Professional Skills Portfolio: Interview Prep & Development Plan

This portfolio assignment encompasses various tasks related to personal and professional development. It includes a self-assessment covering strengths, weaknesses, and skills relevant to a potential role, along with responses to situational interview questions and reflection on difficult decisions. The portfolio also delves into the STAR method for answering interview questions, addressing concerns about common interview queries, and outlining a structured personal development plan. The plan involves identifying development needs (organizational skills), exploring development options, planning specific activities, undertaking those activities, applying the acquired knowledge in the workplace, and establishing a review and repeat cycle to ensure continuous improvement and career advancement. The ultimate goal is to enhance workplace efficiency, make a positive impression, and contribute to organizational growth.

WEEK 6 PORTFOLIO
TASKS

Table of Contents
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
1. Tell me about yourself.............................................................................................................3
2. Strengths and Weaknesses.......................................................................................................3
3. Particular skills to bring to this role.........................................................................................3
4. Situation question.....................................................................................................................3
5. Difficult decision faced............................................................................................................3
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................3
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

Task 1
1. Tell me about yourself
I am from a commerce background and I have an experience of two years in the
management field. I am dedicated towards my goals and I have completed certain courses to
enhance my skills. My long term goal is to become an entrepreneur.
2. Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
My never give up attitude and smart working ability are my major strengths which has
helped me stray focused towards my goals despite the barriers and the problems that may arise.
Weaknesses:
I am not organized which creates difficulties to manage my personal and professional
life.
3. Particular skills to bring to this role
I possess skills such as problem solving and teamwork. These skills will help me to
complete my work in efficient way in the organization. Problem solving skills will help me while
facing a difficult situation at the workplace (El Messaoudi, 2021).
4. Situation question
I will ask customer regarding his issue and re-confirm by stating the problem which I
understood. I will apologize for the inconvenience caused to the customer so that he will calm
down. After that I will try to assure customer that the problem will be solved as fast as possible.
And I will provide him with various contact information for the further problem which he will
face.
5. Difficult decision faced
The most difficult decision I had to make was of leaving the job because of cultural issue.
It was difficult task as I had no back up plan after leaving the job. But I continuously researched
and gave interview for the same post in other organization. After various interview I got the job
in an organization which has the culture which I require for effective working.
Task 2
From the today's session I found the STAR method very interesting because it helps me
to understand the method of answering situational questions. It will impress the interviewer as it

gives various information related to my capability. The method is beneficial when I will be
giving an interview in a big company.
I learnt about various things related to the interview such as I learned the types of
interview as well the type of questions which can be asked in an interview, also how to provide
answer to the questions to get the opportunity provided to me. I also learned about the funnel
effect question techniques which is important to be considered while preparing for the interview.
I am not sure about the answers for the question of “why should we hire you” & “explain
the gap in your employment history”. It is because this questions answer can be treated as self
obsessed and it is difficult to explain the gap in employment if I want to take some time for
myself. Also, I am not sure why I should tell my weakness in the interview if I want to grab the
opportunity as by telling weakness I am giving them an opportunity to reject me during the
process (Roberts, 2020).
I might have learnt more if the slides had the type of answer to be provided for each
question. It is because sometimes we tend to forget the things which is not written somewhere.
Also, if the interview was practised in the class then it will be more clear about the answers to be
provided.
I will now practise the answers of the question as it will help me during the interview. It
will also enhance my skills which will be reflected during the interview process and impress the
interviewer.
Task 3
Step 1: Identifying development needs
I am seeking development at this time to be efficient while working in the workplace. I
am trying to develop my organization skills which will be beneficial for me to manage the work
and personal life. I need to enhance this skill as it is necessary for achieving my long term goal
of having a start-up. For achieving this goal I need to enhance my ability to set the priorities
between the work life and personal life (Bintani, 2020).
Step 2: Identifying Development options
I will be practising the organization skill daily by setting a target for myself. Also, I will
research the techniques that will help me in developing the required skills. The skill should be

developed in a short span of time so that it will help me during the duration of workplace. For the
same I will require a mentor who will guide and analyse my progress. Mentor will help me to set
the daily target which will be analysed at the end of the day.
Step 3: Planning Development Activities
As I will set the daily target that I will accomplish but sometimes it might happen that
some additional activities arise which will be a barrier in achieving the target. If my original plan
will not work then I will take assistance of various YouTube channels and analyse different
techniques. The alternative way can be that I will allot some rewards for those days when I will
allot time for both personal and work/academic life. It will motivate me to develop this skill and
I will become efficient in my work (Butler, Szwejczewski, and Sweeney, 2018).
Step 4: Undertaking Development Activities
I am successful in developing organization skills with the help of motivation as every
time I rewarded myself with different gifts when I achieved to successfully organize my life.
Also, it was possible due to the failure in the previous target setting technique.
Step 5: Applying knowledge in workplace
This skill will help me to become efficient in my work. As I will not deal with any
personal matter during the hours of workplace. It provides a good impression on my senior
which also helps me to get future opportunities in the organization.
Step 6: Review & Repeat
These skills helped me to achieve provided targets in the workplace. This benefited my as
I received award for best performance. I will continuously adapt this practice in the organization,
so I will support the growth of the organization.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
El Messaoudi, M., 2021. Soft Skills: Connecting Classrooms with the Workplace—A
Systematic Review. Üniversitepark Bülten| Universitepark Bulletin.
Roberts, R.E., 2020. Qualitative Interview Questions: Guidance for Novice Researchers.
Qualitative Report. 25(9).
Bintani, K., 2020, August. Personal Development Plan as a Guidance and Counseling Strategy
in Higher Education. In 2nd International Seminar on Guidance and Counseling 2019 (ISGC
2019) (pp. 18-22). Atlantis Press.
Butler, M., Szwejczewski, M. and Sweeney, M., 2018. A model of continuous improvement
programme management. Production Planning & Control. 29(5). pp.386-402.

7