EMSK5012 Employability Skills: Self-Awareness and Career Strategy

This report delves into the development of employability skills, focusing on self-awareness and career planning within the retail sector. It includes a critical assessment of Clifton Gallup Strengths and Johari's Window theories to identify key strengths for a desired career as an Assistant Manager. The report compares and contrasts Sainsbury's and ASDA, analyzing their values and ethics, and identifies essential skills for a CV and LinkedIn profile. It also reflects on networking events and mock interviews, highlighting areas for skill development. The study emphasizes the importance of professional qualifications like a diploma in visual merchandising and the role of networking in building brand awareness. Desklib offers similar resources and AI-powered study tools for students.

RUNNING HEAD: Employability skills 0
Employability skills

Employability skills 1
Contents
Know yourself and know your sector....................................................................................................2
Overview...........................................................................................................................................2
Assessment of Clifton Gallup Strengths and Johari’ Window theories..............................................2
Identification of key strengths for desired career choice....................................................................3
Application of the elements of theories.............................................................................................3
Know your sector..................................................................................................................................3
Comparison and contrast of two companies......................................................................................3
Elements of each company’s values and ethics.................................................................................5
A current job title of interest..............................................................................................................5
Essential and desired skills for CV and LinkedIn profile...................................................................6
Identification and analysis of additional professional qualification to be acquired............................6
Let them know you................................................................................................................................6
Role of networking in creating brand awareness...............................................................................6
Reflection of the networking events..................................................................................................7
Reflection of the performance in the mock interview........................................................................7
Reflection on the things learned and the skills needed to develop.....................................................8
References.............................................................................................................................................9
Appendices..........................................................................................................................................11

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Know yourself and know your sector
Overview
It is always a great feeling to work in the areas of interest and carry out the passion or
competence. It is an essential requirement to have a thorough knowledge of business concepts
in order to become a manager in the retail industry. Therefore, I am studying Bsc (Hons)
Enterprises and Small Business Development to follow my career aspirations. It has provided
me an advantageous vision about the enterprises and development concepts. The programme
studied is helpful in developing qualities for becoming a successful manager and offers the
deep consideration of the business concepts. After critically considering the Clifton Gallup
Strengths and Johari’s Window theories, the strengths which inspired me to follow career
aspiration are belief, intellection, restorative, input and learner. The Johari window theory has
role in illustrating and improving self-awareness. The theory also focuses on the mutual
understanding between the individuals within the group. It is particularly effective in building
the employer/employee relationships within the organization. A person is required to
concentrate on developing personality considering improvement of the team. A person should
be capable of maintaining interpersonal relationships with other members for the sake of
work and harmony (Messum, et al. 2016).
Assessment of Clifton Gallup Strengths and Johari’ Window theories
I have observed that I need to be self-assured as ability, the capability to mark judgments and
have the self-confidence to attain accomplishment. It will surely assist me in focusing and
overcoming the challenges coming to my way. It is required to have a positive attitude in all
the situations so that growth should be progressed (Busch and Davis, 2018). Things should be
quickly observed and learned. The attitude of adapting the changes over time should be
developed. The requirements of becoming a successful manager comprise disciplinary in the
actions, effective in communication and should have the aim of attaining the goal considering
the future conditions. In the context of Johari’s Window theory, a person should be known to
the whole situations which can obstruct the growth. A person must have the strength to
advance interpersonal relationships with the individuals. The persons should emphasis on
team development taking personal development as the main goal. The capability of
communicating effectively assists a person in accomplishing the tasks (Lim, et al. 2016).

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Identification of key strengths for desired career choice
The strengths as per the Clifton Gallup theory and Johari’s Window identified are a belief,
intellection, restorative, input, and learner. These have a role in motivating so that goal can be
attained in an effective manner. It assists me in personality development along with adapting
changes. Both theories Clifton Gallup theory and Johari’s Window offered me advantages of
communication and be a quick learner. These strengths have ultimately a role in becoming a
better person. These also guided to use discipline in the actions. As per the Clifton Gallup
theory, programs like Enterprises and Small Business Development helps me in focusing and
building the strengths (Lopez, Pedrotti and Snyder, 2018). It even guides how weakness can
be managed in the best way. It has a potential role in increasing productivity, driving
performance and improving areas through leadership. Add on Johari’s Window develops
leadership communication and improves emotional intelligence in the organization (Hamzah,
et al. 2016). It can help me in creating opportunities for dialogue and change. According to
this theory, the adjustments in the communication styles and behavior choices have a role in
conveying things in a better manner. It has more emphasis on soft skills like behavior, co-
operation, empathy and interpersonal and intergroup development. It is helpful to me as
Johari’s Window can be applied in different situations and environments. Both theories give
me the strength of being responsible for my actions and guide the direction to attain
aspirations.
Application of the elements of theories
The elements of both theories direct the organized path to attain my goals. The theories focus
on the significance of having the deliberated strength so that my goals can be achieved. The
theories demonstrate that an individual should have good communication skills and adaptable
to diverse working conditions. It makes to face the challenges with the capability (Mills,
2017). The theories develop the skills in a person to work with the accord. It considers the
goals of the organization as the highest priority and leads to personality development
(Alexander, 2015).
Know your sector
Comparison and contrast of two companies
Sainsbury

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Sainsbury's is identified as the second largest supermarket in the UK. The supermarket was
established in 1869 by John James Sainsbury. It is popular for its fair prices and quality
products. The company believes in addressing the most significant issues faced by customers,
employees, stakeholders, and business. Sainsbury helps customers in improving the quality of
the food and helps customers in eating healthy. It is because small changes can make a big
impact. It is the vision of Sainsbury to be the most reliable retailer where people adore to
work and shop (Jackson, 2015).
The main values of Sainsbury are to improve the lifestyle of the customers by offering them
superiority products. The prime purpose of Sainsbury is to serve customers with a little better
on a constant basis. It is the uppermost priority of the company to meet the need of the
customers. Sainsbury makes sure to behave ethically towards customers. The company
proves itself as a responsible citizen of the community. It focuses more on the team and uses
sustainable products. The company even makes sure to reduce the wastage and offer to those
who are in need. Sainsbury makes a positive contribution to society and guarantees
transparency in operations and functions (Juma, Minja, and Mageto, 2016).
ASDA
ASDA was established in 1960 and identified as the leading retailer of Britain. The company
is having a great number of stores and online stores. ASDA undertakes superstores,
supermarkets, supercentres, living stores, petrol filling stations across the UK. The company
delivers the products to the customers as per their needs and expectations. ASDA claims
itself as serving over 18 million customers per week. The value of ASDA remains in
conveying affordable products to the customers and supply beyond the expectations.
The values of ASDA strive to achieve excellence in the operations and offer supreme service
to the customers. The company respects each and every individual and protects the interest of
the stakeholders. The company organizes community programmes comprising health,
education, people and community as the main priority. ASDA has an active role in collecting
funds for the people suffering from cancer. The company has gained the trust of the
customers by using the warm methods. ASDA delivers the sustainable products are has
created a unique image among the customers. The company focuses on using recyclable
packaging for the products so that the wastage does not harm society. It even emphases on
the ethical behavior of the employees (Kunc, Malpass and White, 2016).

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Elements of each company’s values and ethics
From the above discussion, it can be considered that Sainsbury and ASDA have attained
elements of transparency in the functions. Both of the organizations focus on the attaining
organizational objectives by being adaptable to the varying needs of the customers. The
organizations have the quality of being virtuous which is the attainment of the objectives with
honesty and reliability (Fisher, 2018). Both the companies assess the customer needs as the
highest priority and works on attaining excellence. The elements of both companies can be
applied in their career aspirations. I can even attain maximum proficiency and carry out the
tasks with reliability. The companies have attained expertise in behaving ethically with the
customers. I experienced that effective communication skills are required to become a
successful manager (Collet, Hine and Du Plessis, 2015). It will help me in developing
leadership to tackle the team. Sainsbury and ASDA contribute effectively towards society by
utilizing sustainable products. The companies also focus on reducing wastage. It instructs the
way to be a responsible citizen towards the community.
A current job title of interest
The current job title of interest is the Assistant Manager. The Assistant Manager will be
responsible for all the aspects of store operation, varying from an administrative role in
handling customer queries. The tasks to be conducted by the Assistant Manager are:
Personnel management: The Assistant Manager supervises department managers along with
other employees. The Assistant Manager is required to handle hiring, firing and disciplinary
aspects. He is also liable to perform and check performance reviews. The store policies and
procedural issues will be guided by the Assistant Manager (Block, 2016).
Merchandising and maintenance: The Assistant Manager will handle the stocking and
merchandise of the products. The duties will be delegated to the employees and supervisors.
The daily maintenance like lighting, floor cleaning, and correct price tags will be ensured by
the Assistant Manager.
Operations: The operations like processing cash, checks and credit card receipts will be
handled by the Assistant Manager. It will also be ensured that the materials are insufficient
supply and readily available like bags, packagings and receipt paper (O’Connor and
Bodicoat, 2017).

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Stocking and supply: The stock orders will be handled by the Assistant Manager comprising
making changes to the prices of items on the display and confirming that they does not
conflict.
Essential and desired skills for CV and LinkedIn profile
For the position for Assistant Manager, it is required to have diverse and transferable skills
along with a good understanding of the retail industry. The essential and desired skills
identified for the position of Assistant Manager in the CV and LinkedIn profile are:
 Positive attitude
 Integrity
 Professional goals
 Entrepreneurial
 Sales objectives
 Interpersonal skills
 Time management
 Leadership
Such skills take an important place in CV and LinkedIn profile. For instance, sales objectives
can help in maximizing the profits of the organization. On the other side, leadership can help
in accomplishing the goals of the organization by motivating employees (Otis and Wu, 2018).
Identification and analysis of additional professional qualification to be acquired
The diploma in visual merchandising can be acquired to increase the chances of being
selected for the position of Assistant Manager. This diploma varies from 3 months to 1 year.
It can even help me in getting a well-paying job. This diploma offers various skills like visual
communication, current trends in merchandising, retail space, presentation methods and
more. The diploma in visual merchandising will surely help me in surviving in the
competitive and ever-changing industry. It can even help in optimizing operations and makes
organizational things improved and faster.
Let them know you
Role of networking in creating brand awareness
It has been agreed by the experts that most connected people are most successful. The
networking helps in developing and improving skills and knows about brand awareness. The

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networking helps in letting individuals know about the brands and assists in building an
identity in the community. The companies can analyze the current trends by networking. It
also helps in making necessary changes as per the varying needs and leads to the achievement
of the higher profits (Potts, 2017).
In the concern of the retail industry, the networking assists in constructing healthy
relationships with the colleagues, customers, stakeholders and the factors leading to customer
satisfaction. It results can be attained in increasing productivity and profits. The networking
has not the only role in building brand image but creating a unique identity from the
competitors. It even helps in adding more number of customers. The networking has resulted
in attaining the trust of the customers by enhancing overall efficiency. It includes interaction
with the people and leads to the creation of new ideas in order to satisfy customers.
Reflection of the networking events
The networking played an important role in the enhancement of my skills and elevating work
experience. I attended several marketing conferences in order to gain deep insight for
increasing the market share along with creating brand awareness. I interacted with the peer
authorities of the retail industry in the conferences. It helped me in gaining knowledge about
managing the organization and working efficiently. It even leads to my personality
development. I attained the opportunity to enhance my working profile by participating in
such events. It even helped me in gaining confidence and good communication skills. I
become capable of disseminating good practices.
I even attended an internship programme and applied skills and learning to the event. The
event was properly handled and executed. An event was created in the rural area to cater to
segments of the society and make people aware of the products. The main emphasis was
given on the 7Ps of the products to offer customer satisfaction. Being a quick learner, I
evaluated the varying needs of the customers and made changes in the products offered. The
event even helped me in gaining knowledge of effectively managing the team and the
application of the leadership qualities for the proper functioning of the organization. The
focus was given on customer awareness and product benefits. It ensured complete
transparency in the operations (Shaw and Shaw, 2019).
Reflection of the performance in the mock interview
I attended an interview conducted by the university. I was selected to apply for the Assistant
Manager position with Sainsbury as per my qualifications. The job requirement was that I

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should have a degree in management, marketing or human resource. Since I had a degree in
Enterprises and Small Business Development, I decided to apply for the specific job (Toms,
2018).
I was called for an interview in the room after waiting for other candidates. I was asked to
take a seat and introducing myself to the interviewers. I was asked to provide information
about me. I told my name, education background in brief. It was asked to carry on and
provide more information. I was asked to tell about the situations which I faced and used
skills like communication and PR to overcome the challenges. I particularized how successful
I was in handling the situations. I made use of the STAR approach to address the questions.
The STAR approach comprises Situation, Task, Action, and Result. It proved a successful
way to answer the questions as it covered everything that I had to say.
After the interview session, I was given the evaluation form, which assessed my performance
skills. The performance skills were preparedness, content and communication, mannerisms,
the motivation for interview success along with the attire and personal. Based on the
experience Sainsbury should select me as I have gained the capability of handling customer
complaints along with managing routine activities. For instance, I have also knowledge of
the regulations and the prevailing political conditions as I have done graduation in Political
science (Todd, et al. 2017).
Reflection on the things learned and the skills needed to develop
Under the module, I learned skills which have a role in practical scenarios at the workplace. It
helped me in building blocks of various businesses like marketing, finance and more. The
module even offered an introduction to the common business practice and techniques of
growing a business. It helped me in learning the basics of marketing, finance, and networking
(Suleman, 2016). The skills learned from the module have the best chance of succeeding. The
skills like information technology, interpersonal skills, numeracy, selling skills are required
to be developed in order to be successful in career ambitions. For instance, numeracy can
help me in tasks like credit approvals and cash accountability.

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References
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Block, P., 2016. The empowered manager: Positive political skills at work. John Wiley &
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Busch, P.S. and Davis, S.W., 2018. Inside Out Personal Branding (IOPB): Using Gallup
Clifton StrengthsFinder 2.0 and 360Reach. Marketing Education Review, 28(3), pp.187-202.
Collet, C., Hine, D. and Du Plessis, K., 2015. Employability skills: perspectives from a
knowledge-intensive industry. Education+ Training, 57(5), pp.532-559.
Fisher, K., 2018. Asda rolls out new mental health policy. Occupational Health &
Wellbeing, 70(5), pp.22-22.
Hamzah, M.I., Othman, A.K., Hassan, F., Razak, N.A. and Yunus, N.A.M., 2016.
Conceptualizing a Schematic Grid View of Customer Knowledge from the Johari Window's
Perspective. Procedia Economics and Finance, 37, pp.471-479.
Jackson, D., 2015. Employability skill development in work-integrated learning: Barriers and
best practice. Studies in Higher Education, 40(2), pp.350-367.
Juma, G., Minja, D. and Mageto, J., 2016. The impact of strategic thinking on organisational
performance: a case study of uchumi supermarket limited. International Journal of Supply
Chain Management, 1(1), pp.75-94.
Kunc, M., Malpass, J. and White, L. eds., 2016. Behavioral operational research: Theory,
methodology and practice. Springer.
Lim, Y.M., Lee, T.H., Yap, C.S. and Ling, C.C., 2016. Employability skills, personal
qualities, and early employment problems of entry-level auditors: Perspectives from
employers, lecturers, auditors, and students. Journal of Education for Business, 91(4),
pp.185-192.
Lopez, S.J., Pedrotti, J.T. and Snyder, C.R., 2018. Positive psychology: The scientific and
practical explorations of human strengths. Sage Publications.

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Messum, D., Wilkes, L., Peters, K. and Jackson, D., 2016. Content analysis of vacancy
advertisements for employability skills: Challenges and opportunities for informing
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Employability, 7(1), p.72.
Mills, D., 2017. Strength in diversity and diversity of strengths of state FFA officers: An
analysis of Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment data for state FFA officers, 2006-2010; 2012-
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O’Connor, H. and Bodicoat, M., 2017. Exploitation or opportunity? Student perceptions of
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Otis, E. and Wu, T., 2018. The deficient worker: Skills, identity, and inequality in service
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Potts, C., 2017. An investigation into postgraduate employability in the UK's small and
medium size enterprises (SMEs).
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Ethical Reflection. International Leadership Journal, 10(3).

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Appendices
Gallup Strengths certificate