Career Choices: Professional Development Skills Interview Report

This document presents a professional development skills interview conducted by a health and social care foundation student. It explores potential career paths such as social worker and health promotion specialist, evaluating their suitability based on skills and capabilities. A SWOT analysis assesses the student's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, incorporating feedback from peers. The report identifies areas for improvement, including academic and digital skills, and discusses options for career progression within the National Health Service (NHS). The student reflects on how their current part-time job as a carpet cleaner contributes to developing essential skills like patience and diligence, ultimately supporting their future career goals in healthcare.

Professional Development
Skills Interview

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
Possible career choice on the basis of skills and capabilities......................................................3
PART 2............................................................................................................................................4
Current reality on the basis of SWOT analysis...........................................................................4
PART 3............................................................................................................................................5
Options for Progression...............................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Professional development is the set of resources and tools for people by which they can
improve their skills as per their chosen profession (Borg, 2018). This study is going to discuss
some job roles in health and social care foundation student and ways in which they can grow
their career. It will further discuss effectiveness of SWOT analysis as how it can help out in
knowing suitability of job role.
PART 1
Possible career choice on the basis of skills and capabilities
There are number of job roles that can be performed by health and social care foundation year
student. Some job roles that have number of opportunities in this field include: adult nurse, care
worker, health promotion specialist, social worker, occupational therapist and others. With core
research I have selected 2 main job roles related to this sector such as:
Social worker: In this regard, I have identified that social workers play a vital role as they
provide qualitative healthcare services to vulnerable people through their difficult time. They
ensure that both adults and children, who are in need, are safeguarded from harm. The main aim
of social worker is to improve overall health of people and improving their lives. Social workers
improve professional relation (Goldberg and Warburton, 2021). There are number of
opportunities that social workers can take and on the basis of opportunities, this job role has been
selected. Social workers can effectively work in hospitals, clinics, old age homes and other after
selecting special field. NGOs and government sectors are main sectors in which social workers
can show their potential.

Health promotion specialist: Other main career or job role that can also provide number of
opportunities to students of health and social care foundation year student is health promotion
specialist. Some main roles and responsibilities of health promotion specialists include:
managing, designing as well as promoting health improvement programs. They raise awareness
for good health, diet as well as physical activity by workshops and training with the main aim of
improving health of people. Overall, it can be said that health promotion specialist can take
number of opportunities such as they can become wellness event manager, health and wellness
coordinator and others. It was the motivation or reasons of selecting this career or job role.
Suitability of one chosen career: On the basis of above discussed 2 career or job roles, I can
say that health promotion specialist would be better. There are number of roles that can be
performed after becoming successful health promotion specialist. Health promotion specialist
earns respect from others because their main aim is to protect people against dangerous and
infectious disease by making them aware about ways of improving health.
On the basis of self evaluation and strengths that have been identified, I can say that this job role
would be suitable because client is good in communication skill, have an ability to manage time
or completing number of tasks. Other main strengths that also show suitability of this selected
job role include: self motivation, working under pressure and improving relations with other. A
successful health promotion specialist is the one who communicates with others in an effective
manner and make them aware about health, diet and exercise. So, on the basis of this self
evaluation and future growth, this one main role has been selected.
PART 2
Current reality on the basis of SWOT analysis
On the basis of completed swot analysis, it can be said that student has time management
skill, knowledge about ways of using technology, is self motivated and can work under pressure
as well. All these skills can make this student able in taking advantages or opportunities of
market, product development and technology innovation (Stoller, 2021). There are some areas in
which student is lacking behind such as: taking too much time in getting used to new people and
focus on too much detail that can increase too much of time. All these weaknesses can increase
threat of poor management and competition.
On the basis of feedback, collected from Ask 5 people exercise, it is known that this
student has an ability to manage stress and need to change his behaviour as he becomes serious

about everyone and need to be patient as well. It is also found that is he is motivated, helpful and
honest that can help him out in performing his job role as health promotion specialist. It is found
that his current behaviour of becoming serious can create problems for him and can crate barriers
in becoming successful. Self management skill is one of the best strength that can help him out in
performing all tasks (Manzini and et.al., 2020). In team working he scores 4 out of 5. In
customer awareness and application of information technology, he scored 1. So, on this basis, it
can be said that he needs to focus on IT and customers awareness skill.
I am currently working as a part time carpet cleaning and some roles and I believe that
roles of this career can help me out in the future in performing better roles. Some current roles
that I perform include:
Carefully removing furniture to access all areas that need to be cleaned. The main aim of
cleaning all these areas is to protect people against infectious and other disease that spread
because of dust and poor hygiene.
Mopping and vacuuming floors are some other roles that are being performed as carpet cleaner
and it can be beneficial for all people, live in that area.
PART 3
Options for Progression
Improvement in the person specification
As the person wants to improve their ability in the social and health worker; it comes with the
popular option to adopt and this work determine the health and social help to the families and
other people to want them live happier. For doing this work individual need to enhance their
ability on consultancy and influence people as leadership for people to follow them for their own
benefits. But first they have to understand the quality and specification such as support
individuals and build a team for effective work and gain the trust of people for better
improvement in the job field (Pollock, and et.al 2020).
Academic skills
Academic skills that an individual need to improve is the quality of communication and
leadership mainly as describe above;
Communication is the key to understand and ability to use in different scenario whether it is in
form of writing and by speaking. This skills an individual should learn for their own benefits that
increases their listening, observing power to adopt something that they need in this job.

Leadership skills: this skills represent the quality and power of individual in respect to influence
someone as the organization they wants to work in need this quality majorly for the betterment of
the organization and also to enhance their own ability for better for the job role they apply for. In
the sector of health and social care there are a lot of problems that organization faces for achieve
success in those problems individual need to be effective and have ability to be a mentor for the
betterment of the organization they want to work in (Lin, and Magnuson, 2018).
Improvement in digital identity
An individual can improve their skills and identity by enhance their individual identity by make
profile on LinkedIn and many social media platform where they can easily describe their work
and connect with those people who will help them for their betterment by their description on the
digital identity, as they can describe their strength on the LinkedIn such as he is Good with
technology in general, Headful and resourceful, Self-motivated, they know how to Working
under pressure. That’s the key factor that an individual need in their social and health sector of
job.
Improve knowledge
Individual wants to work in National Health Service which is located in Britain and work for
public health service under the government rules and regulation and approved by rules. The
organization leads towards equity all over the globe and ensure that no one will suffer financially
illness and they support those people. Organization treated people with care, responsible and
with respect by compassion, they have dignity and care towards the people they care for and who
came to them for their treatment. For working in this sector individual need to enhance their
responsiveness towards the people and also build more dignity and care to treat those people. As
individual work as a carpet cleaning for now as a part time , this job also help them in order to
achieve the patience and maintained in the work job that will help them in their future goals and
objectives (Majeed, Adisaputera,. and Ridwan, 2020).
CONCLUSION
It has been summarised from the above study that self evaluation plays a vtal role in
selecting one of the best job role or career option in health and social care sector. It has further
discussed some ways by which skills can be improved for working as a health promotion
specialist and providing qualitative healthcare services to people.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Borg, S., 2018. Evaluating the impact of professional development. RELC Journal. 49(2).
pp.195-216.
Goldberg, E.M. and Warburton, R.W., 2021. Ends and Means in Social Work: the development
and outcome of a case review system for social workers. Routledge.
Heggdal, K. and Lovaas, B.J., 2018. Health promotion in specialist and community care: how a
broadly applicable health promotion intervention influences patient's sense of
coherence. Scandinavian journal of caring sciences. 32(2). pp.690-697.
Iammarino, N.K. and O’Rourke, T.W., 2018. The challenge of alternative facts and the rise of
misinformation in the digital age: Responsibilities and opportunities for health
promotion and education. American journal of health education. 49(4). pp.201-205.
Lin, Y.C. and Magnuson, K.A., 2018. Classroom quality and children’s academic skills in child
care centers: Understanding the role of teacher qualifications. Early Childhood
Research Quarterly, 42, pp.215-227.
Majeed, M.M.F., Adisaputera, A. and Ridwan, M., 2020. Digital Identity. Konfrontasi: Jurnal
Kultural, Ekonomi Dan Perubahan Sosial, 7(4), pp.246-252.
Manzini, F. and et.al., 2020. Analysis of a Blended, In-Service, Continuing Education Course in
a Public Health System: Lessons for Education Providers and Healthcare
Managers. Frontiers in Public Health. 8. p.827.
Pollock, and et.al 2020. Interventions to support the resilience and mental health of frontline
health and social care professionals during and after a disease outbreak, epidemic or
pandemic: a mixed methods systematic review. Cochrane Database of Systematic
Reviews, (11).
Stoller, J.K., 2021. A Perspective on the Educational “SWOT” of the Coronavirus
Pandemic. Chest. 159(2). pp.743-748.