AAF004-2: Personal Development and Employability in Finance Careers

This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of personal development and employability within the finance sector, focusing on the responsibilities of financial management, personal specifications, and self-assessment using SWOT analysis and personal audits. It identifies essential skills and support needed to fulfill financial management roles, emphasizing communication, time management, industry knowledge, and leadership. The presentation also critically analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial market, including its effects on insurance, asset management, and the banking sector. The conclusion highlights the importance of continuous skill development and self-awareness for aspiring financial managers.

Personal Development and Employability

Table of content
• Introduction
• Main body
• Important responsibilities of financial management
• Person specification
• Self-assessment tools and reflection
• Skills and support needed to fulfil responsibilities
• Impact of COVID-19 on financial market
• Conclusion
• References

Introduction
Personal development refers to a long term process of acquiring and assessing skills, qualities along with life goals and aims on an individual. It assists in
becoming proactive and help in taking initiative for life actions. Moreover, personal development help in employability which is defined as skills and
personal attributes that are crucial for an individual to make them employable. It consist of an individuals understanding relative to their technical and
subject knowledge. I have completed my graduation in financial sector and am looking forwards for any opportunity of being a financial manager. The
following presentation will cover main responsibilities to financial management along with my personal specifications. In addition to this it will focus on
various self-assessment tools and reflection of my education journey relative to my knowledge, skills and support I require to fulfil responsibilities that I
cannot perform.

Important responsibilities of financial
management
Financial management refers to the effective planning of financial activities along with it efficient organizing for direction and control. It is a crucial field as it
enables to enhance growth in wealth relative to investors and the business. Given below are the vital responsibilities of financial management.
Forecasting and planning:
The forecasting and planning is a
crucial responsibility of the financial
management as it focuses on interacting with
various executives in order to develop an
effective plan to shape a firm's future.
Moreover, it helps in establishing stable
financial structure for a business and enables to
attain growth and profitability in the long-run.
Investment and financial decisions:
This responsibility of financial
management pay emphasis on the duty of a
financial manager to make sound and appropriate
financial decisions relative to a business in order
to provide it growth and financial stability. It is
the primary responsibility of a financial manager
to understand optimal growth rate of sale and
identify what assets need to be acquired in best
possible efficient financial manner.

Coordinating and control:
It is a vital responsibility of financial
management and managers to develop interaction
with other executives in order to ensure that the
business operations perform optimally and
efficiently. Moreover, it is crucial as all business
decision have implications on the finances of a
business which makes it important for financial
manager to control and coordinate all these
impacting activities.
Dealing with financial market:
The financial managers and
management must deal with the financial
market as they operate with financial funds and
capital market. All businesses are affected by
the general financial market during the process
of raising funds which makes it important for
financial managers to understand the market
and identify what key financial actives need to
take place for business growth and financial
Risk management:
The financial management must
develop risk management for businesses in order
to negate any threats that can have a negative
impact on the financial stability of an organization.
These include changes in share prices, interest
rates and fluctuation in foreign exchange rates.
Moreover, financial managers need to take into
account of all factors such as natural disaster
which can ruin the operations of businesses.

Person Specification
The person specification consist of person attributes
on an individual which are desirable in potential
employment and is more specific compared to a job
description. Give below is my person specification:

Essential Desirable
Skills • Problem solving
• Team-work
• Management
• Communication
• Time management
• Leadership
• Analytical skills
Knowledge • Degree in the financial sector.
• Sound understanding of financial industry.
• Learning of new technical financial tools
• Post-graduation degree in financial sector.
• Financial oriented development course certifications.
Experience • Internship as assistant of a financial manager.
• Academic experience of financial market and industry.
• In-depth knowledge of financial market through job.
• Possession of various financial analytical course
certifications.
Attitude • Positive attitude
• Respectful
• Enthusiastic
• Honestly
• Creativity
• Curiosity

Self-assessment and reflection
Self-assessment is the ability on an individual to
examine oneself in order to identify progress
made relative to task and objectives. It helps in
monitoring self-performance along with gaining
understanding on weakness and strengths of an
individual for self-diagnoses and solving issues.
Give below is my self-assessment assessment and
its reflections based on personal SWOT analysis
and personal audit.

Strengths Weaknesses
• Good knowledge and graduation in financial sector.
• Effective and efficient in solving complex issues and situations.
• Have good teamwork and coordination skills.
• Inefficient in performing task due to lack in time management
skills.
• Lack of work experience in the financial sector.
• Soft spoken at times which can be overlooked during teamwork.
Opportunities Threats
• Learn new technological advance financial analytical tools.
• Develop new professional skills that will assist me in financial
sector.
• Acquiring various online and offline courses to enhance my
portfolio.
• High level of competition in the financial sector.
• Influence of external environment can disrupt the financial market
reducing job opportunities.
• Current qualification may not be sufficient for desired growth.
Personal SWOT analysis

Personal audit
Skills Personal audit 1 2 3 4 5
Management Have good effective management skill to perform task and accomplish
objectives.
Team-work Have excellent team work skills that enable me to be a valuable member
within a team while performing complex tasks.
Problem solving I have good problem solving skills that enable me to overcome complex
issues.
Communication Have good work place and social communication skills that help me
communicate my opinions and thoughts effectively.
Leadership Have ineffective leadership skills while leading task to accomplish goals
and objectives.
Industry-specific
knowledge
I have good knowledge relative to financial sector but lack experience for
in-depth industry-specific understanding.

Skills and support needed to fulfil
responsibilities
It is important for me to develop skills and identify
the support I will require to progress in the
financial sector effectively. These skills need to be
involved the betterment of my personal and
professional development. Give below are vital
skills required by a financial manager:

Leadership:
It is important for me to enhance my
leadership skills in order to effectively lead a team
in solving complex problems and ensuring all tasks
are performed efficiently. Moreover, it will help me
manage accountants and other financial officers.
Communication:
It is vital for me to work on my
communication skills as to enable me in
communicate my thoughts and opinions to others
in a clear and no disruptive manner while dealing
with issues. Moreover, it will assist me in
developing strong interdepartmental relations to
enhance my performance and be productive.
Time management:
This skill is crucial for me
as it will help in completion of task in a
timely manner. This will assist me in
improving my productivity and help me
over complete tasks as a financial
manager efficiently.
Industry and analytical knowledge:
It is important for me to
gain more insight and knowledge
relative to financial market in order to
expand my understanding of the sector
which will enable me to make better
decisions as a financial manager.

Impact of COVID-19 on financial market
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the financial market in a vast level due to various fluctuation in the market which have causes financial instability. Given
below are few impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on financial market:
Insurance:
The COVID-19 pandemic
had a massive impact on the insurance
industry as it saw an influx of insurance
claims from businesses that had gone
under. This introduced large number of
financial resources in the market which
were used as investments or for
establishing new ventures.
Asset management:
The management of assets
became crucial in the COVID-19
pandemic as financial managers were
stretched thin to keep the businesses
performing in an inactive market
through proper allocation of assets
within the business which included
selling of unproductive assets.
Banking and capital market:
The COVID-19 introduced
banks with a large demand for loans
form individuals and businesses. This
although had increased the overall
working of banking industry but on the
contrary, saw large number of
defaulters as they were unable to pay
back loans causing the banks to incur

Conclusion
From the above presentation it is concluded that, it is vital for me to develop skills such as leadership, communication along with a deep knowledge
relative to the financial industry which will enable me in becoming a effective and productive financial manager. Moreover, I was able to identify my
weaknesses and threats through personal SWOT analysis which gave me the understanding of what changes are required to be made for better personal
and professional development. In addition to this a personal audit enabled me to gain perspective of my lacking areas which will cause hindrance in
becoming an effective financial manager. Furthermore I was able to interpret the impact of COVID-19 on the financial market which helped me to broaden
my knowledge relative to finances.

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