Employability and Academic Skills Development Report

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Academic and Employability Skills
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Executive summary
The report that has been provided in this task has reflection on the personal skills of the
individual. The use of reflective cycle of Gibbs has been done n describing the skills and the
feelings linked with the project have been explained. The action plan has been made that can
assist in improving the existing skills. Evaluation stage helped in identifying good and bad
experience in a broad manner. Some skills, were identified, which were present and areas were
highlighted, where there are shortcomings. Analysis helped in finding reasons, which caused
development of this skills and lastly, an action plan was generated for enhancing more skills.
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Discussion........................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
Reference list.................................................................................................................................11
Appendix........................................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
The following report will be presented as reflection by using the reflective model of Gibbs. In
every stage of the model, the employability as well as academic skills will be discussed. In the
first stage, the skills possessed by the individual will be identified. The second stage will explain
the feeling associated with the experience while in the third stage, the evaluation of the same will
be made. In the fourth stage of Gibbs’ reflective model, the analysis will be made on the
mentioned skills as well as in the fifth stage, conclusion will be provided of the experience that
has been reflected (Johns, 2017). The action plan will be presented in the last stage for
development of the skills in future.
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Discussion
Gibbs’ reflective cycle
Figure 1: Gibbs' reflective cycle
(Source: Johns, 2017)
Description
It can be described from my experience that I have gained the researching skill as well as the
skills of writing professional curriculum vitae and cover letter. My critical thinking skill has
also been enhanced. My writing skill can be revealed in the professional cover letter and CV. My
analytical skills have also been improved throughout the experience. Through this skill, I have
been able to analyse the detail of the subject and create ideas for the development in the coming
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days. My speaking skill has also become developed, as I have been able to answer the questions
in a proper way throughout the project. The skill of critical thinking has let me understand the
situation carefully and evaluate the evidence as well as judge the outcomes of the issue (Cottrell,
2017).
The skills that I have developed have not only enhanced my academic career but they will also
assist me in developing employability skill. The critical thinking skill has let me evaluate the
thought with the information about the subject. This has made me reason out and make synthesis.
My analytical thinking skills have assisted me in solving problems. These have supported me
negotiate in a better way and solve the problems with efficacy (Facione and Gittens, 2015). I
have gained the employability skills such as the capability of working under pressure with the
experience of the project. I have been able to keep calm even during crisis and avoid stress. The
employability skill has assisted me in planning for the project that I have been assigned with. I
have gained confidence in the course of learning however, I have avoided being arrogant in the
experience of performing tasks.
I have also attained the skill of organising that has helped me in managing the time in an
efficient manner. I have acquired the researching skill that has contributed in enhancing my
knowledge and investigate the concept. I have been able to make quantitative research through
depending on the theories as well as qualitative research by researching by using internet to seek
facts and general information (Mason, 2017). I have attained the research skill through
secondary sources such as by using the textbooks, journals, and other publications. In the first
stage, I have been able to define the research area while in the next stage; I have been able to
clarify the topic. In the third stage, I have been able to define questions related to the subject and
in the last stage; I have been gained knowledge of forming hypothesis.
Feelings
It was a learning experience throughout the project as I have been able to enhance my
employability and academic skills. It felt like I was having a journey of improvement that has
developed my self-esteem. It has provided me confident on my skills that will support me in
future as well as in developing my career. I reacted to the experience enthusiastically as it has
made me wise and has made advancement in my knowledge and personal capabilities. Through
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the opportunity of writing CV and forming cover letter, I have been able to enhance my
professional or academic writing skill (Jensen, 2017). This has motivated me in performing
better in the future and has encouraged me in developing the writing skill in further way through
regular practices. The researches throughout the project have assisted me in developing curiosity
concerning the subject. The analytical approach in solving problems and evaluating the issue has
assisted me in performing the task with calmness. This has put away my stress and has been
effective in letting me perform the work with vigour and passionately.
Evaluation
As per my CV, it is clear that I have analytical skills and by this, I can analyse, sort information
and ideas, which makes this experience positive. However, I cannot materialise these ideas and
bring solutions for problems out of it. I am a critical thinker but failing to apply my ideas in
solving problems gave me a negative experience. This limitation will affect negatively on my
professional career, as I may not be able to solve problems in work (Morgan, 2016). I have
research skill and have successfully investigated related to an issue, which has contributed to my
knowledge. This makes my experience positive but my poor writing, reading skill has
diminished the quality of my research to some context. I have few employability skills and it
includes my ability in working under pressure. I can keep my calm at present and do not take
stress during work, which can have positive impact upon my professional and academic career.
In my academic career, I have failed to achieve few skills and it includes reading ability. I cannot
read big words and unable to understand meaning of difficult ones. My reading is quite slow and
takes a good amount of time for me to finish reading a paragraph. I cannot write in proper
English, as I make grammatical mistakes. My usage of prepositions, nouns and tenses are poor,
which makes my sentences unreadable. Therefore, my inability in developing these skills can
jeopardise my professional and additionally academic career. My CV does give evidence of
some skills I possess but there are some limitations in my research skills. My quantitative
analysis has some lacking, as I am not good at surveying. I cannot set proper questionnaires,
which can cover topic of research and outline major sections of it (Cottrell, 2010).
Analysis
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I have gained analytical thinking skill because the way of achieving this skill was clear to me. I
was able to process information and find discrepancies in them. This made my information
sorting better and I eventually generated different ideas for different problems. However, I soon
found that my ideas are quite good but I do not know the way to apply them. My inability in
problem solving was enhanced, as I was bad at documenting it in proper manner. This is due to
my improper writing skill. In my academic career, I have learnt to consider issues carefully and I
think about it more than once. I was able to gather evidence for any kind viewpoint and this gave
it a strong ground, which rested the theory. I soon started to look at theories in rational manner
and started to consider every viewpoint. Therefore, these factors made me gain critical thinking
skill, which made positive impact on my career (McMillan and Weyers, 2006).
My employability skills grew because I was able to take pressure in work and still managed to
maintain my full functionality. Pressure did not slow my work and I tactfully handled difficult
situations, where there were chances of being stressed. My use of quantitative and qualitative
research skill was not developed. I can perform research by using secondary sources, such as
books, journals. However, I am still incapable of performing interviews and surveys. I can define
research are and can clarify the topic properly. I thought that after these I could set standard
questions to find out proper answers related to topic. However, after setting questions, I found
out that these were generic. These questions will not help me in finding new information from
interviews. This has been the same problem for performing surveys and additionally I was
unable to convince respondents (Suleman, 2016).
Conclusion
The whole experience brought some clear implications about my skills. I have found out that
some skills were developed by me and causes behind developing those are clear to me. I have my
cover letter and CV, where skills of mine are mentioned. Evidence of analytical skill of mine can
be found in my enhanced ability to sort information, generate ideas and analyse any scenario.
However, I evidences of my incapability in solving problems is present. This brings an
opportunity for me to improve on this matter in future. I found out that if I was more confident in
applying my analytical skills into practice in an extended manner, then it could have assisted me
in solving problems. I could have further focused on learning grammar and this can in future
make my writing skill better. I have found that I cannot read sentences properly and this slows
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down my process of studying. Therefore, I can improve it by reading more comprehension in
future. My inabilities regarding these skills are not good for my academic career, as it can make
my performance poor. This will cause problems in professional career, as I will not be able to
perform in organisation (Maund et al., 2017).
My experience clearly implies that I have some employability skills and this includes my ability
in handling pressure in work. I have kept my calm in situations, where stress was high and did
not falter in work. Therefore, my CV outlines the ability of mine and cover letter discusses it in
detail. Research skills are partially developed by me and there is a room for improvement in it. I
can develop my primary research skills more and can give focus on developing ways to perform
surveys. These skills will help me in performing in a better way in academic and professional
career (Felstead et al., 2019).
Action plan
The action plan that can be formed by me after reflecting the experience that I have had during
the learning process is that I should enhance my existing skills that have been attained during the
project as well as make improvements in the skills that will be helpful for me in the future as in
my career. I have learnt that research skill is essential in doing the project as it assists in
forming new ideas with the theories and concepts. It will assist me in future to assess the findings
and improve the quality of the project. Therefore, I should enhance my research skill with the
help of secondary sources. If I get similar opportunity of leaning in future, I will use critical
approach in dealing with the issues and use analytical method in assessing the subject matter.
I should enhance my writing skill by practicing for the same so that I would be able to enhance
the quality of the writing that I will produce during the project. I should enhance my speaking
skill through communicating with the friends and family to revise my answers. This would
enhance my speaking skill that will let me answer the questions in effective manner. I will try to
make progression in problem solving skill so that I will not get issues in performing the task that
has been delegated to me. In order to do this, I will try to make researches on solving the
different kinds of problems that can become obstacle in doing the project. I will try to manage
the time by forming schedules so that the task will be done in proper way within time (Malkoc
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and Tonietto, 2019). I think this action plan will help me in developing my employability skills
that will influence my career in future.
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Conclusion
A reflective analysis was performed to identify some skills, which are present and areas where
improvement is needed. A reflective cycle helped in identifying skills like analytical thinking,
employability skills and critical thinking. Evidences of these skills are present in CV and cover
letter in details. Shortcomings in some skills such as reading, writing, and research skills were
found and it was reflected upon. It created a necessity for developing these skills in future and
for that, an action plan was created. The writing skill will be improved by practicing and
speaking ability will be enhanced by communicating with friends.
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Reference list
Cottrell, S., 2010. Skills for success. Palgrave Macmillan.
Cottrell, S., 2017. Critical thinking skills: Effective analysis, argument and reflection. Macmillan
International Higher Education.
Facione, P. and Gittens, C.A., 2015. Think critically. Pearson.
Felstead, A., Gallie, D., Green, F. and Henseke, G., 2019. The determinants of skills use and
work pressure: A longitudinal analysis. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 40(3), pp.730-754.
Jensen, J., 2017. Write no matter what: Advice for academics. University of Chicago Press.
Johns, C. ed., 2017. Becoming a reflective practitioner. John Wiley & Sons.
Malkoc, S.A. and Tonietto, G.N., 2019. Activity versus outcome maximization in time
management. Current opinion in psychology, 26, pp.49-53.
Mason, J., 2017. Qualitative researching. Sage.
Maund, A. Schriek, M. and Tinkler, P. (2017). Certificate in Higher Education: Skills for the
Workplace Student Yearbook. Sage Publications
McMillan, K. and Weyers, J., 2006. The smarter student: Skills and strategies for success at
university. Pearson Education.
Morgan, P., 2016. The Business Student's Guide to Study and Employability. Sage.
Suleman, F., 2016. Employability skills of higher education graduates: Little consensus on a
much-discussed subject. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 228, pp.169-174.
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