Portfolio Reflection: Skills, CV, Interview, and Negotiation

This portfolio assignment provides a detailed reflection on a student's professional development journey, focusing on key skills such as presentation, CV writing, interview techniques, and negotiation. The report analyzes the student's performance in a team-based project, highlighting both strengths and areas for improvement. The student reflects on skills like time management, teamwork, and prioritization, identifying specific areas where further development is needed. The portfolio includes an action plan outlining steps to address weaknesses and enhance overall professional capabilities. The document is a comprehensive guide offering valuable insights into the process of self-assessment and skill enhancement, contributing to the student's future career success. The student discusses the importance of these skills for effective business operations and the ability to navigate professional challenges. The portfolio concludes by emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and the practical application of skills in a professional setting.

Coursework: Portfolio

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Reflection on performance.....................................................................................................1
Area of further development..................................................................................................5
Action plan.............................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Reflection of learning is very crucial for an individual as it help in providing an
overview regarding the strength and weakness that get identified while execution of this
project. It also support in developing an understanding regarding things learnt through
the project. This is a report is based on portfolio which contains the reflection of
individual regarding learning throughout the execution of project. This portfolio includes
information regarding presentation skills, CV writing, interview, reflection and
negotiation skills. After evaluation of these skills there is a further improvement area
which represents skills to be improved and after this action plan is explained that
contains information regarding actions to be taken for overcoming the weaknesses
found through this project.
MAIN BODY
Reflection on performance
I am glad that I got this opportunity to work over a team based project which
support in developing my skills that help me in future in performing my business
operations effectively. This project supported me a lot by providing me information that
help in increasing the knowledge regarding effective management of team work for
greater success (Taylor, 2017).
Presentation of skills:- This was a group project which support me in going
through several skills and knowledge development by working with others as a team.
Following are skills for which we gain understanding while working over this team based
project,
 Arranging the groups:- While performing work on this project, we came to know
about the manner in which a group is formulated as per the goals and objective
of particular task. As there are number of skills and capabilities which are
required to be present among the team members so that each work can be
performed in effective manner as per the demand of task. This is so because an
effective group is formulated with combining the skills, capabilities and ideas of
each individual that support in taking better decision (Leinonen and et. al., 2016).
In addition to this, while working within a team I become able to develop an
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understanding regarding the manner in which regular innovation practices must
be performed within a business through a better support of team members.
 Time management:- In order to perform work in effective manner time
management is consider to be most crucial skill which help in performing each
task on timely manner. In addition to this it also eliminate the chances of errors
by providing appropriate time to each task. While working within a team I came to
learn that proper management of time help in performing work in efficient
manner. For proper time management the tasks within our group projects like
collecting data, arranging it, formulating presentation and preparing presentation
etc. are arranged systematically and then time get divided among them so that
each activity can be performed in effective manner. But I was not much good at
arranging the time, but while performing work within team I came to learn about
manner in which time must be divided for each activity so that it can be
performed effectively.
 Team work:- The completion of project not ends up with the assignment as each
team members is required to prepare for the work they have performed to deliver
final presentation (Baldwin, 2016). In this team work is required as it is only
possible with the support of each member and shared knowledge. While working
over this project I came to know how team work is helpful within the project and
manner in which it support in simplifying the work.
 Prioritisation of work:- During this project we have to perform number of tasks
as well as activities which make this project more typical. But while working with
such skilled team mates who have knowledge of dividing the project into task and
prioritising work it become easier to perform task in effective manner. In this we
firstly prioritize the work which are easier and urgently required so that it can be
performed in little time and remaining time can be provided to complex tasks.
This work get performed quickly but I was not much good in prioritizing the work.
CV Writing:- It is consider to be the most essential part of a students career
which provide them a formate to showcase their skills and capabilities so that they
would be able to gain future opportunities (Whitton and et. al., 2016). Hereby, it has
been analysed that today, people are working mainly on developing their resumes in
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effective and impressive manner. This new information has helped me in developing my
CV as much as impactful, that helps in getting attention of selector of a company,
towards my qualification and qualities, so that chance of my selection for a particular
position can be increased. In this regard, I have analysed to develop a CV, the main
points that need to be highlighted are objectives, abilities, qualifications, knowledge
area and experience. Hereby, objectives will show what I am seeking to get, while
abilities describe level of competence, capabilities and strengths, that justify how much
a person is able to get a specific job. Similarly, academic qualification and technical or
other knowledge fulfil the eligibility criteria, while experience shows high level of
competence of an individual (Whitton and et. al., 2016). Thus, such information has
made me able for developing an attractive resume and increase my chance to get a
position for career development.
Interview:- After working on overall project on importance of “team-work”, I have
gained opportunity to improve and enhance my skills. It includes how to interact with
those people, whose perception will help in making a research more impactful. Hereby,
when I receive project on given topic, then team members have suggested to collect
both primary and secondary data, in order to take opinion of both experts and people
who have engaged previously with same. This would help in gathering relevant and
reliable information for addressing the main objectives of project. For example – When
to collect primary data, it has been analysed by me that the more important skill that a
person must have, who is going to take feedback and opinion of chosen respondent, is
interview. In this regard, for taking interviews, individual must have effective
communication abilities, that help in influencing and earning trust of participants, so that
perspective of them can be taken to address the project's objectives (Whitton and et.
al., 2016). Similarly, way of interaction also help in taking interviews of people in a
positive way and gain their contribution for getting desired result. Therefore, analysing
all these aspects, by working in team, I have improved and enhanced all such abilities
that is needed to collect primary data by interview method.
Reflection:- The experience throughout this project was great as I came through
several information which support me in developing my understanding regarding
management of work and brining innovation in practices to achieve success. But above
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all this, the most interesting part of this journey was each person within a team is trying
to motivate others by supporting them and appreciating their effort as well as discussing
their ideas (Cunliffe and Easterby-Smith, 2017). These all are the major pillars which
supported in strengthening the team dynamics so that each and every person remains
ready to work with one other without bringing any kind of issues and creating conflicts
among members. I consider this to be the main reason because of which we as a team
become able to complete our project in timely manner. Despite of this, in current project
we used a new information which is regarding Curriculum Vitae which is one of the most
essential part of an student's life and also help in building up their career. This
information we used to represent most essential factors to be consider while developing
a CV. But throughout this project execution, I get to know about several things in which I
found difficulties and get confused to perform it well.
One of them is prioritising of work which seems to be a biggest task which if
managed properly help in timely completion of work. But I get confused in this as I don't
able to determining that which task to be present first as it seem all important which is to
be performed first for effective execution of project (Harvey, Coulson and McMaugh,
2016). Another confusion that I found through this practising was that I won't able to
determine the long term benefit of particular task which is required to be done for
staying focused toward a particular work.
Negotiation skills:- Through this project I have identified that negotiating skills
are also equally important for an individual. It can be defined as ability of bargaining with
others, who have better viewpoint, like how to reach consequences behind an action, do
settlement with partners for resolving a situation etc. This ability can also be defined as
inclination of one towards being fair, get along with team partners, maintaining mutual
relationship with them and so on. Therefore, developing such qualities a person can do
work in a team and collaborate with them more easily, without arising situations that
create conflicts. Giving prioritisation to development of such skills also help in increasing
chance of completing a project successfully, within set period of time. Some other
factors that shows importance of negotiating skills are delivering quality solutions,
avoidance of future conflicts, prepare in advance to deal with a situation that may arise
while working on a new project within a team etc. Therefore, the main benefits that I
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have gained by working under guidance of my seniors in given project is improvement
in negotiating skills.
Area of further development
This execution of project brings a great experience to me as I went through
several challenges and practices which contributed toward my personal development
that further help me in getting future success. It is so because I become able to
enhance my understanding regarding things to be managed and work to be perform in
different circumstances to achieve success that help in developing a balance between
my personal and professional life in future (Rose, 2018). In addition to this I also came
to know about area in which I am good and be able to perform my work in effective
manner. But on the other hand I also become able to develop my understanding
regarding the weaknesses or area which are required to be improved or developed in
order to have a full personal development for future career pathway. Hence, while
performing this project I came to know that I am not much good in prioritising the work
which is consider to be a moist crucial factor for a student to achieve success. This
area is required improvement as it may leads to delay in particular project or sometimes
error in completion which affect the final outcome (Hildebrand, 2018). In addition to this
another area of improvement which I have found is time management. This is the
another major area which I required to improve for enhancing my quality of work and
getting higher grades in my education. It require improvement as I am not much
punctual in performing my work on timely manner which is a biggest weakness of mine
as it may affect my future performance. Effective time management is consider to be the
most crucial part of a students life as this skills or habit direct them toward the path of
achieving success. Hence, by improving my time management skills I would be able to
perform my work on timely manner, scheduling my tasks so that proper flow of
operations can be ensure that leads to project success. In addition to this, by improving
my time management skills I would also be able to prioritise my work in efficient manner
by systematically arranging them in a sequence as per the time taken by them. Hence,
these are the areas which are required to improve in order to enhance the skills as well
as capability regarding effective execution of particular project toward gaining success
(Tattum and Tattum, 2017).
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Action plan
As per the evaluation performed above regarding my areas of learning I came to
know about several skills and knowledge that remains my biggest strength or
weaknesses throughout the project. While performing this project I came to know that
there are some areas where I required improvement to overcome my weaknesses so
that my future performance can be improved. From this it has been found that major
weaknesses are prioritisation of work and time management (Holt, 2016). In order to
overcome this and improve my skills I have decided to create an action plan which
focuses toward presenting the activities or actions that I will perform in order to
overcome my weaknesses. For this I have prepared my personal development plan
which guide me over actions to be perform toward the area of improvement along with
time taken by each activity. My personal development plan for major weaknesses such
as prioritisation of work and time management is presented below:
S
no.
Skills &
Capabilities
Targeted
proficiency
Activities Judgemen
t criteria
Duration
1 Prioritisation of
work
To improve my
skills regarding
prioritisation of
work up to an
extend so that I
would be able to
arrange a
systematic flow of
performing
operations. So
that work can be
arrange in a
manner that are
For improving
my skills
regarding
prioritisation of
work I have
decided to
explore
internet to
determine the
manner in
which priority
of activities
are set. In
Improveme
nt in my
work will be
judged by
my team
mates as
well as
teachers
from my
quality of
work.
2 months
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more crucial to
perform earlier
and their result
compliment
another activity
which support in
reducing the
chances of error
and saves time
too.
addition to this
I will also take
guidance from
my seniors
regarding
manner in
which time
and
importance for
each activities
must be
decided and
then arrange
them
appropriately.
2 Time
management
To improve my
time management
skills up to an
extend that I
would become
able to perform my
work on timely
manner without
getting delays in
accomplishment of
tasks. In addition
to this I want to
improve my time
management skills
up to an extend
that I would be
For ensuing
effective time
management
practices I
have decided
to take
seminars in
college about
how to
manage time.
In addition to
this I have
decided to
note down
time I need to
complete a
The
improveme
nt in time
manageme
nt skills will
be judged
by my
teachers,
class mates
and group
member as
well.
4 months
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able to manage
my time by
organising
activities in
effective manner
so that time for
other curriculum
activities can be
saved.
particular task
so that I can
schedule a
time table and
work
accordingly to
save my time
and manage
work
effectively
without any
sort of delays.
CONCLUSION
From the above performed investigation it has been found that success of any
project is depends upon the coordination and cooperation among team members which
they exert while performing work with one another. There are number of skills or
capability an individual have which support them in achieving success within their
project work which includes team management, punctuality, prioritisation of task,
motivation, work honesty and regularity. These all support in keeping team members
focused toward their work and they become able to achieve success.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Baldwin, M., 2016. Social work, critical reflection and the learning organization.
Routledge.
Cunliffe, A. L. and Easterby-Smith, M., 2017. From reflection to practical reflexivity:
Experiential learning as lived experience. In Organizing reflection (pp. 44-60).
Routledge.
Harvey, M., Coulson, D. and McMaugh, A., 2016. Towards a theory of the Ecology of
Reflection: Reflective practice for experiential learning in higher
education. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice. 13(2). p.2.
Hildebrand, J., 2018. Bridging the gap: A training module in personal and professional
development. Routledge.
Holt, N.L. ed., 2016. Positive youth development through sport. Routledge.
Leinonen, T. and et. al., 2016. Mobile apps for reflection in learning: A design research
in K‐12 education. British Journal of Educational Technology. 47(1). pp.184-
202.
Reynolds, M. and Vince, R., 2017. Organizing reflection: An introduction. In Organizing
reflection (pp. 15-28). Routledge.
Rose, C., 2018. The personal development group: the student's guide. Routledge.
Tattum, D. and Tattum, E., 2017. Social education and personal development.
Routledge.
Taylor, E. W., 2017. Transformative learning theory. In Transformative learning meets
bildung (pp. 17-29). Brill Sense.
Whitton, D. and et. al., 2016. Learning for teaching: Teaching for learning.
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