Graduate Challenge Report: Analyzing Skills and Action Plan

This report analyzes four university graduate challenges: Apprentice, T-shirt, Presentation, and Hotel challenges. It evaluates the skills demonstrated, including communication, teamwork, and time management. The report details the challenges faced, such as marketing and team coordination, and highlights the development of business skills and competencies. An action plan is included to improve teamwork and meeting skills. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of such challenges for skill enhancement and career readiness, concluding with references and an appendix. The report offers a detailed overview of skill development and strategic planning for future professional growth.

Graduate Challenge
(CW2)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of Challenges................................................................................................................3
Skills............................................................................................................................................4
Action Plan..................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
Appendix..........................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Different challenges are held for students at the university level and thus is an
opportunity for them to learn new things. The skills that they develop during these challenges,
contribute to their overall development as individuals (Byun and et.al., 2018). The respective
report is based on four challenges, namely Apprentice Challenge, T-shirt Challenge, Presentation
Challenge as well as Hotel Challenge. There is also a reflection based on the skills that were
demonstrated during the challenges. Lastly, an Action Plan is also included in the report
regarding how different skills will be developed in the coming years within the university.
MAIN BODY
Analysis of Challenges
Apprentice Challenge
Of the four challenges that were held at the university, Apprentice Challenge was one of
them. The aim of this challenge was to provide the students an opportunity to enhance their
overall communication skills and at the same time encourage other teams within the university to
come up with creative and innovative ideas. The overall process of setting up the challenge was
easy and all the activities that were included in it were suitable for both the students as well as
the staff members. Different tasks were included in the Apprentice Challenge and all of them
were based on needs of the participants. Apprentice Challenge was simple and thus, the funds
required to set up the same were also not very huge (Cummins, Denney‐Wilson and Homer,
2016). As a result, the challenge was carried out smoothly and during this whole process, I
learned that when this type of event is organized, there are a lot of tasks that have to be divided
among the members of the group. Lastly, I also gained an understanding of all the team members
to work together.
Presentation Challenge
Presentation challenge was another challenge that was organized at the university was the
Presentation Challenge. In this challenge, I worked as part of the organizing team. All the team
members were required to make sure that all the equipment that were needed during the
challenge were available and were in working condition so that the participants did not face any
issues while presenting. But I came across some challenges while organizing the challenge due
to which there was a slight impact on the overall challenge. This was a team work and all of the

team members had different tasks which they were responsible for. This was a very learning
experience for me as I got a chance to develop teamwork skills. Apart from this, I also learned
that presentation is an important component for a business as it helps in carrying out the day to
day activities in an effective manner.
T-shirt Challenge
T-shirt challenge was another challenge that was held in the university and the students
were encouraged to take part in the same (Hayter, Lubynsky and Maroulis, 2017). I was
personally responsible for taking care of the marketing aspect of the same. Apart from this, all of
the team members, including me, were responsible for offering new t-shirts that could be
purchased both online as well as offline. Apart from this, we also took care of the branding
aspect. There were certain skills that were required during this challenge such as effective
communication skills as well as interpersonal skills. This was because we were expected to
interact with different people.
Hotel Challenge
During this challenge, we had to ensure the branding of different hotels in order to
generate awareness about the services that were offered by them. The organizations operating
within the hospitality industry have to constantly innovate their products as well as services in
order to attract a greater number of customers. During this challenge, I learned about the concept
of branding as well as marketing.
Skills
I have demonstrated various skills during the different challenges which are explained
below -
Communication Skills and emotional Intelligence – Communication skills are one of
the most important skills that employers expect their employees to have (Rojjanasrirat and Rice,
2017). This is primarily because employees have to communicate and interact with different
people on a regular basis. During the challenges described above, we were expected to form
groups and work collectively as a team. I was responsible for undertaking different tasks such as
marketing, branding as well as encourage the team members to perform effectively and come up
with new ideas. As per my view point, I demonstrated good communication skills. This was
because I was able to communicate and interact with other people confidently as well as clearly.

I also received positive feedback from my colleagues as well as the team members regarding the
same. Besides this, I was also able to handle my emotions in a positive manner.
Teamwork – This is another important skill that students at the university level are
expected to have. It can be defined as the process wherein people belonging to different
backgrounds come together in order to work towards a common goal. The different challenges
expected us to work in teams and be comfortable in working with each other (Wybo and Van
Wassenhove, 2016). This is one of the skills that I need to work on because I take time to get
along with new people. Developing effective teamwork skills will be beneficial for me as it will
help me in working effectively in my future job. My overall experience during the challenges
was good, but I still think that there are certain skills that I should work on in order to attain my
desired job. Therefore, I will adopt various measures in order to work on the same and enhance
my teamwork skills.
Time Management and Meeting Skills – Time management can be defined as the
process of organizing and prioritising different tasks based on their importance. This skill is
important because it allows individuals to complete the tasks assigned to them on time as well as
in an effective way. During the challenge, I demonstrated strong time management skills and was
able to complete all the tasks assigned to me on time in an effective manner. I made sure that the
tasks assigned to me were being completed smoothly so that I could invest the remaining time in
other activities (Wakefield, 2018). Meeting skills are another important skill that the students
were expected to have because it is helpful for their future jobs. The team leader held regular
meetings for all of the team members in order to keep a track of the progress of all the tasks. Due
to some work, I could only attend one of those weekly meetings.
Business skills and competencies developed
By participating in the different challenges, I was able to develop different business skills
as well as competencies. The opportunity to participate in different challenges was a very
learning experience for me and will also be useful during my job. For example, I have developed
strong communication skills. This gave me confidence and I was able to work in a team
environment more effectively. During the presentation challenge, we were required to give
presentation on a particular topic. Therefore, this helped me in working collectively as well as
making sure that I was able to communicate and interact with other people in an efficient
manner. There were also certain competencies that I got an opportunity to develop, for example,

initially I was not able to use Excel in an effective manner, but now, I am able to use the same
effectively.
Action Plan
A detailed plan that outlines the actions that are required in order to reach a particular
goal (Vaughan and Burnaford, 2016). It is an important document because it helps individuals in
attaining their goals as well as objectives.
Objective
“To improve existing teamwork skills to generate more productive outcomes in the future
by working as part of a team.”
Being a part of the challenge has been very helpful for me and helped me to develop an
understanding of my strengths as well as weaknesses. I have got to work on my existing team
work skills and in order to do so, I will try interacting with more people. Apart from this, I will
also participate in different projects that have to be completed in a group. This will not only
allow me to improve my skills, but also enhance my existing confidence. Meeting skills are also
important because they help in tracking the overall success of the task. Although, I have effective
time management skills, I can still improve on the same by prioritising the tasks that have been
assigned to me. This can have a significant impact on my overall performance as well as
productivity.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that at university level, there are different
challenges that are conducted in order to provide the students a chance to develop new skills as
well as enhance their existing knowledge. This helps them to develop new skills and gain a
competitive advantage against other people in their career. Lastly, an action plan allows
individuals to identify their areas of strengths as well as weaknesses.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Byun, C. G. and et.al., 2018. A study on the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education
programs in higher education institutions: A case study of Korean graduate programs.
Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity. 4(3). p.26.
Cummins, A. M., Denney‐Wilson, E. and Homer, C. S. E., 2016. The challenge of employing
and managing new graduate midwives in midwifery group practices in hospitals.
Journal of nursing management. 24(5). pp.614-623.
Hayter, C. S., Lubynsky, R. and Maroulis, S., 2017. Who is the academic entrepreneur? The role
of graduate students in the development of university spinoffs. The Journal of
Technology Transfer. 42(6). pp.1237-1254.
Rojjanasrirat, W. and Rice, J., 2017. Evidence-based practice knowledge, attitudes, and practice
of online graduate nursing students. Nurse education today. 53. pp.48-53.
Vaughan, M. and Burnaford, G., 2016. Action research in graduate teacher education: A review
of the literature 2000–2015. Educational Action Research. 24(2). pp.280-299.
Wakefield, E., 2018. Is your graduate nurse suffering from transition shock?. Journal of
Perioperative Nursing. 31(1). p.47.
Wybo, J. L. and Van Wassenhove, W., 2016. Preparing graduate students to be HSE
professionals. Safety Science. 81. pp.25-34.

Appendix
Apprentice Challenge
Presentation Challenge
T-shirt Challenge