Report on Professional Development at Thomas Cook Group

This report analyzes professional development within the Thomas Cook Group, a prominent hospitality organization. It begins by outlining the key benefits of ongoing professional development for various stakeholders, including employees, the company, and customers. The report then presents a transcript of a job interview for an Assistant Manager position, followed by a review of the interview process, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. This includes a skill audit and SWOT analysis of the interviewee. The report concludes with a summary of findings, emphasizing the importance of professional development for effective business operations and the evaluation of interview processes for candidate selection. The document is available on Desklib, a platform providing AI-powered study tools for students.

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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
P1 Key benefits of on-going professional development for stakeholders in a company............1
P6 Undertake a job interview for the role of Assistant Manager................................................2
P7 Review key strengths and weaknesses of an applied interview process................................2
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Professional identity can be said to the integration of values, morals, experience,
attributes, belief, thinking, ideology and ideas held by a professional person (Bryson, 2020). The
following report is conducted upon Thomas Cook Group. It is a well renowned hospitality
organisation functioning within the bounds of travel and tourism sector. It provides tourism
services across the globe. The report includes discussion done upon benefits of ongoing
professional development for organisational stakeholders. Along with this, it also covers
interview conducted for selection of a person along with strengths and weaknesses of interview
procedure.
P1 Key benefits of on-going professional development for stakeholders in a company
Professional development is acknowledged to be an important process that provides
assistance to an individual to assess their competencies, skills and potential and further leads to
their augmentation with the passage of time (Kirsch and et. al., 2020). Besides this, ongoing
professional development enables a person to maximise their growth and development prospects
with respect to future. It stimulates the workforce to work to their full potential and attain their
career goals. Further, the benefits of ongoing professional development for the most important
stakeholders of Thomas Cook Group are given beneath:-
For Employees:
Ongoing professional development enables the personnel functioning within the company
to inflate their operational efficiency (Davronov, Khalimova and Uzbekistan, 2019). Also, it
leads to an increment in their motivation levels, stimulating them to put their best foot forward
for simultaneous accomplishment of individual and organisational objectives.
For Company (Thomas Cook UK):
Ongoing professional development augments the organisational performance and output
by giving employees the chance to facilitate their growth and development (Floyd, 2019). As a
result of this, Thomas Cook is able to accomplish its goal and objectives in predefined time
period and ensure its sustainability in market place for a considerably longer period of time.
For customers
With the help of on-going professional development, company meet the define aim and
objective of the customers and also employees deliver the skills that helps to deliver the
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professional service to customers. On the other side, it improve the customer service which in
turn leads to attract range of customers towards it. Like, Thomas Cook provide training related to
technical things so that company generate innovative ideas which in turn grab attention of many
customers.
P6 Undertake a job interview for the role of Assistant Manager
Below mentioned is the transcript of a job interview conducted for the job role of
Assistant Manager within the premises of Thomas Cook, UK:-
Interviewer: Hi! Are you here for an interview for the post of Assistant Manager?
Interviewee: Hello sir. Yes.
Interviewer: Okay. Give me your CV and other professional certificates to approve your
qualifications.
Interviewee: Here they are, Sir. The folder contains my marksheets, academic and professional
certificates along with CV.
Interviewer: Thank you. Introduce yourself.
Interviewee: I am XX born and brought up in ...... I have been residing in .... since last 8 years. I
have graduated in ..... in the year 201X.
Interviewer: Do you have any work experience?
Interviewee: Yes. I hold 2 years experience as Assistant Manager in a multinational.
Interviewer: What are the qualities of your personality that makes you fit for this job role?
Interviewee: Well, I believe my hard work, perseverance, team work and time management
would be handy for the prescribed role at Thomas Cook UK.
Interviewer: Okay. It was nice to have your interview. You will be informed about the results
via email or phone call. All the best.
Interviewee: Okay Sir. Thank you very much.
P7 Review key strengths and weaknesses of an applied interview process
Skill Audit:
By applying Brunel skill audit, I develop skill audit such that
Strength Need to be developed
Skills Status
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Communication skill
Presentation skill
Interpersonal skill
Problem solving skills
Organizing skill
Confidence
Also, by using SWOT analysis, I also determine the strength and weaknesses, such that:
Strength Weaknesses
 I am quite confident to my qualification
which help me to present my views and
also do not show the sign of
nervousness
 I can easily manage the work and
posses strong problem solving skills
 Due to not having any experience in
job, I cannot easily express my views
and this might cause negative impact.
 Sometimes, I found myself low in
presentation skills and this in turn not
meet my define dream
Opportunity Threat
 Having good knowledge in my field, I
am able to become a successful
Assistant manager
 Threat due to tough competition from
person who also posses same
knowledge and education.
 As I do not have job experience which
affect my performance.
The whole experience of undergoing an interview for the job role of Assistant Manager at
Thomas Cook UK was intriguing. There were certain strengths and weaknesses that were
specifically noticed by me. These are defined as follows:-
Strengths:
The interview process gave me exposure to industry and its practices. My interview was
overall good as I was quick at responding to the queries raised by the interviewer. Also, I
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demonstrated no signs of nervousness, instead I was totally confident about myself and my
qualifications. The interviewer also seemed to be impressed with my spontaneity.
Weaknesses:
Regardless of the strengths of the interview process that enhanced my chances of
selection, there were certain weaknesses also that were noted. When the interviewer asked me
about my work experience, I took a pause before responding as I did not hold industry relevant
experience. However, in moments, I regained my confidence and answered that I worked in a
multinational. The other weakness of mine was that I was in semi formal attire for the interview
process which could add to the negatives against my selection for the job role.
Improvement:
In order to improve my weakness, I can start my career from small post and by having
enough experience with regards to my job field, I will attain my define aim. Also, the interview
process is quite long where I analyse my weaknesses like, hesitate to share my work experience
because I do not have any. So, starting my career from low designation also help to enhance
management skills, organizing skill which can be also add on my resume. Also, before going in
any interview, I attend some online classes where they provide complete tips with regards to
presentation skill, how to dress-up so that it leads to create positive impact upon others.
CONCLUSION
The inference from the above report is that professional development is important for every
individual working within an organisation to be able to carry out the business tasks and activities
effectively. Along with this, holding an interview is an effectual way of selecting deserving
candidates for prescribed job role in the company. It is determined that the interview process
undergone by an individual also holds certain strengths and weaknesses that need to be duly
taken into account.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bryson, D., 2020. National guidelines and your continuing professional development. Journal of
Visual Communication in Medicine, 43(2), pp.97-99.
Davronov, I.O., Khalimova, N.J. and Uzbekistan, B., 2019. Professional development of hotel
staff as a key to improve the quality of services in bukhara hotels. Тeacher Namangan
region, Norin district school, (40), p.26.
Kirsch, C., Aleksić, G., Mortini, S. and Andersen, K., 2020. Developing multilingual practices in
early childhood education through professional development in
Luxembourg. International Multilingual Research Journal, pp.1-19.
Floyd, A., 2019. Investigating the PDR process in a UK university: continuing professional
development or performativity?. Professional Development in Education, pp.1-15.
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