MG408: Reflective Report: Analyzing Graduate Challenges and Skills

This report, prepared for a graduate course, presents a reflective analysis of several challenges designed to enhance essential skills for career development. The report details experiences from the "T-shirt Challenge," which involved creating a business plan, designing products, and marketing. It also covers the "Presentation Challenge," focusing on teamwork and communication, the "Debate Challenge," emphasizing time management and persuasive skills, and the "Hotel Challenge," which explored business strategies within the hospitality sector. The report highlights the skills developed through each challenge, including business, communication, and leadership skills, and concludes with a comprehensive action plan. This plan outlines specific areas for skill improvement, such as managerial and IT skills, and provides strategies for continuous development. The challenges discussed aim to prepare students for real-world scenarios and foster professional growth.

MG408 CW2
INDIVIDUAL
REFLECTIVE
REPORT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................2
T-shirt Challenge.........................................................................................................................2
Presentation Challenge................................................................................................................3
Debate Challenge.........................................................................................................................4
Hotel Challenge...........................................................................................................................4
Action Plan..................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
Books and Journal........................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Graduate challenges are the challenges which are given by the teachers to their students
in order to improve their essential set of skills which further helps the students in in their career
development (Boulet and Pinsky, 2020). Placing these challenges helps the students to gain
experience regarding various seeds which can they use in there for the job or business. This
report contains four challenges given to me during my course in order to increase my capabilities
to face real life challenges and helps me to gain experience of various real life situations. Every
challenge contains various skills which I have developed by going through the challenge. This
challenge also helps me to understand the need of several skills in my life and help me to
develop a career action plan. This report also contains an action plan which helps to identify the
significance of the skills and the way to get them better in me.
MAIN BODY
T-shirt Challenge
T-shirt challenge is provided to develop and market t shirts with own logo and brand.
This challenge is associated with the business plan in which I need to produce t shirts to sell
them in target market and get suitable profits. In order to complete the challenge I have worst
create a business plan with the proper budget to produce good quality dishes to be sold in the
market. I have hired a graphic designer to design logo of my business in order to use it in the
marketing process. Develop an attractive logo for my t-shirts business and I further purchase
fabric which will be required to make t-shirts. I have also hire a tailor which helps me to make
designer t shirts according to the designs which I have given to him. Then I engaged in designing
business in order to design the T-Shirts and various varieties such as round neck collars in them
to offer to the customers (Provete, 2021). The fabric which I have purchased as a raw material of
my business is provided to the tailor with the design which helped to develop various types of t-
shirts. Further, I involved in marketing of my brand through various digital marketing methods
which helps me to sell more and more t-shirts in the market and generate good revenues. The
skills which I have developed from this challenge are given below:
Business skills: Managing this business have developed skills in me as I learnt to make plans
and other activities to start and run a business.

Communication and negotiation: To establish this business and to communicate with several
people such as suppliers of raw materials tailor communicate with customers to sell the products
teachers my team members in many more (Chen, Kolmos and Du, 2021). It requires a proper
communication skills and negotiation skills to get the raw materials in lowest rates. It helps me
to develop communication and negotiation skills in me.
Leadership skills: Effective management of t-shirt business requires various leadership skills in
which I need to lead workers which I hire for various processes in the business. To manage the
workforce required for the business I have developed various leadership skills.
Presentation Challenge
I have given a topic to research and prepare a presentation in front of my peace on the
large audience. This task is provided in a team and my whole team is required to research on the
topic and bifurcate the topic in small parts to provide a presentation in given time. I have
developed various skills in order to complete the challenge as it requires the team work in which
I have to manage the whole team and communicate with them in timely manner. I have also learn
to prepare a PowerPoint presentation in order to record important points which will help me to
remind the topics for the presentation. This presentation challenge is a great challenge which I
have faced during my graduation. This presentation challenge provides me required confidence
to stand in front of a large audience and provide my thoughts to them (Chigozie, Ojide and
Mbah, 2020). The major skills which are developed with this challenge are given below:
Communication skills: By giving presentation in front of large audience I have developed
effective communication skills as it requires effective communication to transfer the thoughts
and ideas to others in effective manner.
Teamwork skills: Preparation of matter for the presentation requires a lot of research which I
have developed with the help of my team and develop good teamwork skills to complete the
challenge.
Debate Challenge
There are various topics which requires a debate in order to get effective results. There are so
many points in favor of the topic and also have some negative points regarding that. I have
developed a debate on the topic that “Is obesity is really a disease”. This topic requires a proper

debate to be conducted and I have developed various skills from the challenge. I have learnt to
communicate and provide my thoughts during a debate in effective manner. I have conducted a
proper research with my team who are in favor of this topic and go through the articles which are
written by various doctors on this topic and gather their point of view on this topic in order to
support my point in the debate (Kim, and Wolke, 2020). This preparation helps me to win the
debate in effective manner. The major skills which are developed with this challenge are given
below:
Time management skills: Delivery of debate requires giving the thought at right time as it helps
to win a debate and a deep research on debate helps me to develop my time management skills.
Presentation skills: Debate requires to be presented in front of everyone who are taking part in
the debate either as a participant or as a judge or as audience which has develop my presentation
skills.
Hotel Challenge
This challenge provided me to either work in hospitality sector or develop a hotel
business. Developing and managing a hotel is not an easy task and I have developed various
skills from this challenge. I need to hire and work on retaining the staff with the hotel is staff is
the most important part of hotel. I have understand the value of skilled and effective employees
in hospitality sector. I had also managed cash inflows and outflows issues in hotel business with
several operational issues. This issue help me to develop my business skills and will help me to
set up a hotel business in need. The major skills which are developed with this challenge are
given below:
Business skills: hotel challenge helps me to know several business tactics and strategies which
are essential to be considered in order to run the business in effective manner (Lake, Martin, and
Risse, 2021). This helps me develop various business skills requires to run a business in an
efficient manner.
Communication skills: To give services in hospitality sector it is require to have a polite and
well-mannered tone. Along with this it also require to have a good communication skills and this
challenge helps to develop good and effective communication skills in me.

Action Plan
Skills Need/ significance of
the skill
How to get better
(Actions Taken)
Time
Managerial skills Managerial skills are
so important to
manage a business in
effective manner as it
helps an individual to
manage their
workforce and teams
and get positive
results from the
business.
Feedbacks from my
mangers and real life
experience to manage
a team will help me
to develop my
managerial skills
(Rodgers, 2021).
3 months
Problem Solving
Skills
A business has
various problems and
in order to manage a
business in effective
manner it is essential
to have problem
solving skills in their
managers and leaders.
To enhance or
develop my problem
solving skills it is
very required for me
to enhance or develop
my thinking
capabilities
1 to 2 months
IT skills In this technical
world it is essential to
have it skills to grab
several opportunities
available in the
business world
(Muzaffarova, 2020).
I will take several
courses related to IT
sector and adopt new
technologies in my
routine life to
improve my IT skills.
6 months

CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it has been concluded that various challenges taken in the
graduation course helps an individual to develop effective skills which will help them in their
career growth and development. The challenges discussed above such as t-shirt challenge hotel
challenge and presentation challenge helps me to develop various effective skills which will help
me to get a good career. With the help of these challenges I have also prepared an action plan to
develop various required skills which I will not be able to develop from the challenges. This
action plan will help me to develop skills in timely manner to achieve required success in my
career.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Boulet, J.R. and Pinsky, W.W., 2020. Reporting a pass/fail outcome for USMLE Step 1:
Consequences and challenges for international medical graduates. Academic
Medicine, 95(9), pp.1322-1324.
Chen, J., Kolmos, A. and Du, X., 2021. Forms of implementation and challenges of PBL in
engineering education: a review of literature. European Journal of Engineering
Education, 46(1), pp.90-115.
Chigozie, O., Ojide, M.G. and Mbah, S.A., 2020. Graduate Underemployment Challenges and
Future Labour Market Uncertainties in Nigeria. EuroEconomica, 39(3).
Kim, S.H. and Wolke, S., 2020. Graduate writing groups: Helping L2 writers navigate the murky
waters of academic writing. Graduate Writing Across the Disciplines, p.211.
Lake, D.A., Martin, L.L. and Risse, T., 2021. Challenges to the Liberal Order: Reflections on
International Organization. International Organization, pp.1-33.
Muzaffarova, X., 2020. MAKTABGACHA TA’LIM MUASSASALARIDA MEDIATA’LIMNI
JORIY ETISH:«MODERN SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES AND TRENDS». Архив
Научных Публикаций JSPI, pp.9-9.
Provete, D., 2021. Challenges and strategies to teach history and philosophy of science to
graduate biologists.
Rodgers, A., 2021. Challenges to Admission for Indonesian Sponsored Applicants to a US
Graduate Program in Education. In Global Perspectives on Recruiting International
Students: Challenges and Opportunities. Emerald Publishing Limited.