University of Suffolk BA Business Studies: Reflective Report Analysis

This report is a reflective analysis of a student's personal and professional development during their university studies. It utilizes the Gibbs reflective cycle to examine experiences, feelings, and evaluations related to skill development. The student describes the skills gained, such as communication, time management, and teamwork, and identifies areas for improvement, including research and IT skills. The report includes an action plan for developing these skills and concludes with a discussion on the importance of continuous learning and preparation for a successful career. The student reflects on how attending university has contributed to their employability skills and overall growth. The report is a valuable resource for students seeking to improve their skills.

Reflective report

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................3
Gibbs reflective cycle..................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

Introduction
Professional development is very much important if an individual want to grow in his or
her professional career. This report will discuss that how attending university has helped me to
achieve study and employability skills.
Task 2
Gibbs reflective cycle
This is the famous reflective model which has six stages to explore. This cycle give idea
about learning to experience (Gibbs' Reflective Cycle., 2021). It is the model which helps to
examine experience and also planning for things which is good or bad. Its stages are as follows:
Description:
I have attended university and I feel that after completing course in university it has developed
many skills and knowledge into me. In university I had attended many classes while pursuing my
course and from each class I develop lots of skills which will definitely helps me in my career. I
was pretty attentive in every class because I know that the knowledge which I will gain here will
contribute in my employability. After attending university I developed communication skills
both verbal and written so in future when I will join company strong communication skills will
help me to communicate with different people whom I met in the company easily.
I also learnt time management. I realised importance of time and also learnt how to manage it.
Time management skill will be helpful in my personal as well as professional life (Emery and
Chang, 2017). The purpose of my joining university is to get good job in the future. As I will get
degree from college and also knowledge and skills which is required in the job. I want that after
completing course from university I get good job so that I can start my career.
Feelings:
Before joining university I was quite happy and excited about the course. I have this idea back in
my mind that after along with learning in the university I will also make friends there and in
most cases I saw that university friends are the forever friends. I was excited that I will get the
opportunity to meet with people which belongs from different backgrounds so by communicating
with them I will learn lot from them. Before doing the course I thought that the course would be
easy and I will understand it easily but after joining the course I realised that nothing is easy and
the only success mantra is hard work. On the first day everybody was happy and excited like me
because everyone want to learn something new so that strong career can be developed (Wang,

2020). I think that before joining university many students thinks that this course is easy and they
will clear all exams very easily but this is not the reality and they have also understood that if
course have to complete successfully then hard work is required to pass exams.
While attending university I was thinking that I have to work hard and learn the skills and gain
knowledge what my teacher will teach in classes. Communication skill is the skills on which my
teacher has focused a lot. As teacher said that if your grades are good but have poor
communication skills then no company will hire you because with poor communication an
individual will never pass in any interview test. I am satisfied with the course because I get to
learn many things which will definitely helpful in my employability.
Evaluation:
While pursuing my course at university the skills which I developed are communication skills,
rime management skill and teamwork (Thiagraj and Karim, 2020). I built teamwork skill because
my teacher has assigned various projects which have to be completed in group so that is why I
developed this skill. The skills which I didn't build are research skills, problem solving skills or
using information communication technology. I realised that in this competitive world IT skills
are very important and I am not having this skill. So I have put some efforts in order to develop
this skill. I also discussed with my classmates about skills that with what skills they are good or
bad. After that I found that I am not the only person who is lacking in IT skills but there are
many students who doesn't have this skill. After finding out that I am lacking some skills I got
afraid but after discussing with my fellow mate I got relaxed that they are also lacking in those
skills in which I am. So we all has decided that we will talk with our teacher regarding this.
Analysis:
I have learnt many skills in the university course and this has done possible because I actually
work hard from starting only because I was little aware that having effective communication
skills, time management and teamwork will definitely help me in the future when it comes to
career. As because I focused from starting only so that is why I have able to build these skills.
Other skills which I failed to build are research skills, information communication technology
and problem-solving skills. I realised that why I am not able to develop this skills are because
from the starting only I did not work on this skill or try to develop this. I was having feeling that
these all skills are tough and not my cup of tea but slowly I realised that these skills are also
important as modern organisations are demanding these skills (Sunghee and Booyuel, 2019).

After knowing the importance of those skills which I am not having I had became aware and I
will try my level best to develop these skills.
Conclusions:
I joined university to pursue course so that after completing course I can start with my career. I
believe that career is very important and to strongly built it an individual require expertise,
knowledge and skills. After joining university I developed many skills like communication skill.
Time management and teamwork skill. I also realised in the middle of the course that there are
other skills also in which I am lacking like problem solving skill, information technology and
research skills. As I thought that these skills are not so important so that is why I did not make
efforts to learn them. But eventually I realised that these all skills are very important and I am
lacking in this.
By learning the skills which I don't have will surely help me in my future. It is good that in the
middle of the course only I realised that I am lacking some skills so still I have time to built the
skills and get prepared for my career. To ignore such situation in the future I will develop the
habit to not taking anything lightly. As objectives can be achieved only if an individual is serious
regarding their personal and professional life (Pieper and et.al., 2020). I can say that those skills
which I wanted to develop from starting only before joining university I has effectively build
those skills.
Action plan:
skills strategies resources timescale
Research skill I will carefully read
complete information
and learn how to
recognize quality
sources.
I will read lot of books
from library and
online as well.
1 year
Problem solving skill Carefully identify the
problem and will take
help from experts.
I will read regarding
problem which I am
facing in order to get
various solutions.
9 months
IT skill I will try to work with I will do some IT 1.5 years.

those people who have
IT related knowledge.
related course which is
available online.
In the future I will happily accept all challenges which will come in my way and also I will never
try to delay any task because to make delay will stop growth on temporary basis. I had also
decided that apart from all the skills which are discussed above I will also try to develop some
other skills also along with these (Othman and et.al., 2020). As in this competitive era company
hire those candidates which are having more skills and knowledge. In order to develop skills I
have to do several courses in future as well.
Conclusion
Through this report it can be concluded that attending university has added many benefits
in terms of knowledge and skills in my personality. As there are many skills like communication
both verbal and written I had developed. There are also several skills which I failed to develop
but for that I has build strategies so that in future I can develop these skills. The skills in which I
am weak with are research, IT etc. with the help of Gibbs reflective model I explained complete
situation. The motive behind joining university is to make friends and also enhance learning. I
want to excel in my career and for that it requires degree so that is why I joined university in
order to get degree and prepare myself for job vacancies.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Emery, C. and Chang, J., 2017, July. Reflection in a new light: updating Gibbs' reflective cycle
on a foundation degree in healthcare sciences. In HEA Conference, generation TEF.
Othman, N. and et.al., 2020. A Special Education Teacher’s Reflection: Gibbs Reflective
Cycle. Solid State Technology, pp.6098-6107.
Pieper, M. and et.al., 2020. Feedback in reflective journals fosters reflection skills of student
teachers. Psychology Learning & Teaching, p.1475725720966190.
Sunghee, S. and Booyuel, K., 2019. Beyond Learning English: North Korean Refugee College
Students’ Reflective Process on English Education. 통통통통통. 5(1). pp.137-154.
Thiagraj, M. and Karim, A.M.A., 2020. Reflective practices to explore postgraduate students
learning experience in mobile learning platform. Sains Humanika. 12(3).
Wang, P., 2020. A REFLECTIVE LEARNING APPROACH TO TEACHING COMPUTER
AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COURSES. Issues in Information
Systems. 21(2).
Online
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle., 2021. [online] Available through:
<https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-
reflective-cycle>