Employability, the Relationship between Learning, Career and Life Development - Essay Example

Name: Course: Instructor: Institution: Date: Employability is the capability to secure and maintain satisfactory work. It is about the skills a person has and how he/she can demonstrates to employers that he/she has these skills. In relation to student’s life, their daily activities can make a contribution to their employability development. For instance; planning projects, group work, making presentations and undertaking part time work all contribute to the making of proper employability skills. Most employers in the current employment environment expect candidates to deliver more than a good academic record and degree. As a student, I know that employers look for work experience and evidence of employability skills such as teamwork, communication skills and organizational skills. In a nutshell, employers seek for all rounded individuals that develop their skills outside University. In regards to my experience and my status as a student who would like to develop my employability skills, I am taking a closer look and detailed analysis at several skills areas and break these down into their components. For example, from my experience I have come to learn that verbal communication is both making presentations to groups and telephone skills. A student might be good at group presentations but poor at communicating over the phone. The list below represents employability skills (personal analysis plan) comprising of those that I have already had and those that I would like to improve on. Personal analysis plan Employability skill I have this skill I would like to improve it Written Communication √ Able to express myself clearly in writing Advance thinking in what I want to say √ Logical reasoning √ Adapting my writing styles for different audiences √ Be able to condense information and produce precise summary notes √ Teamwork Effective contribution of my ideas in a group √ Working confidently when in the group √ Working cooperatively towards achieving a common goal √ Being aggressive as opposed to passive or aggressive √ Accepting criticism √ Verbal communication Expressing my ideas precisely and concisely in speech √ Able to summarize and clarify communication from others √ Building good rapport with the audience √ Good body language as well as verbal information √ Leadership Able to motivate and direct others √ Motivating others and seeing them through √ Persuading √ Emphasizing the positive aspects of my arguments √ Being able to handle objections to my arguments √ Reasonable putting my points across √ Problem solving Clarification of the nature of the problem before I could take any relevant action √ Gathering information systematically to establish facts and principles √ Developing professionalism Developing the ambition and zeal to realize my dreams √ Ability to perform duties under my own initiative and direction √ Taking the opportunity to be able to learn new skills. √ Pays care & attention to quality in all their work √ Each and every individual think that they are 100% effective. However, the truth is that most of us have strengths and weaknesses that impact their effectiveness. Personally, I could benefit from tweaking at least a few of my skills so as to become more effective. Conventional training is important in covering vital work-related skills, knowledge and techniques. Nevertheless, the most effective way to develop an individual is different from conventional skill training which is mostly regarded by employers. As a student who aims at developing a good professional life, ensuring an effective career and life development process is inevitable. This is because; in terms of learning, training and development, what is good for an employee is also good for an organization in which he/she is working. The relationship between learning, career and life development is very important for effective development of an individual. Learning is a process that will lead to good career and lifetime development. I can say that learning, career and life development are all positive correlated. A good education foundation will definitely lead to a good career development and hence life development. Although it is true that not every career development processes are determined by learning process; but rather the fact is educational learning determines a good percentage of career development process. The relationship between learning and career development enables a student such as me to explore and understand the interrelationship of life roles. My main career development goal is to build a positive self-image while discovering its influence on myself and others that surrounds me. In addition, I also aim at developing abilities for building positive relationships in my life and link lifestyles and life stages to life/working building. This will help me to discover the much needed change and growth in my career development. One of the most vital steps in career development is to know what I want to be or what I want to do. That is, if I don’t know my career plan, how then can I set appropriate priorities? To identify my career development plan and to define what I need to achieve my current position, it is appropriate to undertake a career analysis. This will help me to unravel my most important career objective so that I can start prioritizing tasks effectively. Having a career strategy is an important step in realization of career goals. Career strategy will help an individual manage the direction he/she wants his/her career to take, improvement in employability skills and knowledge he/she needs and how he/she can get them. From my personal experience, I have come to conclude that a great career strategy depends on strong foundations. The career strategy depends on the type of an individual. Below is a five-step plan that I believe will help me kick start my career in the right direction. Career plan Step 1: self-assessment Life values Taking into account what is important for me. People are different in their own setting hence they have different needs and motivations. Consequently, it is important to me to undertake a careful evaluation of my values and needs when planning my career direction and strategy. As for me, the motivating factor in my career development is to succeed and to become relevant to the society. My values have always been integrity and honesty which I believe will help me achieve my career objective. Skills, knowledge and personal qualities To able to determine the kind of job I want to do, it is important that I understand my skills, knowledge and personal qualities. This will help me in identifying the knowledge and skills I might need to acquire or personal qualities I might need to achieve my career objectives. Career planning barriers Identify and deal with barriers that might hinder the development of my career. Step 2: consider the options It is necessary to consider each of the options against my values and preferences. This is the most difficult part of career strategy and planning because it is difficult to find a job that perfectly suits what I want to do. However, the availability of several options is sometimes considered ‘good news’. Decide on my goals This is where I will make the major decisions. I will critically analyze the information I have gather. However, it is important to note that I will start by considering my outlined career objective; which is to be successful in everything I am doing. In this case, the SMARTER system will be of help in planning my career goals: Specific: be clear and avoid abstruse statements. Measurable: be creative and measure what I have achieved so far. Achievable: this is where is will provide the motivational gestures but at the same time keeping my goals reachable. Realistic: through this I will outline reasonable goals and avoid the temptation of fantasy. Timely: creation of timeframes for completing steps. Empowering: making sure that my goals feel right for me and help me make the changes I want. Reviewable: flexibility is important to me when setting out the goals. Step 4: develop and implement my career strategy After deciding on my goals, my next step will be to develop an action plan to help me implement my career strategy. As much as planning will increase the likelihood of my career success, I have advised myself to be flexible and open-minded when undertaking career development strategy. The career planning chart provides a simple way to put the information together. Step 5: review and adjust career plan The last step is to review my career development plan. Considering the fact that there are always unpredictable events and changes that might arise, I will frequently review my plan and allow space for adjustments and changes to my approach. Career development and strategy is very important. As a student, I believe that education combined with personal experience and a good career outline when enable one to realize his/her career objective. To realize my career objectives, I will integrate my personal analysis and career plan to realize the best out of professional life. References Arthur, M. B. (1995). Handbook of career theory. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press. Greenhaus, J. H., Callanan, G. A., & Godshalk, V. M. (2010). Career management. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Read More