University Graduate Challenge: Skills, Challenges, and Action Plan

This report details a student's experience with various graduate challenges at the university level, including the Apprentice Challenge, Presentation Challenge, and T-shirt Challenge. The report highlights the skills demonstrated, such as communication, emotional intelligence, teamwork, time management, and business acumen. It also reflects on areas for improvement, particularly in teamwork and meeting skills. Furthermore, the report outlines an action plan with specific objectives to enhance teamwork and meeting skills. The author concludes that these challenges provided valuable opportunities for skill development and a better understanding of business operations, which will be beneficial for future career growth. The report also includes references to academic literature supporting the concepts discussed.

Graduate Challenge

Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................................3
The Challenges........................................................................................................................................3
The Skills................................................................................................................................................4
Action Plan..............................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
There are various challenges that are held for the students at university level and serve as
an opportunity for them to acquire new skills. The various skills contribute to the overall
development of the students (Brotherton and Etzel, 2018). This report is based on four
compulsory challenges that will help the students in developing skills that are required for their
success at the university. Apart from this, there is also a reflection on the skills that were
acquired as well as the ones that need to be improved. Lastly, the report also includes an action
plan as to how these skills will be developed over the next few years at the university.
MAIN BODY
The Challenges
Apprentice Challenge
This was one of the challenges that were conducted at the university in order to help the
students enhance their communicative skills as well as inspire the different teams to come up
with ideas that are creative. The process of setting up the challenge was not very difficult and the
activities in the challenge were suitable for all staff members as well as the students. Also, the
tasks were tailored in order to meet the desired business objectives. The required funds for the
challenge were not huge. Therefore, the challenge was carried out in a smooth manner. I learned
that when such an event is organized, there are a lot of tasks that are divided amongst the group
members. Apart from this, I have also learned about how business work as the process of
organizing the challenge required all the team members to work collectively.
Presentation Challenge
This was another challenge that was conducted at the university and I was a part of the
organizing team. We were required to make sure that all equipment was in the right place and
working (Fearon and et.al., 2020). The participants were provided with one topic each on which
they had to prepare and present a presentation to the audience. There were certain challenges that
I faced during the challenge. The different tasks were distributed and allocated between the
different members of the team. This helped in conducting the challenge in an effective manner.
During this process, I have learned that presentations form an important component of any

business and helps it in carrying out all of its business operations in an effective manner. Besides
this, I also learned about the different aspects of the business.
T-shirt Challenge
Lastly, during my course at the university, we were also required to participate in the T-
shirt challenge (Galante and et.al., 2018). I was responsible for managing the marketing as well
as branding aspect of the challenge. Me as well as my team members of were responsible for
offering T-shirts which could be purchased both online as well as offline. There were different
skills that were required during this challenge. I learned that communication skills were the most
important during this challenge because we had to interact and communicate with different
people. In order to conduct the challenge in an effective manner, we divided the tasks among all
the team members. In order to remain in touch and up to date about the different activities, we
used to have weekly meetings. The budget of the challenge was not huge and we were able to
conduct the same in an effective manner.
The Skills
During the challenges stated above, there were various skills that I demonstrated. The
same are described below –
Communication Skills/Emotional Intelligence – Communication skills are one of the
important skills that students studying at the university are expected to have. This is because they
have to communicate and interact with a greater number of people. During the challenge, we
were expected to form groups and work towards managing the different aspects of the events. I

was particularly responsible for managing the branding as well as marketing aspect. This means
that I had to interact with a lot of people and market our event in order to generate awareness
among people not only within the university, but other institutions as well. I believe that I
demonstrated strong communication skills and was able to interact with all the people in an
effective manner. This was also because I had to keep in touch with my colleagues about the
different aspects. Besides this, I also demonstrated good emotional intelligence as I was able to
understand, use as well as manage my emotions in an effective manner during the challenge.
Teamwork – Teamwork can be defined as the collaborative effort of a group of people to
achieve a common goal or complete a task. During the challenge, we were expected to wok in
groups. This helped us in carrying out the tasks in an effective manner. I observed that I was not
that comfortable in working as part of a group. The team leader told me that I need to work on
my teamwork skills. This is because it will help me in my future career. Although my overall
experience of being a part of the different challenges was good, I still believe that I could
improve my skills. It will be beneficial for me during my career in the future and therefore,
therefore, I will work on the same.
Time Management and Meeting Skills – Time management is another skill which is
considered to be important. The reason behind this is that it helps in completing the tasks in an
effective manner and well within the specified time frame. I demonstrated good time
management skills during the challenge (Kouzes and Posner, 2018). There were various tasks
that we had allocated among ourselves. The tasks were to be completed within a specified time
frame. Since I was responsible for looking at the marketing as well as branding aspect, I made
sure that the same was completed well within time. This allowed other activities to take place in
an effective manner. therefore, this is how I demonstrated time management skills. Apart from
this, the team leader used to hold a meeting every week in order to keep a track of all the tasks. I
failed to attend some of the meetings for which the team leader asked me to work on the same.
Business skills and Competencies developed
I can say that the opportunity of participating in a challenge conducted at the university
was a very learning as well as enriching experience for me. This is because I got a chance to
develop various skills as well as enhance my existing knowledge about how businesses operate.
For instance, I developed effective communication skills as we were required to communicate

important updates as well as interact with a large number of people from time to time. This gave
me confidence and I was able to complete the task assigned to me in an efficient manner. Apart
from this, I have also developed various competencies such as proper time management skills.
This has helped me in completing my work within the time frame specified by the team leader. I
have also developed effective presentation skills as well as I am efficient in using Excel.
Action Plan
An action plan can be defined as a detailed plan which outlines actions needed in order to
reach a particular goal. It is an important component as it helps an individual in attaining their
goals in an efficient manner.
Objectives
 In order to enhance overall teamwork skills in order to work efficiently as part of a team
in the future.
Being a part of the challenge has helped me in understanding my strengths as well as
areas that I need to improve on. For instance, I need to work on my team work skills and be
comfortable in working with different people. This will not only help me in being able to
perform in a more effective way, but also be able to achieve personal goals and objectives. In
order to develop teamwork skills, I will try to take part and work as part of a group. This is
because it will help me in developing confidence and increase overall productivity.
I also got a chance to know that I need to work on my meeting skills as this will help me
in improving my overall personality. It is important to note that meetings must not be conducted
very frequently. This can affect the overall concentration of the individual and the tasks can be
delayed. Although I have good time management skills, I must work on the same in order to
become more proficient.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that there are various activities that are
organized for students at the university level. These give the students an opportunity to acquire
new skills and develop new skills. As a result, they develop knowledge about new things such as
how business operate. An action plan can help students in overcoming their weak areas and thus

improve them on the whole. This is not only beneficial for them at the university level, but also
during the career growth as well.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Brotherton, S. E. and Etzel, S. I., 2018. Graduate medical education, 2017-2018. Jama. 320(10).
pp.1051-1070.
Fearon, C. and et.al., 2020. Graduate employability, skills development and the UK’s
Universities Business Challenge competition: a self-determined learning perspective.
Studies in Higher Education. 45(6). pp.1280-1297.
Galante, P. J. and et.al., 2018. The challenge of modeling niches and distributions for data‐poor
species: a comprehensive approach to model complexity. Ecography. 41(5). pp.726-736.
Kouzes, J. M. and Posner, B. Z., 2018. The student leadership challenge: Five practices for
becoming an exemplary leader. John Wiley & Sons.