Reflective Journal: Developing Skills for Future Employability

This reflective journal provides a self-assessment of skills acquired through university modules and experiences, focusing on their impact on future employability. The author discusses improvements in verbal and written communication, research capabilities, and ICT proficiency, including the use of Microsoft Excel for data analysis. The journal also highlights the development of teamwork, networking, time management, and self-management skills, emphasizing their importance in both professional and personal contexts. The author reflects on how these skills were honed through practical application during university projects and group activities, enhancing their confidence and preparedness for the demands of the modern workforce. The journal concludes that continuous skill development and adaptability are essential for competing in an evolving job market influenced by technological advancements.

Reflective Journal

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Main Body ......................................................................................................................................1
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4
References .......................................................................................................................................5
.........................................................................................................................................................6

Introduction
This report revolves around the self assessment of skills acquired by modules and
attending the university. The report will revolve around verbal and written communication skills,
research skills along with ICT skills which revolves around the use of analytical tools like
Microsoft excel in order to collect and analyse data to draw reliable conclusions. The modules
also helped in development of Teamwork and networking skills which helps in being a good
leader and doing well with the team. The modules also helped in gaining the understanding about
the importance of Time and Self-management skills which are helpful in preparing for future
employability and have countless applications in real life as well. Attending the university, and
going through all the case studies also helped in development of problem solving skills as well.
Main Body
This report revolves around how the module and attending the university helped me in
achievement of employability and study skills. There are series of skills that I developed on the
basis of modules and university (Back et al 2019). I have always been an introvert and never
knew how to initiate a communication and carry it out effectively. I always liked reading and
wished I could write but whenever I tried I was not able to put the thoughts that I had in words
and therefore this course helped me a lot when it comes to development of communication skills
including both the aspects of communication i.e. written and verbal. Although I believe that it
was active participation and practice that helped me in development of this particular skills but
modules build the establishment of that growth, it development an understanding of how
important these skills are and it helped me in figuring out an action plan for achievement of the
same (Basso et al 2020). Attending university helped me in this as I had to communicate with a
lot of people and therefore my fears regarding initiating and carrying on a communication were
taken care of. My writing skills developed while taking part in group writing campaigns that the
university have. I am able to put my though in words and I am so grateful about it. Being able to
communicate is a must part in anyone's day to day life and it is a must have skill when it comes
to employability criteria of any organisation (Claro et al 2018). And therefore development of
this skill not only helped me in my day to day life it also helped me in getting prepared for future
employability structure. All these units accumulated together and I now feel confident regarding
my written and verbal communication skills.
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The assessments that I did during my time at attending the university helped me in
development of my research skills. Modules helped in establishment of outline for the same.
They helped me gain a theoretical knowledge about the same (Ferreira 2017). They helped me in
understanding different research methodologies that I can use in order to collect specific data and
analyse it in order to get reliable results. The very first step in problem solving process is
collection of information and determination of all possible course of actions that can get me out
of it and therefore development of this skill is really helpful in day to day life. Employers all
over the globe prefer workforce how can come up to instant decisions that provides reliable
results. This is a must have skill as it revolves around collection of data as well as analysis ODF
data in order to reach the overall objectives (Greiner et al 2020). The development of my
research skill is totally based on the knowledge that I gained from modules and attending the
university where I got to initiate my theoretical knowledge in practical and which helped in
gaining a better understanding about the topic. I pride myself over my reputation of finding out
even the smallest fragment of information using my research skills.
During my session at the university I also learned a more useful skill that is helpful in
both day-to day aspects and the employability context as well. The skills is termed as use of ICT.
This is an abbreviation for Information and communication technologies. This skill is entirely
based on development of the understanding of how to use the new technologies. This is the part
that I learned with the help of all the assignment that I did while attending university (Karnieli-
Miller 2020). Modules helped me in gaining the theoretical knowledge about the same. While
my projects I gained the knowledge of how to use Microsoft office efficiently and it is a must
have skill if seen from employability point of view. Every organisation all over the globe will
want a employee that can easily us these tools as most of the operations in an organisation is
based on usage of these tools. While Microsoft excel helps in helping in statistical and
accounting operations of an organisation, the basic knowledge on how to make a power point
presentation is a must have skill as it helps in establishing a way to present ideas more
efficiently. I strongly believe that I have mastered this skill, even though I plan on getting better
using constant practice.
During my time at university I also developed teamwork and networking skills, which in
my opinion is the most important skill to possess. Humans are social beings and have to live
within the conventions of society and in that context having these skills is the most important
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skill ever. I have always wanted to become a good leader who takes his team to the goals, a
leader on whom his team can count on, not a boss, but a leader and therefore having this skill is
really important for me as it helped me in gaining an understanding about the qualities that a
leader have. My time at university helped me in this as I was put in many team projects which
helped in me in gaining the knowledge on how to establish a team, how to guide them towards
the goals, how to maintain a flow of communication within the team, how to solve disputes that
occur in the team, how to make them respect each others opinion and hope to synchronise all of
their efforts and lead them towards the overall goal of the team. The modules helped me in
gaining the theoretical knowledge about the same and the time at university helped in
understanding this concept by putting it into practical use. This is a must have skills when it
comes to future employability as well. Team management is based on adaptability to new
dynamics, over my course at the university every team project that I was leading went flawlessly.
My team management skills initiated a free flow of communication and all the disputes were
immediately resolved. I am really proud of this developed skill as this held a special significance
for me.
Everyone in this world have 24 hours a day, how to manage it and make the most of it is
what makes some different from others. By attending the university I developed time and self
management skills as well. This helped me more than I could have ever imagined. I have to do
multi-tasking in order to be on schedule and have to manage things outside the university as
well. Having this skill helped in managing all of those things at the same time (Shen 2018).
Modules provided me with all the theoretical knowledge that I needed about the same and my
practical application during my timer at the university helped me master this skill. Self-
management is very important when it comes to keeping a check on all the personal activities
that I had to keep in check so that it did not become an obstacle in achievement of my goals
(Khan et al 2017). It is a must have skills is looked from organizational point of view. Every task
is based on fixed time frames and competition of these tasks requires the skill of time
management. The approach of self management also includes the concept of emotional
intelligence which taught me how to keep my emptions in check while making important
decisions (Jensen et al 2017). Time management helped me in learning new things while
managing all of things at the same time. Time management is important in every aspects of
human lives. In order to set an objective I keep in mind the methodological application of
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SMART approach, which means setting objectives that are specific, measurable at any given
point of time, achievable, relevant and time bound and therefore time management comes to a
play in this as well. Even in employability context this skill can be a useful tool when it comes to
competition of tasks on time. I pride myself over my reputation to achieve deadlines and
therefore I believe the accumulated learning from attending the university along with the
modules helped me in mastering the time and self management skills.
Conclusion
The reports concludes that the future employability criteria is based on units that are
dynamic in nature. Employers all over the globe are asking for skills that didn't even mattered a
few decades back. Therefore in order to prepare in accordance to those criteria one have to
develop many skills and shape their personality in a completely different manner. Development
of technologies have revolutionised the employment world. Artificial intelligence is now able to
do the tasks that humans used to do before and in future the digital technologies will only
develop and therefore in order to be worthy enough to compete against these technologies one
have to focus on the skills mentioned in the report.
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References
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