HNC/HND Personal and Professional Development Report

This report is a reflective analysis of personal and professional development within the field of civil engineering. It begins with an introduction emphasizing the importance of learning and its individual nature. Task 1 delves into the student's learning style, identifying a preference for experiential and audio-visual methods, and reflects on how this style applies to professional contexts. Task 2 analyzes the results of a competency test, highlighting areas for improvement such as networking skills, and outlines a development plan focused on material science and sustainable construction practices. Task 3 presents an eight-month personal learning plan, detailing specific areas of focus such as logistic management, workplace safety, CAD programming, and communication skills. The final task, Task 4, reflects on the evolution of the construction sector and the student's learning journey, emphasizing the value of continuous self-improvement, the relevance of current trends, and the importance of seeking feedback. The report concludes with a list of references used.

Personal and Professional Development
Personal and Professional Development
Student Name
Institute Name
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Personal and Professional Development
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................3
Task 1................................................................................................................................3
Task 2................................................................................................................................4
Task 3................................................................................................................................4
Task 4................................................................................................................................6
References.........................................................................................................................7
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Personal and Professional Development
Introduction
Learning is an important process which is relative and different for everyone. Learning
ensures that the person not only gets a good hold on the concepts and ideas they are being
taught, but are also able to focus on actually implementing the ideas. Learning is different for
everyone as everyone has a different approach for it and it varies by personality. Learning can
be by the experience of my help, and both have their merits and demerits.
In this report, we will reflect on certain learning-based activities and reflections based on
personal experiences, and how they helped me with my profession of Civil Engineering.
Task 1
1. When I went through the given material to assess our learning style, I understood that
my approach is based more on learning by doing and by using audio-visual aids. I like
to learn by memory, and these audio-visual aids help by enhancing memory or
registering the learning element in the memory (B 2012).
2. When I was using my new iPad Pro, I did not have to use the instructions, Manuel,
since I was a natural with the product. I just learnt with intuition and doing stuff
randomly here and there. Even when I had to use my stylus for it, I did not have to
read the interactions at all. I did not find it difficult to use at any point in time.
3. The instructions were useful but not particularly helped me. I usually just skim
through the instructions and try to gain the gist of it. however, I do not usually re-read
the instructions as I can retain them. Out of habit, I directly go into exploring the
problem and ensure that I give it my 100%.
4. When I sit to assess my skills and knowledge by contrasting them to the ways
mentioned in the CIPD website, I see they have been pretty relevant and I have
successfully moved with time. I have tried to ensure that I can work towards learning
the new things which are important in today's time and will help me a lot in a personal
and a professional manner. I have been working in Civil Engineering for a long time
now, and I make sure that I keep updating myself regularly about all the events.
(UBC, 2020)
5. I believe that my future employer should invest a lot in employee learning and should
ensure that they can constantly help us upgrade ourselves and ensure that they are
open to us in communication with us about our concerns.
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Personal and Professional Development
Task 2
1. When I undertook the competency test, I had a feeling of mixed emotions. At one
point it was something new, but at the same time results were not new too. I felt that I
knew most of what they asked would be right, and I could already predict my answer,
and in some case, even the questions. The test was interesting, but I did not like its
predictability at some points. However, it did point out to me how I should focus
more on my conversational and networking skills, and how I should maintain my
professional relationships well with few seniors in the construction industry to
outsource the best material for the company (Haider & Mariotti, 2020, p. 23-28)
2. Right now, I would love to learn more about the material science because of the
nature of our work. As a civil engineer, I should be aware of different types of
construction materials, especially the environmental engineering since more and more
people want sustainable and eco-friendly housing. Taking the course I mentioned
above will help us all to build sustainable houses by choosing the right products for
the clients and for the environment.
3. My development plan would be simple. I shall incorporate all the necessary skills that
I need and how I will balance them over time.
4. On comparing my plan to what my employer wants from me, I understand that we
have a lot in common and that a lot of it can be covered by the employer itself. For
example, safety training and equipment handling. As a civil engineer I am constantly
working around construction material and at site, and knowing relevant safety
procedure will be of help.
Task 3
The personal plan that I have designed for myself will be spread over eight months where I
will ensure that I complete all of my high priority learning. This will help me in being
equipped with more practical skills. This will be relevant as I believe I can pass this
fromward to my team members as well.
Month What to learn?
Jan- Feb Learning more about logistic management
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Personal and Professional Development
for high risk constitution material
March Learning emergency response and
workplace safety for construction
April-May Learning the CAD programming language
to the nuances of designing and that will
help me to understand the blue prints and
the maps of the building better construction
plans
June Learn budgeting and managerial accounting
so that my team is able to work on the site
with proper regards for the construction
material that is of good quality and within
the budget of the company
July-August Recreate and improve the communication
channels within the organization. Also, I
plan to attend workshops on organizational
communication and how it can help us all in
improving our services better.
I shall make a point to include everything and at the same time keep the plan agile. This will
ensure that if I do need to make changes, it does not impact the rest of my progress and I have
complete control over this learning plan at all times.
Task 4
Civil engineering and the construction sector has evolved a lot of the year. I did not anticipate
so much change. However, I have learnt a lot during the duration of this course. I have come
across a lot of new concepts and a lot of new approaches to improve myself over time and to
ensure that I am constantly able to re-invent myself. I have to understand that learning is an
important process which is relative and different for everyone. Learning ensures that the
person not only gets a good hold on the concepts and ideas they are being taught, but are also
able to focus on actually implementing the ideas. Learning is continuous in the sense that we
all get to learn something or the other from people around us.
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Personal and Professional Development
I have to learn a lot. Many things from people around me, especially me seniors, my
professors and my supervisors who have gone out of their way to help me understand my
flaws and where I need to work on them. Few of them were nice enough to have pointed out
my flaws and issue, which they think may be stopping me at a professional level. While this
was a little hurtful in the start, it eventually became really helpful once I understood how it
did help me over time. I also got to know a lot of things about myself. For example, I
understood it is important for me to focus on knowing the recent trends of construction and
green engineering more than just solidifying my old concepts.
I also understood the importance of relevance. I have tried to ensure that I can work towards
learning the new things which are important in today's time and will help me a lot in a
personal and a professional manner; I went to talk to my more younger peers about what thye
learn in their civil engineering classes, and picked up everything relevant that I could. I keep
on trying to improve these skills with regular practice and ensure that I do not get out of
touch from them. My CAD classes have helped me prepare better deisgnigns for the
buildings too.
Even my personal plan is reflective of that and how I was able to build myself a future
strategy for 8 months which was really far-sighted and agile. My goal now is not just
learning, but also continuously improving myself and ensuring that I learn the best things
about myself and keep working on them. This pushes me to achieve even personally and
strengthens my relationship with myself as well.
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Personal and Professional Development
References
B, Zoë 2012 'How to Identify your Learning Style in 5 Minutes | Simple Life Strategy | Simple Life
Strategies' Simplelifestrategies.com Available at: https://simplelifestrategies.com/sls-learningstyle/?
cn-reloaded=1
Haider, Sajjad & Mariotti, Francesca 2020 'The speed of learning and learning forces' Knowledge and
Process Management
Haider, Sajjad & Mariotti, Francesca 2020 'The speed of learning and learning forces' Knowledge and
Process Management
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