Personal & Professional Development Portfolio - Essay Example

PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO Personal & Professional Development portfolio Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 13, 03, 2011 Table of Contents Personal & Professional Development portfolio 1 My personal development for my first year at University 1 My Profession Ethics and Knowledge 6 My professional practice 7 My educational commitment 7 My professional commitment 7 Reference 8 Personal & Professional Development portfolio Name: Mohammed Ahmed Moubarky Date of Birth: 02/04/1981 Email: ahmedmoub@dmail.com Mobile: +447887778322 Nationality: Saudi Professional area: Sales and marketing Education: University (Business information systems) My personal development for my first year at University Getting to University may at times get students confused especially when they are not quite sure of what they expect in their line of career. However, for me, that has not been the case because, through my past work experiences my passion for my career has grown well before even my University education and hence I am in a position to tell what I expect in terms of my career. Sales and marketing is a venture that I have always wished to get into ever since at a tender age. Some of the skill areas I may wish to work on emanate from my past experiences. These include some of my major responsibilities in my areas of practice which have been: To be in charge of customers Keying out and resolution of customer concerns Gearing up of status reports when needed Passing across new product and service opportunities, special developments, information, or feedback obtained from outside research to reserved organization staff members To avail and deal company productions and services to possible clients as well as those present at the moment To fix action plans and agendas to discover particular objectives and to predict the count of reaches to be arrived at To Pursue newly identified tracks and recommendations ensuing from field action To find out sales opportunities and reach these and other accounts as assigned To design demonstrations, proposals and sales contracts To originate and assert sales materials and current merchandise cognition To lay down and maintain current client and possible client relations To come up with records to actuate and keep contract services To take part in merchandising events which may include conferences, trade shows, and telecommerce events To pursues for assembling of defrayment To Co-ordinate transport timetables and legal transfer of products and services To arrange for on-the-job training to new sales employees To supervise bill services through quality assays and other follow-up activities To co-ordinate company staff to carry out the work called for to close sales To come up with and enforce particular sales activities to cut down on stock To assist in the enforcement of company selling programs pro re nata Other relevant duties that may be allotted to the sales and marketing personnel (Vavra 1995) Having been involved in some of the above responsibilities at one time or another made me learn that there were some skills that I really needed to work on to ensure I was to be at par with my expectations. Communication Skills Communication is a cardinal requirement in my career and hence my excellent communication skills in both English and Arabic have gone a long way in nurturing the effectiveness of my service. I take it as my responsibility at all times to talk to all kinds of people in a manner deemed to be pleasant and calm. Initially, I undertook an intensive English course at the same university but in another campus for two years before joining the main campus where I am studying till now. During the two years, I can confidently say that I gained a lot of skills that are fundamental as far as the English language is concerned. This experience helped me perfect my English language skills especially in the areas of writing notes, scanning and skimming. I however feel that I still have to perfect the same for the best impact. Technical Support I am also looking forward to be equipped in technical support and always willing to learn in new environs so as to actively take part in identifying and assisting in the solving of problems to ensure the customers are relaxed and unstressed. This is based to my understanding, with experience, that technical support will always be in a position to either break or make a company. Listening skills I have been involved in assessing the need of many customers and have come to learn over time that of major importance is my ability to listen keenly to the customers so as to be in a position to clearly establish the cores of their problems, which at times may seem to be, yet not as obvious as they look. Through my experience I have also come to a conclusion that sharing, however small, also tends to be alleviatory to the customer to a large extent. Being versatile I understand that much as at times it may not be technically inside the scope of the task at hand, it is my duty to step out of my comfort zone to help a customer. I am the kind that believes in creating repeat business time and time again. Additional virtues Given the volatile nature of my profession, it is worth noting that several values and ethics of work have to be adapted in order to be successful in this field. If I could outline a few that have been instrumental in steering me are patience, creativity and innovation, diligence, self-control, empathy and love. Gaining knowledge and skills in these other areas other than my profession will also help me a great deal as far as my effectiveness is concerned. Much as these may seem much, I am convinced that by the time I am through with my University education I will have had enough time working on my areas of weakness and making my strong areas even better. This will be through adequate research in both library and internet sources. Given that I will get the chance to interact with many people, most who may actually turn out to be my potential clients, I will use this opportunity to get to understand people better (Vavra 1995). I am purposing to take my lectures seriously by taking neat notes and fully participating in class through asking and answering questions. Having undertaken an intensive English course for two years in the same university though in a different campus gives me an upper hand especially when it comes to writing of notes, scanning and skimming. I also plan to be studying ahead of the class so as to have an upper hand when it comes to grasping of essential concepts. In addition I wish to regularly practice all concepts learnt especially those that relate directly to customer relations. Having worked in different business professions namely as a quality control inspector, in customer relations and sales in charge has positively impacted my career line. As a quality control inspector, I have been charged with the responsibility of keeping an eye on sanctioned work instructions and laid down sectional procedures. I have also been involved in scrutinizing work in all stages of process in any given department. Given that I worked at a manufacturing company, my work also entailed checking the quality of work produced by the machines and lines served. It was also expected of me to put down and keep quality records for use in quality procedures and work instructions (Vavra 1995). Being in the customer relations at one point also gave me an opportunity to ensure our customers get maximum satisfaction with our personnel, products, and services My Profession Ethics and Knowledge Over the past few years, nothing has been emphasized in any given business setting more than the feelings of customers concerning that business place. This explains the reason why so much is put into advertisements to ensure the customers’ trust is duly won. It is reflexive therefore that the personnel in such a setting should be on the forefront to equally make the customer feel like an asset, rather than a liability to the company (Vavra 1995). My profession as a business information executive gives me the opportunity to nurture the point of contact between the customers and the company. In other words, I am expected to facilitate the company’s rewarding experience with the customer. I have handled vast product returns in my profession, putting into consideration the fact that many of these cannot be processed automatically. These I do on a case-by-case basis to dispel any discrepancies from the customers. The quality of my work is determined by the company’s target potential customers and hence my dedications to ensure their requirements are satisfactorily adhered to. My professional practice So far, I have had an opportunity to work in three companies. First, I worked as a Quality control inspector at Riyadh Cables Group of companies. I later on worked at the customer relations department at Al Negair Recruitment office before eventually joining The First Jewels Show Room as the Sales In-charge. With each passing day I have experienced new things, learnt more a lot while at the same time gaining more in my professional practice. In all these work experiences my customer relations had to be vetted for the assurance that my presence was going to be beneficial to the respective firms (Vavra 1995). On most occasions, I have prepared status reports concerning various issues affecting the organization. I was also expected to be the one to pass along new product and service opportunities as well as other exceptional developments to other company staff as appropriate. Information and feedback from field research has also been handled in a similar way. From this it is clear that I am the interface between the company and its market base. My educational commitment As the old cliché goes, education is key to the future, indeed, my future in sales and marketing is solely in my course work that I am involved with at the moment. I therefore purpose to invest as much as possible in it for a better fulfillment of my career ambitions. My professional commitment Anyone will attest to the fact that business information is an indomitably wide area. In that case it is public knowledge that given the dynamic nature of this field, anyone wishing to be outstanding in it should demonstrate full commitment and sacrifice to it. As a person I have taken it as my own initiative to research widely in this area. This gives me a wide platform that enables me to understand the undercutting issues pertaining to the same. I also take time to verse myself with latest news related to my field. This also gives me the opportunity to remain au courant with newest standards of my profession. As a business information executive, I have the sole role of ensuring high quality services and value for our customers by ensuring free flow of information from the customers to the organization and vice versa. It is therefore my duty to ensure all customers are fed with right information concerning the business products and services. I am also entrusted with the role of creating and maintaining a fruitful rapport between our customers and the company for the maximum possible benefit of the customer (Vavra 1995). Much as being in a business information position does not require much in terms of professional qualifications, I believe that my decision to get a Bachelor’s Degree in a related field of business studies is an added advantage. It is to some extent going to impart much value to my profession compared to if I had just stuck to my high school education. Reference Vavra, G 1995, Aftermarketing: How to Keep Customers for Life Through Relationship Marketing, Irwin Professional Publishing, Chicago. Read More