Professional Development Exercise with Reflective Essay

This report presents a practical professional development exercise centered around a marketing manager role. It begins with a role-play interview scenario, simulating a job application process and exploring the candidate's skills, experience, and career aspirations. The report then delves into a reflective essay, analyzing the candidate's strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities within the marketing industry. A SWOT analysis is included to provide a strategic framework for personal development. The report discusses the importance of career planning, setting both short-term and long-term goals, and the need to stay updated with industry trends. It highlights essential skills for a marketing manager, such as communication, presentation, and leadership, and concludes with a personal development plan outlining areas for improvement and future career steps. The report emphasizes the dynamic nature of the marketing field and the continuous learning required for success.

Practical Professional
Development Exercise
Supported with a
Reflective Essay
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Task 1 – Role Play...........................................................................................................................3
Task 2 - Report.................................................................................................................................5
Reflection....................................................................................................................................5
Personal Development Plan........................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
Professional career development is considered to be an important component for all
industries. This is because it not only increases the overall level of motivation of the employees,
but their productivity as well. Organisations that support the career development of their
employees, are able to retain them for a longer period of time (Biasutti, Concina and Frate,
2019). Not only this, career development also significantly contributes to the overall success of
the company. This report is based on practical professional development and a reflective essay. It
provides an understanding of the skills as well as knowledge that contributes towards working in
an effective manner. The job role chosen for the interview is of a Marketing Manager.
Task 1 – Role Play
A job interview can be referred to as a conversation between a person who is applying for
a job and an employer of the company (Bond and Blevins, 2020). It is conducted in order to
assess if the candidate should be hired for the job or not. An interview is described below
between an interviewer and an interviewee for the job role of a marketing manager. The
interview is also linked to the personal goals of the candidate.
Interviewer: We are hiring candidates for the job role of Marketing Manager and
are looking for people who are confident and passionate about building a successful career.
So, tell me why do you want to get into this job role?
Interviewee : I have always been creative and a person who likes interacting with new
people. Also, I have an experience of working as a marketing executive at a small sized firm.
This would help me in performing effectively and helping the company to enhance its
productivity. I think that experience combined with relevant work experience strengthens
marketing to be my career choice. Also, I am really excited to work as part of your esteem
organisation.
Interviewer : How did you learn about this open position? What makes you
passionate about this job and what are your personal goals?
Interviewee : I came to know about this job opening through your website. I also saw an
advertisement for the same in the newspaper. I am passionate about working as a marketing
manager because firstly, your company is one of the most recognized brands in the market. Also,
I have been looking for an opportunity to work for an organisation that has an open culture. My
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personal goals include to embrace empathy, work passionately and enhance my overall
knowledge about the marketing industry. Also, I want to strengthen my verbal communication
skills to achieve my personal goals.
Interviewer : How would you manage the launch of a new product in the market by
our company?
Interviewee : If the company decides to launch a new product in the market, I would
determine its launch date. This would help me in working backwards and establishing a timeline
as well as a schedule. Apart from this, I would also look out for resources and the people who
will be needed to ensure that the product launch is successful. Being a marketing manager, I will
also develop a team of employees who would meet regularly in order to make sure that all the
different activities associated with the launch, like marketing, advertising, promotions etc. are
carried out smoothly.
Interviewer : How would you stay updated about the latest trends and knowledge?
And what are the skills that you consider to be your strengths?
Interviewee : There are many ways which can help me in staying updated about the
knowledge as well as latest trends within the marketing industry (Bozkuş and Bayrak, 2019). I
can subscribe to different marketing blogs as well as newsletters. They would keep my
knowledge up to date about any new event that takes place or event within the marketing
industry. Besides this, reading different journals and magazines is a traditional way that I can use
to remain up to date and enhance my knowledge. There are certain skills that I consider to be my
strengths, like presentation skills, organising, time management and leadership skills. I believe
that interpersonal skills are also one of my key strengths as I confidently interact with people.
Interviewer : What sets you apart from other candidates who have applied for this
job?
Interviewee : I think that I stand out from other candidates who have applied for this job
role because of my excellent presentation skills. I have volunteered as a coordinator for a NGO,
wherein I was expected to give a lot of presentations to large groups of people. The continuous
practice helped me in strengthening my presentation skills. Also, I don't have a fear of talking in
front of a large group of people. So, you can be carefree about when I talk to a client. I believe
that this makes me a fit for the job role.
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Interviewer : Do you have any questions?
Interviewee : What would the day to day job responsibilities look like?
Interviewer: You would be required to monitor and analyse the trends in the market,
study the products as well as services offered by the competitors and formulate strategies in
order to stand out from others in the market.
Task 2 - Report
Reflection
I want to develop my career in the marketing field because I have an experience working
for a marketing firm. Also, the marketing industry is offers a lot of employment as well as career
growth opportunities that can be utilized in an effective way to build a successful career (Dent,
Harden and Hunt, 2017). Career development planning is an important part for individuals as it
can help them in achieving personal as well as professional goals. Every individual has certain
goals that they aspire to achieve and effective planning can help them attain those goals. I find
the field of marketing to be very creative and filled with a lot of opportunities that can help an
individual to acquire various new skills. I have my personal career goals, both short-term as well
as long-term. I consider them to be of importance because they provide a direction to work
towards. There are many things that I got to learn from the role play conducted in Task1. I learnt
that there are various skills that contribute towards working effectively. Similarly, knowledge
about the industry also plays an equal role in helping individuals to be able to become
employable.
The role play helped me in understanding that there are certain skills that make an
individual employable. I also got an opportunity to identify my areas of strengths as well as areas
that I need to work upon to build a successful career as a marketing manager. There are many
skills as well as knowledge that a candidate must possess in order to work effectively at the
workplace (Gjedia and Gardinier, 2018). Some of these skills include problem-solving skills,
decision-making skills, excellent communication skills, presentation skills and leadership skills.
These skills help a candidate in producing the expected output. Apart from this, the role of a
marketing manager requires a candidate to have strong interpersonal skills, the ability to make
decisions, organise and prioritize work. This is because the role is very challenging and there are
a lot of responsibilities. It is also important for the candidate to remain updated and have
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adequate knowledge about the latest trends in the market. This is because it can help them with
formulating effective strategies and stand out from the competitors in the market. There are
certain skills which I consider to be my strengths.
I have good presentation skills because I have an experience of working as a marketing
executive for a firm. I also have an experience of working as a volunteer for a non-profit
organisation wherein I had the responsibility of giving a lot of presentations in front of large
groups of people. I think that I am ready to work as an employee of a large marketing firm. The
role play was a very learning experience for me and helped me in identifying my areas of
strengths and the ones on which I should work in order to improve my chances of building a
successful career in the marketing industry. I am a confident and extrovert person who does not
fear talking to new people. Apart from this, I have leadership skills and have led a team of
individuals at the NGO. This can help me in building a successful career in the field of
marketing. Although, there are certain skills wherein I should work upon in order to improve.
This will help me in becoming employable and performing in a desired way.
From the role play, I learnt that career development planning is one of the important
things for a person who is aspiring to work for an organisation. Before appearing for an
interview, a person should have a clear plan about how can they achieve their personal goals
(Grant, 2017). The plan can guide the person to establish short-term as well as long-term goals
and work towards them. Setting employment goals generally involves what types of skills and
knowledge a person should develop in order to gain a job of their choice. The marketing industry
is considered to be one of the most competitive and dynamic sectors to work in. The industry is
always changing because companies keep bringing in innovation. This makes it important for the
people working in the marketing sector to always remain up-dated about the same. The role play
served as an opportunity for me to ensure that I work on my weaknesses so that I am able to
match the expectations of the company for which I might work for in the future.
SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis is a strategic framework that can be used in order to identify strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities as well as potential threats which can impact the overall performance
as well as the productivity of the company (Gurevich, Stein and Gorev, 2017). A personal
SWOT analysis is explained below -
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Strengths – One of my major strengths is that I have excellent presentation skills because
of a prior working experience. I am also a very organised person and work based on a time
frame. Also, I like interacting with other people and am confident while interacting with new
people. I am also good at leading a team of people and have good time management skills which
I developed overtime because of different academic tasks as well as during my prior job. I like
collaborating with other people and working on creative ideas to bring them to life.
Weaknesses – Besides having different strengths, I also have certain weak areas that I
need to work upon. I lack good communication skills and should work on the same to get an
opportunity to work as a marketing manager (Lee and et. al., 2019). Also, I should enhance my
learning skills in order to understand the different trends as well events that take place in the
marketing industry. Critical thinking is a skill that is considered to be important for the
candidates to possess. I take some time to adapt myself to a new working environment and
should work on this. Therefore, it can be said that a person should work on the areas which they
feel they are weak. This can lead them to not only perform in an effective manner, but also
enhance their overall productivity.
Opportunities – The marketing industry offers a lot of different career development as
well as growth opportunities (Macias, 2017). If these opportunities are utilized in an effective
way, they can help the person in working to the desired levels. For me, there are many career
opportunities that can help me in becoming an experienced and professional marketing manager.
In order to develop new skills, I can register for different online courses. They will not only help
me in enhancing my knowledge about the marketing industry, but also improve my performance.
I can increase my experience by working part-time for a company.
Threats – One of the major threats that can impact my overall performance include
competition from other potential candidates who might also apply for this job. If they have skills
and knowledge which is relevant and in sync with the latest trends in the market, my chances of
getting the job of marketing manager will go down. Another threat is the amount of time
available for me to work on my weak areas and enhance them.
Therefore, these are some of my strengths, weaknesses, various opportunities as well as
potential threats that can influence my overall performance as well as bring down my chances of
working as a marketing manager. An explanation of the skills which are my strengths is provided
below -
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Presentation Skills – These skills are essential to deliver presentations that are engaging
as well as interesting. I have strong presentation skills because I have a prior experience of
working in a NGO wherein I had to deliver presentations regularly. If a person has good
presentation skills, they will be able to keep the audience engaged to what is being said as well
as deliver the message in an effective way (Prodromou, Robutti and Panero, 2018). Presentation
skills are an important employability skill because the presenter can present with confidence and
at the same time, motivate the audience to listen. Proper presentation skills can help an
organisation in leading its business in an enhanced way. This is the reason why employers
consider presentation skills as one of the important skills for the candidates to possess.
Interpersonal Skills – These skills refer to the behaviour which an individual uses to
interact with other people effectively. In simple words, these are referred to as the ability of an
employee to work with others. Different skills are included in interpersonal skills and are
important because they help employees in developing strong relationships at the workplace.
Also, strong interpersonal skills contribute to the overall productivity level as well as
performance of not only the individual, but the company as well (Top 8 Interpersonal Skills For
The Workplace, 2020). One of my other strengths are interpersonal skills as I m confident and
good at communicating with other people. Also, whenever I receive feedback, I ensure that I
work on the same to improve myself in the same.
Organising and Time Management Skills – Time management skills are also important
skills as they allow a person to manage and complete the different tasks assigned to them on
time. I have good organising and time management skills as they have many benefits associated
with them. One of them is that my work gets completed on time and also, I am able to manage
any tasks that might involve a lot of extra time. This has improved my overall productivity as
well as efficiency. Also, the levels of stress and anxiety have reduced. These skills will only be
beneficial for the company that I work in. The reason behind this is that its performance will
increase and it will be able to avail different opportunities of growth (Prorok, 2018).
Leadership Skills – Leadership skills can be defined as the ability of an individual to
lead a group or team of people. Effective leaders are able to motivate and communicate with
their team members in a proper manner. Also, they are able to solve the problem of the team
members in an efficient way. Employers these days, expect their employees to have good
leadership skills so that they are able to carry out the tasks assigned to them in an effective way.
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Not only this, leadership skills also enable an employee to develop strong and positive
relationships with others within the workplace.
Personal Development Plan
The process of personal development planning involves setting objectives and aims. The
plan guides an individual to achieve their personal goals in an effective way (Raider-Roth, 2017).
Not only this, it also assists them in tracking their overall progress of working on their
weaknesses. Therefore, a personal development plan is important and helps a person to work on
their weaknesses so as to enhance their overall performance as well as productivity.
S.
No.
Learning target Present
Proficiency
Target
Proficiency
Development
Opportunities
Criteria for
Judging
Attainment
Time
Scale
1 Communication
Skills
8 9 There are
different
opportunities that
a person can avail
in order to
enhance their
communication
skills (Sato and
Haegele, 2018). I
can work on my
listening skills,
read books and
even register for
different online
courses.
Colleagues
and Manager
15 days
2 Critical Thinking 7 8 Critical thinking
skills are
considered to be
Manager 30 days
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important by
employers
because they
contribute to the
overall success of
a business
(Sysko, 2018). In
order to develop
effective critical
thinking skills, I
should ask
questions and
practice active
listening. I can
also analyse
different aspects
of a problem in
order to work
effectively.
3 Adaptability 8 9 In order to be
able to adapt
myself to
changing work
environment, I
should take risks
and become
open-minded.
Also, I should be
able to respond to
different
changing
Team Leader
and Manager
20 days
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responsibilities as
well as
expectations in an
effective manner.
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Therefore, these are some skills that I should work upon in order to build a strong career
as a marketing manager. Not only this, I will be able to perform in the desired manner and
contribute to the company's overall success (Teräs and Kartoğlu, 2018). I will be able to track
my progress and adopt measures in which I can gain a job as a marketing manager in a reputed
company. A personal development plan is a very useful tool which can be used to work on the
weaknesses.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that professional development is an important
aspect for an individual who wants to develop a successful career. There are many skills which
collectively are known as employability skills because they help a person in getting a job of their
choice. These skills can include presentation skills, critical thinking, adaptability, effective
communication skills etc. If a person possesses these skills, their chances of getting a job in a
reputed company are also increased. A personal development plan can help a person in working
on their weaknesses as well as tracking their progress.
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