Professional Career Development Report: Skills and Action Plan

This report is a reflective essay on professional career development, focusing on planning, skills, and personal growth. It begins with an introduction to career development, its importance, and the benefits of continuous professional development. The main body details a role-play experience, highlighting the student's skills in communication, leadership, and experience in hotel management, and how it contributed to their career development. The report emphasizes the significance of career planning and includes a personal development plan to improve skills like time management, adaptability, and technological proficiency. The report also includes an action plan for future career goals and concludes by summarizing the key takeaways and the importance of continuous learning and skill development for career success.

Professional Career
Development

Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Professional Career Development can be defined as a course that gives people an early
start on the process of planning and development for their career. The process comprises of a
self-assessment, planning, career exploration of the different employment strategies. Professional
development is important for individuals and helps them in continuing to be competent in their
career (Choate and et.al., 2019). Employees who pursue professional development continuously
have relevant and up-to date knowledge as well as skills. Career development permits personnel
to study higher aspects in their work and improve their skills. It also enables them to manage
their time correctly and ensure that using personnel increases over the years. The report is a
reflective essay on career development planning and the role play. It includes a description of the
skills as well as knowledge that contribute towards working effectively. the report also provides
an understanding of personal strengths as well as areas for further development. Lastly, an action
plan is also included in the report.
MAIN BODY
Career Development is an important aspect of a person’s life because it allows them to
create career development goals that are realistic (Heffernan, 2018). Also, it increases the overall
motivation levels as well as productivity of employees. We were assigned to present a role play
in groups of two on the role related to the interviewee’s personal goals. The overall experience of
the role play was a very interesting and learning experience for me. This is because it helped me
in enhancing my existing knowledge as well as identify my areas of strengths as well as areas
wherein, I need improvement. My partner asked me five different questions based on my
personal goals that I had to answer. For example, my partner asked me about my relevant
experience for the position that I want to apply for in the future. I have an experience of working
in customer services, hotel management as well as general management at HSK department.
Apart from this, in also have other qualities such as I am energetic, confident and an excellent
communicator. I have four years of experience of working in hotel services as well as 2 years in
leadership. With the help of the role play, I was able to put forward my ideas and talk about my
experience.

Career development planning has been an important aspect for me because it has helped
me planning my future career position and prepare for it in an effective way. The role play
enabled me to not only speak about my future career aspirations, but also demonstrate the same
through my knowledge. I have developed a career development plan that has helped in following
my goals and achieving them. This is because the plan is mainly focused on the needs for growth
as well as development of employees. As a result, they are able to perform in the desired manner
and the organization is able to attain its goals as well as objectives.
There are various skills that significantly contribute to working effectively within an
organization (Hirschi, 2018). Organizations today look for employees who are committed to and
engaged to their work. Not only this, they also look out for people with strong communication
skills, effective teamwork skills, decision-making, leadership skills etc. Since I have an
experience of working in hotel services, I have been able to develop certain skills that will
contribute to my employability and help me in gaining my future career position. Apart from
this, I am energetic, have fabulous communication skills along with strong leadership skills.
Given a chance to work as a manager, I would take and like to work on the responsibility as soon
as possible. As I have strong leadership and communication skills, I will be able to lead a team of
employees and communicate with them in an effective manner. I speak fluent English which is
considered to be a necessity for employees working in organizations. A strong aptitude and
problem-solving skills are also important for the employees as they help them in dealing with
various situations at workplace quickly.
Not only this, the potential employees are also expected to have knowledge about the
latest trends in the market within their desired field. Working effectively is important for
employees within an organization as it helps in attaining its goals as well as objectives in an
enhanced manner (Pink, Lonie and Saunders, 2018). One of the ways through which employees
can work more effectively at work is by learning how to manage their time effectively. Apart
from this, they should have knowledge about how to deal with customers and address any
concerns that they might have. Also, having an in-depth understanding of the latest trends in the
market is considered to be a necessity for employees to work in an efficient way. I have most of
the required skills that employers seek in their employees that they can attain their short-term as
well as long-term goals. Working in the hotel service industry has helped me develop many skills

as well as improve my existing knowledge about the industry. I always try to work as effectively
as possible because this allows me to put in my best efforts and produce the required output.
There are some skills and knowledge that I am good at while there are some areas that I
need to wok on in order to gain my desired job in the future (Popova, 2017). For example, I am a
fabulous communicator as I am able to speak and write fluent English. Besides this, I also have
experience of working across different sectors that has helped me in developing confidence
along with effective leadership skills. I can also deal with the customers efficiently, although I
still need to work on that part. I believe that some of the skills make me ready to be employed in
my desired job position. Some examples of skills that make a person ready for employment
include effective communication skills, both verbal as well as written, time management skills,
confidence, presentation skills, leadership skills etc. I possess some skills but also need to work
on some of them to make sure that I am able to work effectively and contribute to the overall
efficiency of the firm that I work for. This will help me in improving my existing skills as well as
knowledge to a great extent.
My work experience has helped me in developing an understanding of my personal
strengths along with areas for further development. I can say that communication skills as well as
leadership skills are among my most valued strengths. This is because organizations expect their
employees to have these two skills to be able to work effectively. this helps companies in
attaining their goals and objectives quickly and gain a competitive advantage over competitors. I
have also learned that I am a confident person and can interact with new people with ease. The
reason behind this is that I have worked in the hotel service industry wherein I had to interact
with a lot of people on a regular basis. But there are some skills that I have to work on in order to
perform even more efficiently. For example, tine management is something that I have to work
on to be able to complete the assigned tasks in the job within the time frame. Also, I take some
time to adapt to a new working environment which I am working on currently.
Employment dreams typically entails determining what sorts of talents and knowledge to
increase, putting financial or income goals, figuring out wishes for balance and developing a
vision for the varieties of new experiences preferred. Goal putting is a vital exercise - particularly
inside the place of job (Ruan, 2018). Research has located that setting sturdy goals boosts overall
performance by motivating human beings to growth their effort, inducing stronger focus and

helping them prioritize. I have to work on the skills described above because I believe that they
will help me in achieving my personal goals as well as career goals. By putting regular efforts, I
will be able to convert the same into strengths. Learning how to operate the latest technology is
another area that I have to work on as I take time to get used to and operate a latest technology
and in order to do so, I will have to adopt various measures. Development of employability skills
is very important because they ensure that an individual gains their desired job and also, that they
are able to perform as desired by the organization.
Personal Development Plan
A Personal Development Plan can be defined as a plan that is based on the awareness,
goal-setting, values as well as planning for the personal development (Savickas, 2019). There are
many advantages of using a personal development plan such as it can help a person in building
new skills that match their choice of career. A personal development is explained below –
Skills Current Level Expected Level Measures to
develop skill
Time Frame
Time
Management
7 9 Time
Management is
an important
skill that is
expected by
most employers
from their
employees (Vail
and et.al., 2020).
This is because
it helps the
company in
achieving its
goals and
objectives within
a specific time
10 days

frame. In order
to develop time
management
skills, I will try
to delegate tasks
and prioritize
them. Also,
setting up
deadlines will be
helpful in
developing time
management
skills. In order to
avoid any
delays, I will try
starting the
assigned tasks
early.
Adaptability 7 8 Adaptability
skills help an
individual to get
used to the new
working
environment or a
change within
the organization
in an efficient
way (Yarbrough
and et.al., 2017).
In order to
develop
7 days

effective
adaptability
skills, I will try
to change my
thought process
and encourage
myself to take
risks. Also, I
should interact
with my
colleagues as
well as seniors
more often to be
able to adjust
myself to the
new
environment.
Technological
Skills
6 8 Technological
skill is another
area that I have
to work on in
order to achieve
my desired job. I
will enroll
myself in
technical
workshops or
classes and also,
try to volunteer
for different
technical project.
15 days

This will help
me in
developing
effective
technical skills.
Therefore, it can be said there are a number of benefits of using a Personal Development
Plan. Good interpersonal capabilities allow you to take part efficiently as a member of a team,
fulfill customers’ and customers’ expectancies, negotiate, make selections and remedy problems
with different humans, and commonly paintings effectively with other employees (Zheng, Ai and
Liu, 2017). Well-honed interpersonal talents allow us to empathize and construct rapport with
colleagues and customers, leading to better and less stressful running surroundings. A
willingness to analyze approach being open to new thoughts and reviews, and constantly looking
to enhance your skills and understanding. Sometimes this is known as private development,
however that term is also used for a greater formal manner, of goal-setting, motion and
reflection. Whether you pick to make your gaining knowledge of technique formal or casual,
there may be no doubt that the cutting-edge global requires anybody to usually replace and revise
our capabilities. Therefore, by improving these skills, I will be able to gain my desired job
position and also, help the company in attaining its goals as well as objectives.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that in order to work effectively, an employee
is required to have certain skills as well as knowledge about the latest trends in the market. the
skills can include effective communication skills, leadership skills, problem-solving skills etc.
These skills allow the organizations to perform in a desired manner as well as attain their goals
and objectives. Also, they are able to gain a competitive advantage over competitors and attract a
greater number of potential employees. A personal development plan helps in identifying
personal strengths and areas of improvement. It can be used by employees to make sure that their
skills are being developed. As a result, the employees are able to perform in an effective manner
and help the organization attain its goals in an efficient way.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Choate, J. and et.al., 2019. A professional development program with an assessed ePortfolio: A
practical solution for engaging undergraduates with their career development in large
student cohorts. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability. 10(2).
pp.86-103.
Heffernan, T. A., 2018. Approaches to career development and support for sessional academics
in higher education. International Journal for Academic Development. 23(4). pp.312-323.
Hirschi, A., 2018. The fourth industrial revolution: Issues and implications for career research
and practice. The Career Development Quarterly. 66(3). pp.192-204.
Pink, M. A., Lonie, B. E. and Saunders, J. E., 2018. The challenges of the semi-professional
footballer: A case study of the management of dual career development at a Victorian
Football League (VFL) club. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 35. pp.160-170.
Popova, I. P., 2017. Professional career in science and technology: on sustainability problem.
Sociological Studies. 12(12). pp.124-134.
Ruan, X., 2018. Engagement and negotiation: Exploring a tertiary female EFL teacher’s
professional agency in her career development in PR China. International journal of
linguistics, literature and culture. 4(3). pp.46-63.
Savickas, M., 2019. Career counseling (pp. xvi-194). Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Vail, E. A. and et.al., 2020. The Role of Professional Organizations in Fostering the Early Career
Development of Academic Intensivists. Annals of the American Thoracic Society. 17(4).
pp.412-418.
Yarbrough, S. and et.al., 2017. Professional values, job satisfaction, career development, and
intent to stay. Nursing Ethics. 24(6). pp.675-685.
Zheng, C., Ai, J. and Liu, S., 2017. The elastic ceiling: Gender and professional career in
Chinese courts. Law & Society Review. 51(1). pp.168-199.