Personal Career Development Plan: Semester 1, 2024

Desklib provides solved assignments and past papers to help students succeed.

PERSONAL CAREER DEVELOPMENT
0

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Self-evaluation.................................................................................................................................3
Self-motivation................................................................................................................................3
Kolb’s learning style........................................................................................................................4
Honey & Mumford learning styles..................................................................................................6
Personal development plan..............................................................................................................9
SWOT Analysis.............................................................................................................................10
Johari Window...............................................................................................................................13
S.M.A.R.T. Objectives..................................................................................................................14
Personal development plan............................................................................................................16
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................18
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................19
1

Introduction
In order to enhance the professional career, it is necessary to update the knowledge regularly so
that effective outcome can be achieved. If I am able to develop my skills, it will help to increase
my employment opportunity in future. During my academic career in university, I was pregnant
and after delivery, I used to attend classes. In that period, I have gathered a different experience
as I am working as a student as well as a mother. From that life-experience, I am able to develop
my various skills such as time management, patience development, confidence and willingness
to learn. This study will focus on my experience and will try to identify employability skills so
that I can achieve better opportunity in case of employment. The factors related to self-
evaluation and self-motivation will be examined in order to understand the chance of achieving
success in future. Various learning theories will be used in order to understand my nature of
learning. Analytical tools related to conducting personal analysis will be used so that my
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats can be identified. Based on the threats and
weaknesses, objectives for personal development goals will be set and effective plan will be
prepared.
2

Self-evaluation
Self-evaluation is the process through which strength and weaknesses of an individual can be
identified. It is an important part in order to bring development in the personal behaviour of an
individual so that he/she is capable of getting better employment in future. As per the viewpoint
of Hewitt (2015), if one person is able to identify their weaknesses, effective plan can be
developed and it will help to bring improvement in my weaknesses. As I want to find out my
strengths and issues, I have used various tools such as Honey and Mumford style and Kolb’s
style of learning.
Using above-mentioned self-evaluation tools, I will be able to find out my strengths and
motivational factors. If I am able to know my motivational factors, I will try to focus on it. It is
quite common that self-evaluation can be considered as the best starting point of learning and
effective knowledge will help me to make effective plan for future (Potvin et al., 2016). As self-
evaluation assists me to understand my present weaknesses, I will be able to set effective goals,
plan accordingly and try to bring improvement in the identified factors. Thus, by developing my
skills related to employment, I will gain success in my professional career in future.
Self-motivation
Self-motivation is the impulse that has driven me towards achieving my goal, in the present
context following the academic path even during pregnancy. The idea of continuing my study
even during the delicate stage of my life has motivated me in pursuing my dreams of attaining a
good career in future. Self-motivation is the key to success of my life as I have stay motivated
during the learning career to develop my future so that I will be able to take good care of my
child. Being motivated is necessary for employability as its breaks the mould of hesitation and
make us move forward in life with enthusiasm (Ryan and Deci, 2017). Motivating is essential for
learning new things as well as to develop innovative things in life.
I have participated in the Self-motivation Quiz as well and have good score. I got 49 out of 60
for my self-motivation skill. Through this, I have been able to assess my self-assurance and self-
confidence skill. I have positive thinking about my future that has kept me motivated. I keep
myself motivated by setting goals for future activity and by learning Vroom’s theory of
3

motivation. I have learned through the particular theory that an individual’s motivation is
triggered by the factors such as skills, knowledge, and experience (Jago, 2015). Therefore, I have
enhanced by knowledge trough learning and gathering details to improve my skills.
Kolb’s learning style
Figure 1: Kolb's learning cycle
(Source: Smith, 2016)
I have discovered the learning cycle of Kolb and have incorporated it into my learning career.
There are four stages of this cycle such as concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract
conceptualisation, and active experimentation (Smith, 2016). Through this cycle, I have been
able to align the learning career of my life in different stages of this model.
In the first stage of concrete experience, I have reflected my experience of learning in the
university during and after my pregnancy period. I have reflected upon the tasks that I had to
carry out in learning period as well as the duties that I had to perform at home.
As per the next stage of this cycle that includes reflective observation, I have been able to review
my experience during the academic period in the university (McCarthy, 2016). I have reflected
that I have gone through many problems at the time of examination when I was pregnant. I had
to take care of my health as well as prepare for the examination and score well in studies. I was
having a lot of pressure however, I have kept myself motivated and move forward with passion
4

and dedication towards learning. I had to manage the responsibilities of a mother and a student
at a time. Through this, I have developed the time management skill. This has assisted me in
carrying out multiple tasks by creating schedules of every work of the day.
In the stage of abstract conceptualisation, I can reflect that I have learned many things from the
experience. It was a nice experience to develop my learning career along with the duty of a
caring mother. I can conclude from the experience that I have developed my skill of time
management through the experience as well as developed patience and self-encouragement in
carrying out the daily chores of the life.
In the last stage of active experimentation, I have to say that I will develop my skills further to
develop my career in the future (Sudria et al., 2018). I will put into practice what I have gathered
in my academic career from personal experience. In future, I will try to work hard with calmness
and manage the hectic schedule of managing home and career with composed mind. I will
develop the time management skill in future as well so that management of home in assisting my
daughter would not be neglected for my dream of becoming independent woman. I will give time
to my daughter in her growing period to help her learn as well as schedule time for myself to
develop my career that would be supportive for me as well as for my daughter.
The learning cycle of Kolb has enabled me to assess my learning period and personal skills
during and after pregnancy. I have been able to develop plan as per the last stage of this cycle
that will develop my skills further in future.
5

Honey & Mumford learning styles
Figure 2: Honey & Mumford learning styles
(Source: Truong, 2016)
After conducting Kolb’s theory, I have used another learning theory, Honey and Mumford styles,
in order to understand the importance of various learning styles. It is found that Honey and
Mumford style is the advanced version of Kolb’s theory and it is comprised of four aspects such
as activist, pragmatist, reflectors and theorist (Truong, 2016). If I am able to identify my learning
style, I will be able to learn new skills, which can help to improve myself.
Activist
As per the viewpoint of Stander et al. (2019), various people are there, who prefer to learn from
their work and they cannot enhance knowledge from listening or reading. As they are involved in
their work and they handle the situation by their own, from practical experience people develop
their knowledge and it is the profitable idea for leaning. This kind of people has various skills
such as problem solving, handling competition and generating new ideas.
Pragmatist
On the other hand, Bontchev et al. (2018) commented that few people are there, who prefer to do
experiment with their work. This type of people gathers knowledge from various aspects such as
reading case study or hearing discussion; and thinks about the learning so that they can apply it
6

in reality. Hence, it is clear that pragmatists have the quality to apply their theoretical knowledge
in the practical work for achieving better outcome.
Reflector
The reflectors like to learn by watching, contemplating or observing the scenario and the people
of this category try to think about the facts what they watch. The reflectors have the critical
thinking power and before taking any kind of decision, they try to utilise knowledge related to
the topic (Weng et al., 2019). In order to avoid confrontation in time of taking decision, the
reflectors analyses information in various aspects and it helps to be successful. The reflectors
learn from various activities such as attending seminar, gathering feedbacks, interviews and
watching others’ activities.
Theorist
Theorists focus on the collection of data and according to the data, effective theories and models
are developed (Newton, 2015). New concepts and facts are analysed and it is used in the
practical life. Theorists develop their knowledge through stories, theories and statistics.
From the entire discussion, I am able to develop knowledge related to the theory and I have
completed the questionnaire from the Moodle in order to understand my learning style.
I have noticed that I am a pragmatist and activist as I have scored 17 out of 20 in pragmatist
portion and 19 out of 20 in activist portion. During my pregnancy, I did not stop studying and I
took admission in the University for enhancing my career. This activity has proved my
confidence power; I have learned that willingness is the key to success and I have applied this
theory in time of my pregnancy, which indicates my pragmatist nature (Aljaberi, 2015). As a
result, now I am a mother as well as a student of University for developing skills related to future
employment. On the other hand, after my delivery, within two weeks, I have joined University
and I am taking care of my baby and attending my classes. Moreover, I have attended
examination, where I have scored good marks. From this experience, I have learned that patience
helps to handle critical situation effectively (Pritchard, 2017). In addition to this, as I have to
manage my study along with my baby, this experience is developing my time management skill,
which reflects my activities nature of learning.
7

Therefore, by using this tool, I can state that effective learning process not only enhances my
knowledge, but also it will help to develop my employability skills for future. My confidence
power provided me the courage to take admission during my pregnancy and my willingness for
learning in order to be employed in future has motivated me to join university as quick as
possible (Dvouletý and Lukeš, 2016). Hence, it is clear that if I have clear knowledge to my goal,
I will be successful by making effective plan. Being an activist, I am able to take risk in order to
get success and it helps me to serve a higher position in a company in future.
8

Personal development plan
As commented by Gould (2017), personal development plan is the process, where objectives and
goals are set in order to develop skills in an appropriate manner. Self-evaluation is the part of
personal development cycle and an individual tries to evaluate self for identifying own strengths
and weaknesses.
Figure 3: Personal Development Cycle
(Source: Gould, 2017)
Therefore, by using development cycle and after completing self-evaluation, I am able to identify
my weaknesses and threats and according to it, I can set my objectives and goals so that
appropriate plan can be made. At present, as I am a mother and a University student, I have
developed my knowledge as a mother and I am continuously learning on employability skills for
getting better employment opportunity in future. As my aim is to work in the good position in a
company in future, it is necessary for me to develop my employability skills along with
knowledge. Without effective knowledge, I will not be able to manage the pressure of work and
it can ruin my goodwill in the venture (Kivimäki and Meriluoto, 2018).
Therefore, in order to evaluate myself effectively, I will use SWOT and Johari Window Model
for identifying my skills and competencies, which are to be improved. These models will guide
me to discover my skills, which are my strength, and reduce my threats along with weaknesses
9

for achieving my ambition as early as possible. After finding out my weaknesses, objectives will
be set and I will prepare the plan for developing my skills.
SWOT Analysis
SWOT analysis can be considered as a framework in order to evaluate my strengths,
opportunities, weaknesses and threats (Phadermrod et al., 2019). If I am able to identify my
strengths and weaknesses related to skills, I will be able to find out its threats and opportunities
as well. Using SWOT, I will be able to find out the areas, where improvement is required.
Strengths
 Hard worker and patience
 Time management
 Continuous learner and confidence
 Teamwork
Weaknesses
 Excessive pressure
 Communication skill
 Sensitive
 Negotiation skill
Opportunities
 Effectively handling the competition
 Completion of work within time
 Updated knowledge
Threats
 Communication gap
 Threats related to competitors
 Lack of capacity of taking effective
decision
Table 1: SWOT analysis
(Source: created by learner)
Strengths
Hard worker and patience
I am a hard worker and I have patience to work; I have identified these skills from my life-
experience. Though I was pregnant, I took admission in University in order to develop my
career. I am continuing my study along with taking care of my baby girl and this routine is quite
hectic; however, I am able to score very well in my class examination.
Time management
10

As I am a mother, most of the time I have to spend for my child and it is difficult to me to
manage my study equally. However, when my baby sleeps, I study in that time so that I can
update my knowledge (Gürel and Tat, 2017). Moreover, my energy level is high and it motivates
me to study for my professional career. Due to this reason, I have joined University within 2
weeks after my delivery and I able to score a good marks in the class examination.
Continuous learner and confidence
Strength is related to my confidence and in academic career, I communicate confidently with my
professor for expressing my knowledge on a topic. Though I am a mother, I attend class
regularly, which updates my knowledge properly.
Teamwork
In time of doing assignment, I make a group and involve my friends in specific areas such as
data collection, presentation so that I complete my team project within time along with
maintaining its quality.
Weaknesses
Excessive pressure
As I am a mother as well as a student, it creates excessive pressure on me and it affects my
health. This is the major weakness, which can reduce my employment opportunity in future and
without fitness, I am not able to serve my designation in an appropriate manner.
Communication skill
I know English and my colloquial language and apart from it, I only know sign language.
However, in case of employment, at present, employers prefer to recruit candidate, who have
knowledge on various languages such as French, Spanish. In University, language related issue is
not observed and as a result, I only know English and colloquial language.
Sensitive
11