the needs and expectations of the outside business world.
The employability are not stable as the wants and demands of an employer is constantly changing
according to the prospective changes takes place in the external market. The recruitment of
employees in the business doesn't permit to hire employees as per the business standard. As one of
the function of management that is staffing which states that recruitment of right people at right post
and right time. These three component are the basic pillars which will define the overall business
functioning. The employees are well up to date and update itself according to the different business
flavours which states that all the changes takes place in the environment needs to be comply by all
organizations working under the same roof. The employees should be well skilled and highly
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qualified in their different discipline. It also states that recruiter should have clear understanding of
different subjects involved in the overall recruitment process in order to select right candidate for
the different job posts in the company. The graduates are not accepted as the business wants higher
skills and abilities in them in order to cope up with the different workplace challenges and not put
business in trouble. As per the recent survey about these graduates shows that many business across
the world doesn't accept freshers as they think they cant' think creatively, handle complex and tough
business situations, lack of experience in work think as lack of knowledge. These persons should
improve their personality in terms of knowledge, handling complexities, making matured decisions
by enhancing their analytical skills. Analytical skills are not present in fresh graduates as they are
not comfortable in the business and their complicate situations. Complexities of business activities
and different tasks teach them a good lesson to treat situations according to their nature. Sensitive
and complex situations will be treated with delicacy and polite approach to generate higher output
and not try to complicate the situations by making silly mistakes. Mistakes are committed by every
person but silly mistakes and small errors are signs of immature and fresh graduates according to
the business expert who take business decisions and criticise every actions of the businesses. These
different comments of the business experts or we can will help them in order to make improvements
in their existing business which in return help them in order to generate good profit in the future.
According to the study of Lavallee 2014 which states that Graduates are fresh talent and can bring
change in the existing system of the company. The efficiency of the graduates is judge on the basis
of statistics of the overall trends of the UK market states that 6% drop in unemployment rate in
2015, Increase of 2% in the rate of first degree graduates and vacancies for fresh graduates has
increased by 20.5%. These are as taken as opportunities rather than threat to the companies as
talented person are the real heroes of the current competitive market. Due to unemployment of
graduates in their domestic country increases the concept of selecting global career options rather
than working in their own country. This concept is common as Brain drain theory which states that
an individuals study in their own nation and look for job opportunities in another country. This
shows the inability of the country in order to provide a lot opportunities to increase their own
country's standard of living and Gross domestic product. Fresh graduates are raw talent which needs
proper guidance and directions to mould them according to the needs and expectations of the
business. The freshers have more enthusiasm and potential than a experience person as the freshers
have curiosity to prove their own identity in this complex and dynamic world where every job roles
and their attached complexities are changing very frequently. The number of opportunities and
global exposure will most important factor which affect the decision of opting global career options.
In this modern era, many education options has arises due to expansion in scope of different
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education streams. The major factor that can affect the decision to select appropriate career is the
scope as even the bachelors degree from a renowned university has ample of scope globally. For
instance: Bachelor of commerce from UK universities will provide ample of scope and wide
number of opportunities in terms of learning new concepts and totally different study syllabus,
exam pattern and learning different regional languages other than English. There are different
factors that can affect the decision of youngster t5o0 choose their career options is earning potential
of a person which means that a person opt or selects that company in which all its financial needs
are fulfilled in terms of getting good amount of salary and other benefits associated with the salary.
This amount will form as one of the basis of comparison of job opportunities between two or more
companies. Another factor which helps in taking correct career options that is economic and
industrial changes takes place in the industry. The frequency of these changes will determine the
future steps taken by an individual regarding their future. Youngsters are well observed the nature of
the industry before stepping inside the company. Today's generations will not comfortable in
working in a highly risky industry where there is no job security and getting future growth and
opportunities. Career EDGE is one of the model which comprises of five model that constitutes
employability which includes different factors such as career development learning, experience,
skills and knowledge,generic skills and emotional intelligence.
These different elements of this model help an employer in order to define all the roles and
responsibilities of an individual and able to judge dedication of an employee towards their work.
Employability is wider concept which can affect the overall business environment in positive as
well as negative that totally depends on the skills and ability of a person. Introduction of different
disciplines and streams will challenge the existing system of employability and force them to
modified their business according to the dynamic world outside. Modification is required in order
keep pace with the external environment to remain the existence of the business in this complex
world. As per the recent survey it has been found that graduates is getting ample of job
opportunities across the world due to their overall value enhancement and wider scope. This is not a
miracle but its an efforts made by an individual in order to prove their identity in this competitive
and complex work environment. Due to increasing scope of education companies are offering
different work opportunities with wide number of benefits and additional services in order to gain
competitive advantage against their competitors. The problem exists in the mentality of a person not
to hire a fresher in comparison experience but the thing which totally matters is the knowledge
factors which lacks in most of the experienced person.
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PART 2
Self assessment and target job analysis
My career plan is effectively explained and reflected in the table given below:
Job title HR Executive
Name of the company Deloitte
Country where the job is
based:
United Kingdom
Job Purpose  The primary job role of an Human resource executive
assist HR manager in conducting recruitments.
 Its is very effective career that will teach how to mange
people in an organisation.
 Making salary is tough job which increases the efficiency
and effctiveness in terms of completing each and every
tasks on time.
 Recruitments include taking technical as well as non-
technical interviews in order to judge the efficiency of
person (Jackson 2010).
 Doing background verification of the new joinee in order
to select appropriate candidate for the job.
 The primary task of an executive is to lessens the workload
of human resource manager.
 After selecting candidate giving candidate offer letter with
brief working agreement or policies.
Job requirements  This job requires bachelor degree or most preferably in HR
strream
 It demands certain skills like good communication skills
and friendly with computers.
 Appealing personality is an major factor in increasing their
future prospectives.
 It requires good writing skills as main aspect of Hr coveres
drafting and e-mailing.
Internal assessment of personal skills
I aspire to become Human resource manager in the big company which is globally
recognised in order to gain global exposure and ample of opportunities. The scope of Human
resource industry is very wide due to its complexities as it is not easy to handle large number of
people under one roof and stay connected as a team which is a complex task and requires highly
patience and polite attitude (Hall 2014). The role of an HR manager is increasing with the passage
of time as it is that industry which is constantly changing and the manger needs to change according
to the change in the market in order to keep pace with the external environment. My strong
determination towards making prominent career in this stream motivates me a lot in every point of
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my life as I decided to become HR manger. This determination leads towards the same path by
selecting a professional course in this career in order to increase my efficiency and effectiveness
towards the completion of my desired future goals. In this career I have learned new things and
different concepts and especially how to behave like a manger in a industry. I have learned
professionalism in this stream by handling large number of peoples and treat different people
without getting rude as HR manager of a company will play a dominant role in the success and
increasing producti8vcity of all its employees (Barker and Kellen 2008). I have learned different
skills during this period of time such as communication skills, Critical thinking, technical skills,
analytical skills, leadership skills, creativity and innovation.
I have gone through different qualitative and quantitative methods to determine my strengths and
weaknesses in order to improve in future to generate higher productivity. Qualitative methods
includes the feedback gained from the teachers at academic credentials, professions and specialists
in the field, suggestions made at the seminars and conferences, results of the interviews and group
exercises taken (Burke 2012). Whereas the quantitative methods includes the activities which
provides empirical results that is through psychometric tests and other scientific approaches.
On the basis of the results derived above I have figured out my strengths and areas of
developments(Weaknesses).
Strengths
 Critical Thinking- It involves thinking out of the box and outside the restricted limit of
thinking. HR manger is responsible for taking appropriate business decisions related to their
employees which requires critical thinking in terms of taking decision in favour of all the
employees and doesn't oppose to anybody's feeling and emotions (Arrington 2010). The
decisions are taken for the betterment of the business.
 Leadership Quality- One of the important skills required in every human resource manager
that is leadership skills to motivate their employees in order to strive hard for the company
and generates higher returns and outputs for the company.
Weaknesses
 Communication skills- Basic requirement of every industry to have that HR manager to
communicate and negotiate with the business clients all other employees in the company.
Communication can be of two types such as verbal as well as non-verbal as it is the basic
requirement of this job role (Kafka 2011). Effective communication increases the customer
satisfaction due to the proper understanding of the products and services.
 Analytical skills- I have lack of this quality which needs to improved as it helps in taking
decisions and making appropriate judgements on the basis of facts and figures available with
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the businesses. It will help me to go beyond the data and understand the customer behaviour
in the more precise manner and that decision which is good for the health of the business.
Career development plan for next 10 years
After Realising the high scope of development in the career of Human resource stream, I
have adopted the systematic and structured way to proceed in near future. I have prepared the 10
years career plan which is divided into three time period such as short term, medium term and long
term objectives are:
Short term objectives
I have decided an appropriate time frame of completing defined goals and the objectives in 1
year (Powell 2011). This objectives are further bifurcated into two different stages which includes
personality analysis and market analysis. Market analysis refers to close monitoring on the trends
and future growth prospects of the business which can affect the scope of an HR manager. It will
enable me to understand the requirements and needs for skills development in order to bring
competency with the situation. Another area suggest about the personality analysis which is also
known as mirror image analysis of my personality which will define my strengths and weaknesses
(Ohlsson and Borg 2010). Weaknesses is an instrument or a compass which shows future direction
and helps in reaching appropriate destination where success welcomes me enter in the palace of
achievements.
Medium term Objectives
This is defined time period of Two years which gives enough time to complete all goals and
objectives within this stipulated time frame. It includes personality development process which
includes the enhancement of the strong areas and updating the areas of development. My defined
strengths like Critical thinking and leadership quality help me a lot in order to cover up my
weaknesses such as lack of communication skills and analytical skills in order to transform
weaknesses into my own strengths which helps me to increase future productivity.
Long term objectives
All the defined objectives have time frame of one year or more build a prominent position in
the organisation (Smith 2011). It includes future promotions in the current stream of Human
resource discipline. Currently I have started at the position of HR executives and then HR manager,
Senior manager and so on which mostly depends on the quality of the business and their potentials
to achieve all its desired goals and the objectives within a stipulated time period.
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Areas of further development
My career path is to enhance my skills and capabilities in this current competitive market in
order to develop my growth aspects for career in the competitive industry. This will help me in
creating an effective and well developed position in the economy. This will help me in creating an
effective impact on self development in the economy. My future development plan and current
skills has substantive gap (Tiedeman and O'Hara 2013). Following are the key areas of development
which needs to improve may future career path through adopting different protective measures for
future growth in this competitive market are:
 Developing human skills- It is one of the basic requirement of this industry by
development of human and interpersonal skills which is significant for enhancing my overall
career and gain future opportunities. The Human resource word itself talks about the role of
persons as its main aim is to monitor the current as well as future performance of all its
employees.
 Continuous learning- It is that technique which ensure my future development in the
sector and to create an effective and well developed career within the market in will adopt
the measures of continuous development. This will help me in learning new means of
working and developing my current skills as well (Bookboon's Blog 2015). I will adopt well
planned measure of learning and development based on VARK and Honey and Mumford
learning styles. It will help me in enhancing my knowledge and will develop my
competitiveness in the economy.
CONCLUSION
It can be summarised from the above report that it elucidate my academic and career
development which has gone through different stages. With the aim to make career in Human
resource I have completed the professional course in the field to acquire in-depth understanding.
Joining the organisation leading and vast business organisation Deloitte which has made gain the
amalgamation of theoretical knowledge and practical experiences. Further, I have analysed my
current competencies against the professional standards and enhanced the areas of development to
establish prominent position in market.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Arrington, K., 2010. Middle Grades Career Planning Programs. Journal of Career Development.
27(2). pp.103-109.
Barker, J. and Kellen, J., 2008. Career planning. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill.
Burke, A., 2012. Career planning. Hollywood, FL: Frederick Fell Publishers.
Hall, D., 2014. Career development. Aldershot, England: Dartmouth.
Jackson, T., 2010. Career development. London: Institute of Personnel and Development.
Kafka, F., Corngold, S., Greenberg, J. and Wagner, B., 2011. Franz Kafka. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press.
Lavallee, D., 2014. Career Awareness, Career Planning, and Career Transition Needs Among Sports
Coaches. Journal of Career Development. 33(1). pp.66-79.
Ohlsson, H. and Borg, H., 2010. Career development. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Powell, C., 2011. Career planing today. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/-Hunt Pub. Co.
Smith, L., 2011. Career planning. New York: Harper.
Tiedeman, D. and O'Hara, R., 2013. Career development: choice and adjustment. New York:
College Entrance Examination Board.
Online
Education improvements boost competitiveness. 2016. [Online]. Available Through:
<http://www.theworldfolio.com/news/education-improvements-boost-competitiveness/
4034/> [Accessed 11th April 2016].
Graduate jobs statistics: what you need to know. 2015 [Online]. Available Through:
<http://www.theguardian.com/careers/careers-blog/graduate-labour-market-figures>.
[Accessed 13th August 2016].
Bookboon's Blog. 2015.The 4 stages of career planning. [Online]. Available Through:
<http://bookboon.com/blog/2015/02/4-stages-career-planning/>. [Accessed on 13th August
2016].
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