Professional Development Report: Ideal Job and Resource Evaluation

This report delves into the concept of an 'ideal job,' specifically focusing on the role of a Marketing Manager at Marks and Spencer. It begins with an introduction to Human Resource Management and then outlines the author's ideal job, detailing the advantages of a marketing career and the specific skills and experiences desired. The report then provides a comprehensive job description for the Marketing Manager role, including responsibilities, skills, and qualifications. Furthermore, it presents a person specification, outlining the required knowledge, experience, skills, and behaviors for the position, along with a self-assessment of the author's qualifications. Finally, the report identifies and discusses various resources available to facilitate the job-finding process, such as job search pages, referrals, job fairs, company websites, cold calling, recruiter agencies, and social media, and explains how each can be utilized effectively.

Report Ideal Job

Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..............................................................................................................................................3
Ideal Job.................................................................................................................................................3
Job Description for the role..................................................................................................................4
Brief summary of person specifications and how you qualify for the job.......................................5
Resources available and how to use available resources to facilitate the job finding process. .7
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
A strategic approach that deals with the effective management of people within
an organization is referred to as Human Resource Management. It involves various
activities like recruiting, selecting, providing training etc. Human resource management
ensures that right people are hired for the right job in the company. Every individual has
an ideal job that they aspire to get into their career (Armstrong and Taylor, 2020).
Organization chosen for this report is Marks and Spencer, a multinational retail of high-
quality clothing and household products. The company was founded by Michael Marks
and Thomas Spencer in 1884. The report describes an ideal job, the job description for
that particular role and a summary of person specifications. It also includes the
resources available and how can they be used in order to find the right job.
MAIN BODY
Ideal Job
My ideal job is to work as a Marketing Manager for Marks and Spencer, which is
an International retailer. The company has operations across the world and offers a lot
of job opportunities to potential candidates (Markoulli and et. al., 2017). There are many
advantages of working as a marketing manager as they get a lot of opportunities to
interact and network with other people. Marketing is a field that provides an individual
with a lot of exposure that contributes to their learning as well as enhancing their
knowledge. A marketing manager works in various areas that involve interacting with
clients and shareholders. One of the other reasons why working as a marketing
manager is my ideal job is that if they have relevant experience, they earn relatively
high salaries (Banfield, Kay and Royles, 2018). Additionally, they earn bonuses,
commissions and other incentives that are offered by the company. This job will be an
enriching experience for me as I have always wanted to work for multinational company.
Not only this, I will get an opportunity to learn and acquire different transferable skills
like project management, hiring, managing, training etc.
These skills will help me in developing confidence and advance my career. Apart
from this, a marketing career will help me in understanding how to operate latest

technology and thus, acquire analytical skills. Communication as well as customer
service skills are among other skills that will be an ad-on to my CV. A marketing career
will provide me a broad overview of the different facets of marketing. The job of a
marketing manager is highly in demand today and also considered to be a stable one.
And a career advancement in this job will lead to an even higher salary (Berman and et.
al., 2019). The company also provides various opportunities to enhance the skillset of
its employees. Since the job is highly desirable among candidates, it means that there
will be a lot of competition. I will need to brush up on my skills and knowledge so that I
get the job. Therefore, being a marketing manager at Marks and Spencer is my ideal job
as it will help me in enhancing my knowledge.
Job Description for the role
A job description is a document that summarizes the roles, responsibilities, skills
as well as qualifications that are required for a particular job. An effective job description
includes all the necessary details of the company like its culture and any benefits that
are provided to the employees (How to Write a Job Description, 2020). The title of the
job, its designation to whom the employee will report is also included in a job
description. A job description is important because it helps in identifying particular skills
in an individual that are required for a job position. In context to the applicants, a job
description helps them in identifying if a job is in line with their interests, skills and
qualifications or not. A job description for the role of Marketing Manager at Marks and
Spencer is described below–
Job Description
Marks and Spencer
Job Title: Marketing Manager
Department: Marketing
Location: London, United Kingdom
Position: Full-time
Roles and Responsibilities

 Manage content as well as updates for customers, prepare budgets and
allocate funds wisely, participate in events and document the different business
processes
 Gather customer insights and develop strategies in order to satisfy their needs
and requirements
 Communicate with seniors regarding different marketing strategies and
programs
 Executing successful marketing campaigns and ensure a large participation of
people
 Monitor the performance of team members and provide constructive feedback
 Analyze the consumer behavior and accordingly adjust advertisements and
email campaigns
 Produce content that is valuable as well as engaging for the online website and
blog of the company that helps in attracting new potential target groups and
converts them into permanent customers
Skills and Qualifications
 A bachelor’s degree in marketing, business or any other related field
 Excellent communication skills, both written as well as verbal
 Minimum 5 years of experience of either working in the same position or in the
marketing field with in-depth knowledge in the marketing field
 Experience in developing as well as planning marketing campaigns
 Strong multitasking, decision-making and project management skills
 Knowledge about the latest CRM tools as well as marketing automation
 A creative mind with an eye for detail
 Up-to date about the best practices relating to online marketing and latest
trends
Brief summary of person specifications and how you qualify for the job
Person specification describes the personal attributes that are expected from a
potential employee (Bratton and Gold, 2017). It is basically similar to a job description,
but more specific than it. It includes a description of the skills, qualifications, knowledge,

skills and other attributes that a candidate must possess in order to get a particular job
at a company. It is an important component for the recruiter because it allows them to
communicate the skills and other traits that they desire a potential candidate to have.
This can include education, work experience, knowledge, skills and attributes
(Siyambalapitiya, Zhang and Liu, 2018). The job specification for the role of a marketing
manager at Marks and Spencer is as follows –
Person Specification
Knowledge  Business practices and culture
 Applications of data in a marketing context
 Emerging trends and technologies in marketing
 Different marketing techniques like content
marketing, digital marketing and social
marketing
Experience  Minimum 5-year experience in the marketing
field
 Experience of previously working as a
marketing manager will be an added advantage
 Planning related to budget and campaigns
Skills  Ability to think strategically and make effective
business decisions
 Ability to guide and motivate team members in
order to achieve organizational goals and
objectives
 Excellent communication and customer service
skills
 Multi-tasking and creative
Behaviors  Influential and Inspiring
 Innovative
 Challenging
 Responsible and Collaborative

Special Circumstances Travel and flexible hours might be required
occasionally.
I am a post-graduate in Marketing with good communication skills, both verbal as
well as written. I am a confident person and like interacting with people. I have an
experience of working as a marketing specialist for 6 years which helped me in earning
to work as part of a team and make effective decisions (Brewster, Mayrhofer and
Farndale, 2018). I am person who always looks out for details in a given task and make
sure that it is completed with the most efficient way. Apart from this, I like brining new
and creative ideas to the table and also encourage my fellow team members to do so.
This helps in reaching out to a problem in a much creative and unique way. Therefore, I
believe that I qualify for the job of a marketing manager.
Resources available and how to use available resources to facilitate the job finding
process
There are various resources that are available to me to find the desire job. The
job finding process is slow and can take some time (Tang and et. al., 2018). Different
resources that are available and how can they be used in order to facilitate the job
finding process are explained below-
Job Search Pages – Today, digital technology has made it easier for the
potential candidates to find and apply to their desired jobs. There are a lot of job search
websites/pages that have a variety of features designed to help the different job seekers
to find and locate their desired job easily (10 Job Searching Resources, 2020). I can
use the different job search pages, upload my resume for the jobs that I find match to
my skills and knowledge. I can also search for the desired job directly, by searching for
the job title and salary offered by the respective company.
Referrals – There are many companies that encourage referrals in their system
and offer incentives to the employees who refer a potential candidate. This can be a
great opportunity wherein I can ask a friend or someone known to refer me in their
company for a particular job opening (Chelladurai and Kerwin, 2018). Referrals can be
beneficial because a person who is referred by an employee within the company

receives preference over traditional candidates who apply for the same job. Apart from
this, hiring a referred candidate does not involve much time and cost.
Job Fairs – Most job fairs are usually targeted towards a particular industry while
others can be more generalized. They represent various organizations that offer jobs at
different positions and departments within their workplace. One of the many advantages
of job fairs is that a candidate can get an opportunity to interact with many employers at
the same time (What is a Job Fair? Its Advantages and Disadvantages, 2016). Apart
from this, if an employer finds a potential candidate to be suitable for a job, they can get
an immediate response from the employer.
Company Website – This is another useful and valuable resources that can be
used in order to find the desired job within a company. Company websites are a useful
resource because they provide the up to date information about the available or vacant
job positions in the company and the skills, knowledge that will be required in order earn
the job. Also, I will be able to apply for the job positions at any time with the access of
internet. Also, I will be able to track my application on the company’s website and
receive a direct mail if I get selected.
Cold Calling – Everyone today has an access to a good smart phone and if a
potential job seeker does not find any available job listed on the website, they can
consider calling the company and asking about the same (Delery and Roumpi, 2017). I
can find the contact as well as email details of the concerned person online and contact
them regarding any upcoming vacancies in the company or sending my resume. This
resource might not always work and can only be useful some times.
Recruiter Agencies – There are many organizations that hire potential
candidates through recruiter agencies. These agencies actively recruit individuals to fill
in particular vacancies in a company. The payment is based on commission and it is
important for the job seeker to ensure if the company is paying that or they have to pay
the same. Recruiter agencies can connect a potential job seeker with employers that
might be offering job for a position that is desired by the candidate (Guest, 2017).
Therefore, I can consider getting in touch with a reputed recruiter agency.

Social Media – Different social media platforms can help in increasing the
overall visibility of a candidate online. It also helps in putting the skills as well as
experience of the person into public domains (Kianto, Sáenz and Aramburu, 2017). This
further leads to providing greater opportunities to network with different professionals
online from all kinds of employment sectors. Social media is useful for both employers
as well as employees and can provide the company an access to a large pool of
candidates who might have skills and experience that match an open job position.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that an individual seeking job in a
particular industry or sector is required to possess certain skills and knowledge about
the job that they want to apply for. A job description is a document that describes all the
skills, experience and knowledge that a company expects a potential job seeker to
have. It also mentions the job title, designation etc. and the roles as well as
responsibilities of that job. On the other hand, a person specification is a document
similar to job description, but is more specific in terms of describing the skills,
knowledge and behavior. Lastly, there are various resources that a job seeker can
make use of in order to find a job. Some examples of the resources can include job
fairs, cold calling, company websites and recruiter agencies.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2020. Armstrong's handbook of human resource
management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Banfield, P., Kay, R. and Royles, D., 2018. Introduction to human resource
management. Oxford University Press.
Berman, E. M. and et. al., 2019. Human resource management in public service:
Paradoxes, processes, and problems. CQ Press.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice.
Palgrave.
Brewster, C., Mayrhofer, W. and Farndale, E. eds., 2018. Handbook of research on
comparative human resource management. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Chelladurai, P. and Kerwin, S., 2018. Human resource management in sport and
recreation. Human Kinetics.
Delery, J. E. and Roumpi, D., 2017. Strategic human resource management, human
capital and competitive advantage: is the field going in circles?. Human
Resource Management Journal. 27(1). pp.1-21.
Guest, D. E., 2017. Human resource management and employee well‐being: Towards a
new analytic framework. Human Resource Management Journal. 27(1). pp.22-
38.
Kianto, A., Sáenz, J. and Aramburu, N., 2017. Knowledge-based human resource
management practices, intellectual capital and innovation. Journal of Business
Research. 81. pp.11-20.
Markoulli, M. P. and et. al., 2017. Mapping Human Resource Management: Reviewing
the field and charting future directions. Human Resource Management Review.
27(3). pp.367-396.
Siyambalapitiya, J., Zhang, X. and Liu, X., 2018. Green human resource management:
A proposed model in the context of Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. Journal of
Cleaner Production. 201. pp.542-555.
Tang, G. and et. al., 2018. Green human resource management practices: scale
development and validity. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources. 56(1).
pp.31-55.
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