Reflective Essay: Evaluating Skills and Career Ambitions (BMAF005-20)

This reflective essay, submitted by a student, delves into the crucial aspects of personal and professional development. It begins with an introduction highlighting the importance of self-reflection in identifying strengths and weaknesses, ultimately aiding in career advancement. The core of the essay involves a detailed self-assessment, including an evaluation of the student's skill set, aligning them with their career ambition of becoming a restaurant area operations manager. The student utilizes a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and integrates the Gibbs reflective cycle to enhance learning and skill development. The essay culminates in a conclusion summarizing the importance of continuous self-evaluation and a recommendation for a personal and professional development plan, outlining specific skills to be developed and timelines for achieving them, supported by relevant references and appendices.

Reflective Essay

Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Identification and evaluation of skills set and career ambitions......................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
Recommendations............................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................7
Appendix1........................................................................................................................................8
Appendix2........................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
Reflection plays an important role in the personal and professional development of a
person as with the help of reflection a person can evaluate the work done by them so that the
areas of strengths and weaknesses can be identified. This help in identifying the areas where
improvement can be made and also in evaluating the learning process by doing a certain work so
that the skills and talents of a person can be developed (Bharuthram, 2018). Reflection thus helps
in self evaluation and examining of perspectives, attributes, experiences and actions so that the
efficiency of dealing with a certain situation can be analysed which can help in making
appropriate improvements so that in future similar situations can be dealt with in an efficient
manner. Through reflection skill set of a person can be identified that can also help in identifying
career options depending on those skills so that overall job satisfaction can be achieved making a
person successful in life. In this report my own reflection is presented which can help me in
identification and evaluation of my skill sets so that i can effectively develop my learning
through Gibb’s learning cycle which can help me in gaining my desirable job.
Identification and evaluation of skills set and career ambitions
In order to build a successful career it is important that i have the required skills which
can help me in progressing towards achieving my career ambitions which is to gain a job of
restaurant area operations manager in a renowned restaurant in UK. I currently work as a
supervisor at Chelsea FC which is an English professional football club based in Fulham,
London. I had also worked in the HR department of the company for some days as i am versatile
in nature and can do various kinds of jobs with full interest so that highly efficient results can be
achieved. I am a person who is always willing to learn something new and different so that i can
acquire a diverse skills set which can help me in becoming effective in my career and also make
me a desirable candidate for the companies by making myself more competitive through
continuous learning and development. Based on the personality test that i undertook to identify
and evaluate my own skills i identifies that i am an extrovert, observant, judging and turbulent
kind of a person which makes me suitable for the job of becoming an area operations manager in
a renowned restaurant in UK. With the help of these skills i can effectively perform my roles and
duties in an efficient manner. My extraverted nature can help me in building better relations with
customers and team members so that they can be effectively managed and company objectives

can be efficiently achieved. It can also help me in making better business relations with other
stakeholders of the restaurant so that it can be made more successful in market. Through
effective judging nature i can deal with the needs and wants of customers in an efficient manner
so that high customer satisfaction can be achieved. My turbulent nature can help me in increasing
sales of company through retail management so that high level of customer service can be given
thus making me effective for my career ambition.
Further in order to identify all my strengths, weaknesses, possible threats and
opportunities it is important that a SWOT analysis is conducted by me which can help me in
developing a better insight on my skills set. From my SWOT analysis i have identified that i
have strong practical skills which helps me in thinking practically and finding practical solutions
to a problem. I also have a strong sense of duty which helps me in performing my duty
effectively as i perform my job responsibly by using my skills and knowledge so that highly
effective results can be drawn. I am also sensitive and loyal which makes me trustworthy which
is essential in any kind of job so that team members can trust on me which can help in
completion of team goals effectively on time. I am also empathetic which makes me in building
good relations with the customers so that high customer retention in company can be achieved.
However, i also have identified certain weaknesses like i am constantly worried about my social
status which affects my decision taking power as these decisions can affect my social status and
influence on others. I am also inflexible as i want my work to be completed in a standard manner
and it becomes difficult for me to adjust to changes. I am also very selfless which lead people in
taking my disadvantage which affects my mental health. i have also identified certain
opportunities based on my skills and competencies like i can get job where good customer
relations are to be formed and strong influential power are required like post of a manager,
marketing etc. which can help me in effectively utilising my skills. Through the SWOT analysis i
have also identified certain threats that can affect my competitiveness as a candidate in market
like increase in talented pool in the market, shrinking number of job opportunities in market,
increased innovative job roles etc. These threats can affect my ability of finding my desired job
so that i can become successful and continue to grow and develop in market.
I can use my strengths positively in building my career and deal with my weaknesses
through continuous learning and development so that i can become more capable in acquiring my
desirable job which is to be an area operations manager in a restaurant. I can efficiently use

Gibb’s reflective cycle which can help me in enhancing my learning through my experiences.
Through this cycle i can enhance my learning by following all the stages of this cycle which
include description of the event, experience or activity; writing about the feelings during that
experience; evaluation of the event; drawing conclusions based on the event and final stage
involve taking action so that better response can be given to similar experience in future. This
cycle can help me in continuously improving so that i can deal with my weaknesses which can
help me in becoming highly competent for my ambitious job. It will also help me in developing
my skills and dealing better with my emotions so that better results can be drawn in a similar
situation in the future. Thus with the help of continuous improvement i can develop effective set
of skills that can help me in becoming more employable in market.
Conclusion
From the above reflection it can be concluded that in order to effectively develop and
grow in career it is important that self skills are evaluated regularly which can help in gaining an
idea about the current competencies and abilities. It also help in identifying the weak areas which
require improvements so that a person can become better through applying effective learning
models which can help in continuous learning and development so that the career ambitions can
be achieved. SWOT analysis of self is important as it help in gaining an overall view of a
person’s skills and talents along with the possible threats and opportunities present in market so
that timely corrective actions can be taken and opportunities can be grabbed while efficiently
dealing with the threats.
Recommendations
Based on the above self evaluation i have been able to identify my skills and
competencies which help me in achieving my ambitions and goals and making me better in the
market. i am also able to identify areas of improvements where i can put in efforts and learn
through experiences so that i can develop myself better which can help me in achieving my
desirable job which is to become an area operations manager in a renowned restaurant. I can
develop better skills in myself which are required to perform the job effectively for which i can
follow the following personal and professional development plan which can help me in
achieving my desired objectives on time:

Skills Why it is important? How can i develop this
skill?
Time
required
Communication
and
interpersonal
skills
These skills can help in
managing teams effectively and
also help in making better
customer relations.
I can read various books,
take help of my friends, take
part in group discussions so
as to develop effective
communication skills.
1 month
Team working In order to effectively deal teams
in restaurant and to manage the
operations as an area operations
manager this skill is important.
I can work more in teams
and lead the team work so
that i can develop this skill.
2 months
Working under
pressure
In a restaurant during season
time the work pressure is more
which must be handled
effectively so that high customer
satisfaction can be achieved.
I can learn from my
experiences and also take
assistance from the
restaurant manager on
developing this skill.
1 month
Ability to learn
and adapt
It is important to continuously
learn and adapt to new
knowledge so that innovative
skills can develop.
Through the effective
application of Gibb’s
reflective cycle.
1.5
months

References
Books and Journals
Bharuthram, S., 2018. Reflecting on the process of teaching reflection in higher
education. Reflective Practice, 19(6), pp.806-817.
Dahl, H. and Eriksen, K.Å., 2016. Students' and teachers' experiences of participating in the
reflection process “THiNK”. Nurse education today, 36, pp.401-406.
Ellis, N., 2017. Decision making in practice: influences, management and reflection. British
Journal of Nursing, 26(2), pp.109-112.
Metselaar, S., van Scherpenzeel, M. and Widdershoven, G., 2017. Dealing with moral dilemmas
at the neonatology Ward: the importance of joint case-by-case reflection. The American
Journal of Bioethics, 17(8), pp.21-23.
Natkhov, T. and Polishchuk, L., 2017. Political Economy of Institutions and Development: The
Importance of Being Inclusive. Reflection on" Why Nations Fail" by D. Acemoglu and
J. Robinson. Part I. Institutions and Economic Development. Institutional
Choice. Journal of the New Economic Association, 34(2), pp.12-38.
Shelley, T.B., 2019. Metacognition: Importance of Reflection in the Pre-Service Teacher
Journey. In Handbook of research on critical thinking strategies in pre-service learning
environments (pp. 174-188). IGI Global.
van Seggelen-Damen, I. and van Dam, K., 2016. Self-reflection as a mediator between self-
efficacy and well-being. Journal of Managerial Psychology.
Wain, A., 2017. Learning through reflection. British Journal of Midwifery, 25(10), pp.662-666.

Appendix1
SWOT analysis
My identified strengths are:
 Strong practical skills
 Loyalty and trustworthiness
 Strong sense of duty
 Better customer relations
My identified weaknesses are:
 Worried about social status’
 Inflexible with changes
 Too selfless
My identified threats are:
 Increasing competition
 Decreasing number of jobs
 Increased demand for creative employees
My identified opportunities are:
 Vacancy of area operations manager in renowned restaurant
 Better learning capacity can help me in gaining desirable job
Appendix2
Personality test
THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS

https://www.training.com.au/ed/the-big-five-personality-test/?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F
%2Fulearn.ukcbc.ac.uk%2Fcourse%2Fview.php%3Fid%3D865
TEST 2
16 PERSONALITIES
https://www.16personalities.com/esfj-personality