In this post I am going to attach the file I have been working on for reference.
Opportunity Analysis Worksheet – Neil Sanders
Personal Development Plan – Neil Sanders
Please read though them for reference if you missed anything on my blog.
Thanks for reading :).
I am very glad that I have done this module for many reasons. At first I was very jaded about this module because I thought it was a module that had nothing to do with computing, I wanted to do programming instead. But once I got stuck into the tasks on this module I began to realise how this could be one of the most important modules of the course.
In this module I have learnt how to plan my future affectively, with tasks like SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, Opportunity analysis and completing the PDP worksheet. Using these tasks I was able to break down effectively what I wanted to achieve, by doing this I have a career massive goal now broken down into easy manageable chunks.
Using the analysis I did for this module I was able to self assess myself effectively, showing the pros and the cons to be as a person for what I wanted to achieve, by self criticizing myself harshly I was able to pluck out the good and the bad for my career goal, this allowed me to see what I have to work on for my mission statement.
By using Personal Development Planning with the help from SWOT, PEST and Opportunity analysis’s I am able to lay out what I want to achieve in life, I now have an action plan by using PDP and know what to do in the next twelve months for the good of my career.
I am very glad that I have learnt how to use the PDP because not only will it help with my current Mission Statement, it can help with many other Mission Statements in the rest of my life if I am to change my career or to progress in my future careers.
This module helped me set out my current goals in life and for that I am grateful.
In my SWOT analysis I listed as a weakness that I have bad public speaking skills. So once I knew that I had to do a presentation in front of the class I was incredibly nervous.
I choose to do my Presentation on 3D-Printing, I choose this subject because I find this an interesting subject, I also constantly read articles on 3D-Printing so I already had a few ideas on what I would be talking about for my presentation. For my presentation the find what to talk about was easy for me, I looked up many articles about 3D-printing and found a lot of material I want to talk about.
Preparing for the presentation was a lot harder for me, this was because each time I read out my presentation I got more and more nervous, but once I had memorised my presentation I became confident, because I knew what I would be talking and that 3D-printing is such an interesting topic I knew I would have the classes attention.
When I walked up to do my ten minute presentation I was confident, I was still a little nervous but I didn’t think about this, I just concentrated on what to talk about. When doing my presentation I hit all of my key topics that I wanted to talk about, this I was very happy about because everything I had memorised I talked about. When doing my presentation I had almost a weird feeling that I was talking and observing myself, it was like whilst I was doing this presentation I could think about other things. I have heard stand-up Bill Burr talk about this in a podcast he said that “when doing my act I can think about stupid stuff like laundry and my taxes because I have done my act so many times”
On reflection I am very glad I did the presentation because I conquered a fear and am now a lot more confident at public speaking, also I got graded 69% in my public speaking test which is a great grade to get when one of my weaknesses is public speaking.
References
Bill Burr, The Monday Morning Podcast.
Available at : http://www.billburr.com/podcast
Accessed [23/12/2013]
Please click on images to see them properly.
In my PDP analysis I took elements from the following ;SWOT analysis, PEST analysis and my Opportunity Analysis. With factors from each of these analysis’s I was able to complete my PDP analysis.
My personal mission statement was “To work for web design/development company that I’m proud to work for and that I can have some creative control whilst in this role.”. I choose this mission statement because I want to work in web development.
I choose six career goals as stated below.
I choose this six because once I complete all of these career goals I will have completed my mission statement. For example my first career goals is to ” Whilst at University complete some small web design/development projects for personal experience.“, this is a realistic career goal so that I can gain some experience in web development. If you read each career goal you will see that I have broken my mission statement into six realistic tasks.
In my skill audit I have assessed aspects of my PEST and SWOT, and marked skills according to what my capability is now. As you can see below I have inserted a what the skill audit key is and the skills I have assessed.
In six months time I will assess the same skills but with my improvement to better myself with these skills.
In my action plan I have listed development goals, with each development goal I have a listed the Action steps to this development goal, with a date that of completion and assessed the obstacles in the way of my development goal, each obstacle has a solutions listed with it.
Evaluation is left blank because once I complete each development goal, I will look back and evaluate myself, and the way I completed each development goal.
Using the PDP format has really help me, it has helped with what I want to do in life and broken it down to manageable tasks.
I am glad that I used the PDP format, this format will show clear how to complete my Mission Statement, with help from my SWOT and PEST analysis’s to help the process of the PDP.
Doing this PDP I have highlighted aspects of my personal life that I need to improve, Palgrave Study Skills (2012) states “ Benefits of PDP to personal life
I believe by using this PDP I will improve aspects in my personal life that are listed above.
I am glad that in this course I learnt how to use a PDP as jobs (2010) state “ At a recent meeting with students from various departments at a Midlands-based university, a senior lecturer wanted to know if the students had been using used Personal Development Planning (PDP). None had, and only one student had even heard of PDP.” Because many other universities don’t teach how to do a PDP.
References
Palgrave Study Skills, About personal development planning (PDP).
Available at : http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/pdp/about/
Accessed [21/12/2013]
jobs, Why Personal Development Planning (PDP) Matters.
Available at : http://www.jobs.ac.uk/careers-advice/careers-advice/1367/why-personal-development-planning-pdp-matters/
Accessed [21/12/2013]
Opportunity Analysis
In my opportunity analysis I concentrate on two individual job titles, these being web developer and IT support technician. I choose these two career opportunities because when I assessed my PEST analysis and SWOT analysis I came to the conclusion that these were my two big career opportunities.
For Web developer, I listed in my SWOT that this is something I am passionate about, I have completed small projects with web development and want to do more to gain more experience. I also have a brother that works in the industry and has been given me advice on the web development and the industry as a whole. The opposing elements are that Web development is a completive field meaning that I might have trouble getting my foot in the door, a method to get into the web development industry is as the totaljobs (2012) states ” Web developer handle the actual creation and programming of a website. To do this job you will need to have at minimum a solid grasp of creating HTML and CSS-based layout practices.” So more practise in HTML and CSS will be a minimum to get into this industry.
For IT support technician, I listed that my personal interests are in IT and the hardware behind it. For example in my SWOT I listed that I have build PC rigs and fixed small networks for my friends and family. Also in my PEST the main trend is that there are plenty of jobs in the IT field meaning that I could get a job is this field. But a weakness is that I am more passionate about web development than IT support. Also that if I don’t apply things continuously then I forget them easily a solution to this could be as the University of Chicago (2012) states “ Become interested in what you’re learning. We’re all better remembering what interests us. Few people, for example, have a difficult time remembering the names of people they find attractive. If you’re not intrinsically interested in what you’re learning or trying to remember, you must find a way to become so.“.
References
totaljobs, How to get into web design.
Available at : http://www.totaljobs.com/careers-advice/inside-careers/how-to-get-into-web-design
Accessed [20/12/2013]
The University of Chicago, How to remember thing.
Available at : http://studenthealth.uchicago.edu/page/how-remember-things
Accessed [20/12/2013].
As I stated in my SWOT analysis blog, my ambition is to have a career in web based programming (for example a backend web developer). So like in my SWOT I concentrated on this career in the PEST analysis as well.
For political factors I stated that the British government are censoring the internet, this will affect my career in web based programming because if more websites are being censored then there will be less career opportunities in a web based career.
For Economic Factors I stated that there is a huge boom in IT careers, with basic economics being a higher demand and less of a product (people with IT job experience) there becomes a higher price (good pay for people working in IT) this means that if I do get a job in IT then my job opportunities will have good pay, Patrick Thibodeau of ComputerWorld (2012) states “IT jobs will grow 22% through 2020, says U.S.” this statement backs up my point. But the threat to this is all the other people wanting to working IT meaning that getting a job can be competitive.
For Socio-Cultural Factors I stated that with each generation of people there is a higher demand for technology meaning that there is a higher demand for IT careers, Selena Larson of readwrite (2013) states ” This year put an increased emphasis on technical education that translated into the job market.” this backs up my point, as there is a higher demand for IT/educational jobs means that there is an increasing presents on this job market.
For Technological factors I stated that technology is every changing at an incredible speed, now this is good for progression as means that that there are new and exciting pieces of technology and new jobs for that technology, but it also makes previous jobs redundant meaning if I have a IT related job I could lose that job due to progression.
References
Patrick Thibodeau, Computerworld, IT jobs will grow 22% through 2020, says U.S.
Available at : http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9225673/IT_jobs_will_grow_22_through_2020_says_U.S.
Accessed [19/12/2013].
Selena Larson, readwrite, The Most In-Demand Job Skills Of 2013.
Available at : http://readwrite.com/2013/12/19/the-top-skill-in-2013-was-social-media-marketing#awesm=~osmgj4Wfnyr9rq
Accessed [19/12/2013]
In my SWOT analysis I have highlighted what I view as my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. With each section I was honest with myself and really tried to criticise myself so that I can improve from this process. My ambition is to have a career in web based programming (for example a backend web developer). In my SWOT there is a theme in what I recorded in each section, this is that even though I am passionate in a career in web based programming, I am not experienced in this field. So for example I have been teaching myself HTML and CSS for programming projects (this I listed in opportunities), but I have no experience in the work place environment (this I listed in threats).
Also in my SWOT I assessed many of personal aspects and recorded them in the appropriate field. For example in strengths I listed that I am a quick learner, this being useful for my career. But on the other hand I listed that I am a Depressive person at time and also that I procrastinate easily, these I listed in weaknesses. I think personal aspect are the most important things to assess in the SWOT analysis, I think this is because you can work on academia and job experience throughout your life but personal aspects are always with you unless you really try to change yourself as a person. Jobsite (2010) states that “A positive attitude is important if you want to turn your weaknesses into strengths.” this is I think is the most important thing for self improvement and is something I am going to work on, whereas on the other hand Dave Kerpen of Linkedin (2013) states “The idea here is simple: Instead of trying to change your weaknesses, accept them. Don’t try to fix them – it’s too difficult. Instead, be sure to leverage your associated strengths.” this is a contradictive view compared to my other reference and is something I will have to look into as it contradicts with my opinion on the matter as well.
References
Jobsite, Turn your weakness into strengths.
Available at : http://www.jobsite.co.uk/insider/turn-weaknesses-into-strengths-4177/
Accessed [16/11/2013]
Dave Kerpen, Linkedin, How to turn your weaknesses into strengths.
Available at : http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130325120757-15077789-how-to-turn-your-weaknesses-into-strengths.
Accessed [16/11/2013]
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