Portfolio: Career and Self Development - Essay Example

Portfolio Table of Contents Job Specification 3 Application Form & Cover Letter 4 CV 8 Learning Log 11 Learning from PLATO 11 Employability 12 Changes in Graduate Labour Market 13 Impact on Changing Graduate Labour Market 15 Transferable Skills 16 References 17 Bibliography 18 Job Specification The area of interest for the purpose of internship would be anything that relates Accounting as well as Marketing as those had been the subject of Honours in my study at University of Derby of England. Such job would allow me to horn my skills in both the subjects and would help me to relate the acquired academic knowledge with the functionalities of the real industry. Application Form & Cover Letter November 10, 2009 4, Shell Trustee Close Lagos, Nigeria Mr. Henry Smith HR – Manager ABC Group of Companies Lagos, Nigeria Subject – Application for suitable job profile to complete my internship with your esteemed organisation Dear Henry Smith, With due respect and humble submission, I hereby attach my CV along with the application and cover letter in any suitable position in the department of Accounting and Marketing for my internship of ABC Group of Companies. The esteemed organisation of yours seems ideal for my internship as I feel I can apply my previous academic knowledge along with the short but solid industry experience that I have. I am keen to contribute towards the organisational goal with sheer hard work and dedication and hope to meet and exceed the organisational targets without compromising quality. To inform you, my subjects of Honours at the Derby University, England include Accounting and Marketing. I also possess work experience with the academic department of the University and have high technical knowledge on MS-Word and MS-Excel along with other official communication processes. I can be beneficial to the company as I can bring together the conservative Accounting with the aggressive Marketing as I have dual specialisation. I believe, I can really add value to your organisation and hope you would shortlist me for the interview and thereby select me to intern from the company. Thank you for your consideration and looking forward to meet you. Regards, Yours Sincerely, ( ) Muoghalu Sandra Mimi CV Muoghalu Sandra Mimi Phone No – 08033026806 E-mail – OBJECTIVE To utilise my academic learning and acquired industrial skills in a real business scenario by recognising the organisational goals and achieving them through hard work and dedication. To have a challenging and satisfying career by working as a team to meet and exceed the standards set by the organisation. WORK EXPERIENCE Organisation – University of Derby Department – Academic Department Designation- Administration Assistant (Part-Time) Responsibilities – Compiling letters and preparing reports through extensive use of Microsoft - Word and Microsoft - Excel. Distribution of internal post with in the Academic Department and other related official assignments. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS YEAR INSTITUTE 2007 - Date University of Derby 2006 - 2007 Bridge House College 2000 - 2006 Dowen College and Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls SKILLS & STRENGTHS Prioritising Tasks Open and Flexible Meeting Tight Deadlines Excellent Communication Skills Highly Motivated HOBIES & INTERESTS Reading Non-Fiction Books Listening to Music PERSONAL DETAILS Address: 4, Shell Trustee Close; Abacha Estate; Lagos; Nigeria. Marital Status: Single. Date of Birth: 19th November, 1989 Nationality: Nigerian DECLARATION I hereby declare the above furnished information is true to the best of my knowledge and belief. I understand, any wrong information or falsification of data would render my candidature ineligible. Date: (Moughalu Sandra Mimi) Learning Log Learning from PLATO PLATO stands for Plagiarism Teaching Online. It is indeed very helpful tool for the entire student fraternity. It helps the students by letting them know various nook and corners of plagiarism, online. The university website suggests that the PLATO can be used in various ways. The best use of PLATO is as part of the induction activity or to prepare for any plagiarism related discussion in the classroom. Also, PLATO is immensely helpful when one is accused of plagiarism and the best thing is that one can access the online terminal twenty-four hours for 365 days (University of Derby, n.d.). PLATO has been instrumental in developing various technical skills of writing reports and assignments with specific focus on plagiarism. It has deep insight on the referencing aspects and provides the guiding principles about the methods of citing and other relevant necessities. The best thing about PLATO is that the entire support is available online and the students can access the tutorial from any where and any time they want. The entire issue of plagiarism has been dealt in PLATO with due sincerity. It includes the definition as well as other behaviours that tentamounts to plagiarism like providing another person’s thought as the writer’s or copying directly from any of the other sources and not acknowledging to the source or even paraphrasing text from any of the other writer. Moreover, PLATO helps in understanding and learning of the ways so that the student does not fall with in the grip of plagiarism like that of extensive referencing, writing in own words and not assuming anything that is already known to the student on the topic. Employability In simple words, employability of a person is the job-readiness with in him or her. It might so happen that a person is not employed as he did not find job for one reason or the other but employability has no relation of his status of being unemployed. Rather, employability looks at the various skill sets the person possess which would make him eligible for any suitable job. Employability is an important factor for a Human Resource Manager as well as the prospective employee. The trend of the job market says that though there are enough talents available in the market but to get a right candidate with the right traits for the right job is always difficult. This is so because not all candidates are suitable for any job. The prospective employee must have some qualities over and above the required educational qualification. This additional requirement can be in the form of relevant work experience or desired technical skill or may also be in the form of interpersonal skills like that of communication skills and etc. The skills that constitute one’s employability are those that are necessary not only to get a job but also to excel and retain the job (Robinson, 2000). It is ultimately the employability that guides the employment process. Therefore, along with the human resource managers, the factor of employability is extremely crucial for the job aspirants too. Changes in Graduate Labour Market The scenario in the job and the labour market is ever changing. Graduate labour market basically defines the job market for graduates. In context with the United Kingdom, it is the entire number of graduates with in the workforce of the country (University of Brighton, n.d.). The changes in the graduate labour market are important for several concerned parties which includes the likes of prospective workforce i.e. students, the employers, secondary schools, educational institutes and the government. The major changes include the sharp increase of graduate jobs in 2007 by 12.7%, year – on – year basis. Among other notable changes, the effect of globalisation can be felt in the graduate labour market. As today most of the economies of the world are couple with each other, therefore, often a change in policy in one nation affects the national labour market of another country. It is extensively important for students to stay updated regarding the changing nature of the graduate labour market. According to Lauri Martin Keefe, the students should remain proactive as well as reactive in these trying times of global meltdown (Meyer, 2009). It will help them to know what exactly the employers are looking for and would enable them to prepare in such way so that they can grab the job by the immediate opportunity. Impact on Changing Graduate Labour Market The changing nature of graduate labour market has forced the students and the job aspirants to incorporate the required changes in their preparation for job interview. The financial recession and the global slowdown have invariably affected the job market especially for the graduates and reduced the availability of jobs. The graduates have to be more consistent in their search for job as the trends suggest that even when the environment is favourable for jobs, an aspirant requires around 30 to 50 attempts to find the job and in the unfavourable market it can simply be double. The prospective aspirants have to really develop their skill to fight the heat of the recession and find a job. It is expected that the job lookers would not be satisfied only with the relevant educational background but also should look for other technical expertise like that of computer skills. The changing nature of the job market also has made the students realise the requirement of inter-personal and communication skills. In brief, the ever increasing competition has compelled the aspirants to develop all the skills required for job as there is no place for complacency. Transferable Skills I have decent idea as well as experience upon various software packages like MS-Word, MS-Excel and MS-Power Point. Also, I have excellent communication skills and stay always motivated to my job. I have the qualities to work as team member as well as team leader. Also, I have fair experience in customer handling and customer service which can be transferable. With my internship, I hope to get real exposure in the domain of accounting and marketing of the industry which would help me learn the applications of the theories that I have studied. It would make me professionally strong and would enhance my managerial skills. References Meyer, N., 2009. Career Services gives graduates hope for the job market. The Pointer Online. [Online] Available at: http://pointeronline.uwsp.edu/20082009/Graduation/CareerServicesgivesgraduateshopeforthejobmarket.aspx [Accessed 10 November, 2009]. Pappi, C., No Date. The Education and The Demand of Labour Market. University of Minnesota. [Pdf] Available at: http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/47541/2/17cseh.pdf [Accessed 10 November, 2009]. Robinson, J. P., 2000. What are Employability Skills? The Albama Cooperative Extension System. [Pdf] Available at: http://www.aces.edu/crd/workforce/publications/employability-skills.PDF [Accessed 10 November, 2009]. University of Brighton, No Date. The Graduate Labour Market. The Careers Centre. [Online] Available at: http://www.brighton.ac.uk/careers/looking-for-work/graduate-labour-market.html [Accessed 10 November, 2009]. University of Derby, No Date. PLATO. Library Services. [Online] Available at: http://www.derby.ac.uk/plato [Accessed 10 November, 2009]. Bibliography Conti, J., 2008. Graduate Students on the Job Market. UCSB Sociology Department. [Online] Available at: http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/students_jobmarket.htm [Accessed 10 November, 2009]. University of Washington, No Date. Introducing your CV – the cover letter. Web Server. [Pdf] Available at: http://depts.washington.edu/pharmopp/pdf/coverinfo.pdf [Accessed 10 November, 2009]. University of California, No Date. Sample Cover Letter. Career Services Center. [Pdf] Available at: http://career.ucsd.edu/L3/sa/Resumes/CoverLtrs.pdf [Accessed 10 November, 2009]. University of California, No Date. Resumes / Cover Letter / CV. Career Services Center. [Online] Available at: http://career.ucsd.edu/L3/sa/resumeCLCV.shtml [Accessed 10 November, 2009]. University of Idaho, No Date. Work Ethic Training Helps Teens Gain Employability Skills. Impact. [Pdf], 2009]. Available at: http://www.extension.uidaho.edu/impacts/Pdf_01/workethictraining-01.pdf [Accessed 10 November]. Read More