The process of personal development planning can be defined as a sequential action planning based upon personal values, awareness and self-reflection so as to attain positive goal outcomes. The personal development plan has been found to be extremely effective in context of education, relationship and professional life. According to Blatta and Bless (2013), it has been said that the personal development plan serves as a platform to perform self-assessment and identify the underlying strength and weakness on an individual level. Further it has also been mentioned by Specht et al. (2014), that the individual development plan can serve as a medium for self-correction and self-evaluation. Philosophers recommend that an ideal personal development plan should be framed with respect to a time period of minimum five years so as to effectively compare and contrast the level of improvement (Reitz and Zimmermann 2014). It should be noted here that the efficiency of an individual development plan broadly depends upon the successful ability of the individual to stick to the action plan and present a positive effect in comparison with the preexisting in-built attributes (McAdams 2015). An individual development plan comprises of a formal statement of aspiration, strengths and potential, academic details and certification and strategies to successfully acquire skills to realize the set-goal (Hennecke et al. 2014). Studies reveal that while pursuing higher education, undertaking a personal development plan can facilitate self-regulatory and independent learning (Eysenck 2013). It should further be noted that with respect to higher education, it is suggested that the development plan should be designed from time to time so as to frame objectives in accordance with time-based priorities (Parkay et al. 2014). Personal development plans form an integral aspect in terms of managing human resource. It should further be stated that personal development plans form a critical aspect of an individual’s curriculum vitae willing to undertake a business certification. This academic portfolio would highlight my personal development plan as an individual entering University to pursue higher education. It would critically highlight the challenges encountered by me on entering higher education and my identified strengths and weaknesses. Further, it would elucidate my area of interest and skill expertise required in order to successfully attain the designed objectives of the action plan.
Entering higher education has been extremely challenging. The major transition from school level of education to higher education has been extremely complicated. The journey of encountering difficulties started off from the initial level when I had to prepare for entering into a reputed university to pursue higher studies on my area of interest. I would like to mention here that the preliminary stage of selecting an appropriate university was also challenging. A thorough scrutiny based upon multiple considerations helped me in short listing some of the reputed universities that offered my subject of interest. The consideration criteria included my subject expertise at an undergraduate level, fees-structure feasibility, facilities offered and scope of research and placement in future. After the process of successful shot listing, the major challenge was to prepare and get through the entrance criteria so as to be an eligible candidate for admission. The initial requirement was to present a formal record of academic achievements and expertise along with a high impact statement of purpose. The statement of purpose can be defined as a short academic essay that underlines the strength, weakness and skill set of the aspiring student along with the vision, interest and expectation to join the University. The Statement of Purpose or the SOP must be academically presented and be an influential one as it constitutes maximum impact value. I was not aware of an academic style of writing and neither had a clue about the format in which the statement of purpose must be presented. I found it extremely complicated and had negative thought implications about my capability to qualify as an eligible candidate. I researched on the internet extensively in order to retrieve sample formats of academic writing and statement of purpose. From the gathered information, I compiled my SOP but realized it had a lot of flaws in terms of sentence construction and Grammar. I realized I had to work a lot on it and amended it several times to formulate a proper piece of academic writing. The immense hard work seemed to bear a sweet fruit when my SOP was accepted and finally short listed for the interview process. The interview round seemed to be another hurdle as it comprised of several rounds. One being group discussion with other eligible candidates and one being a one on one, face to face interview session. I clearly lacked confidence and most importantly the essential body language and formal communication style to qualify the interview round. Also, I did not have the capability to converse in fluent English because English has never been my mother tongue. I felt dejected and deprived of confidence level but I decided not to give up. The interview session was scheduled after a fortnight and I took that as a challenge. I joined a personality development certification program so as learn proper grooming techniques and acquire the required skills to communicate efficiently. It was extremely challenging but I decided to emerge out as a winner of the situation. Registering in the personality development program proved out to be extremely beneficial as it helped me in improving my communication ability within a team as well as on an individual basis. I could face questions without hesitation and at the same time present proper response to express a strong opinion. Further it also helped me in considering the opinion of other participants and assimilate different ideas so as to widen my perspective in association with different subjects. Fortunately, I made it through the interview round too and got myself admitted as a regular student at the University. However, entering the university presented a new set of challenges in terms of academic writing skills, team work, coordination and cultural competence. Initially I had a lot of problems, finding the lecture rooms and being familiar with the layout of the University. It also took me a lot of time to get accustomed to the time-tables and access the learning materials in the library. I had a lot of difficulty to get accustomed to the concept of e-learning. Throughout the semester so far, I have faced difficulty in completing my assignments. The primary areas where I have faced issues include referencing, sentence construction and Grammar. Also, although the short term personality development certification course helped me in entering the University proficiently, I still have problems in managing information and working with a team. On many occasions I have felt that my opinion was not considered with the team I was working because of my inefficiency to communicate appropriately and provide valuable input during the decision making process. In addition to this, I strongly feel that I lack cultural sensitivity and competence in me. On many occasions I had to work with team mates belonging to different ethnic and cultural background. Hence, I should try my best to improve on my weakness areas so as to attain successful learning outcome at the end of my academic session.
As identified in the previous section, my specific learning needs would widely be based upon working on my weakness and areas of inefficiency. Studies suggest that an effective individual development plan must contain a set of specific learning needs so as to substantially put in efforts and design a strong action plan to achieve positive learning outcomes (Moon 2013); (Parkay et al. 2014). Based on my experience, so far I would elucidate the following specific learning needs for my personal development and at the same time also explain the rational associated with the learning needs.
Firstly, I need to acquire proficiency in effective communication so that I am able to effectively coordinate and work with a team. Effective communication has been listed as a top-notch priority while working with a team (Falchikoy 2013). Studies suggest that the effective communication promotes positive team work and facilitates higher success rate (Boud, Keogh and Walker 2013); (Falchikov 2013). The rationale attached with the learning need is to make myself an effective team player and an able coordinating professional.
Secondly, I need to learn the specific art of time-management. One of the prime issues faced by me is the inability to prioritize tasks and manage time. This affects my capability to manage tasks efficiently. Hence, learning the time-management technique can appropriately help me in acquiring the skills to handle multiple tasks in an efficient manner. The rationale attached with the learning need is to make myself efficient in handing multiple tasks in a restricted time-frame.
Thirdly, I need to acquire proficient skills and expertise in the academic writing technique. I have a lot of problems in dealing with critical assessments that require proper referencing, accurate Grammar and proper sentence construction. I do not have the prerequisite skills to address these requirements in an appropriate manner which leads to a lot of stress along with lower grades. The rational for this learning need is to acquire skills in academic writing so as to address the requirements of all the assessments thoroughly and fetch good grades.
Fourthly and most importantly, I lack the ability of cultural competence and end up discriminating my peers on an unintentional and involuntary basis. This affects my ability to maintain effective team coordination. It should be noted here that any form of discrimination on the basis of cultural or ethnic background elicits negative vibes which in turn deteriorates the level of professional performance (Boud et al. 2013). The rational attached with this learning goal is to attain cultural competency so as to develop a wider perspective and cultural sensitivity to deal with individuals of different ethnic origin.
Lastly, I have identified my lacuna in terms of expertise in handling IT programs. I need to work on it as I have to face a number of subjects in this semester that would require IT expertise. Also, I need to acquire proficiency in handling library catalogue so that I can make use of available resources to fulfill my learning goals in the coming semester. The rationale behind learning IT skills and handling library catalogue is to facilitate me sufficiently acquire my learning needs with expertise.
The primary areas of development would comprise of four critical aspects that include strength, weakness, opportunities and threats.
Strengths: I am an efficient and a quick learner. I have the ability to process information accurately and spontaneously. I readily take up challenges and try my best to prove myself. I am a passionate and hardworking student and I believe that there is no short route to success. I am a critical observer and an efficient listener and take note of minute details so as to formulate a conclusion.
Weakness: I am a bit introvert and emotional and I believe I need to work on my communication skills. I also believe that I need assistance with academic writing on account of my reduced knowledge in English Grammar and technical expertise. I also believe that I need to grasp the skills of efficient time management and decision making. Further, I even need to work on my personality so as to reform my stigmatized thought perception and also work on my personal flaws. I also have a limited knowledge on core software used for data analysis and interpretation. Hence, I believe I should work on these aspects as well.
Opportunities: I would proactively take up short term certification and diploma courses in order to master skills. I would like to enroll myself in a data analytics workshop program so as to attain the certification for data analysis software programming. Also, I would like to take up short term courses on spoken English to enhance my knowledge of English Grammar. I would also like to attend informative seminars on cultural competency to emerge out as an efficient professional. In addition to these, I would like to enroll myself in a foreign language training course so as to improve my vocabulary and dialect. I would even like to work as a volunteer in different Non-Governmental Organization so as to attain the qualities of compassion, understanding and delivering quality service.
Threats: The major skills that I am working on comprise of qualities that include time management, effective communication, cultural competence and academic writing. However, there a number of certification and courses that could be taken up by students so as to gain an edge over others. Popular courses such as training on critical aspects of bioinformatics are being taken up by most of the students, but unfortunately I feel I am not capable enough. This is primarily because I do not have a sound knowledge on the basics leading to the complexities of technical expertise. Hence, I am undertaking short term certification to strengthen my basics.
References:
Blatt, S.J. and Bless, R.B., 2013. A Dialectic Model of Personality Development. Development and vulnerability in close relationships.
Boud, D., Keogh, R. and Walker, D., 2013. Reflection: Turning experience into learning. Routledge.pp.113
Eysenck, H.J., 2013. Personality structure and measurement (psychology revivals). Routledge.pp.40
Falchikov, N., 2013. Improving assessment through student involvement: Practical solutions for aiding learning in higher and further education. Routledge.pp.55
Hennecke, M., Bleidorn, W., Denissen, J.J. and Wood, D., 2014. A three?part framework for self?regulated personality development across adulthood. European Journal of Personality, 28(3), pp.289-299.
McAdams, D.P., 2015. The art and science of personality development. Guilford Publications.
Moon, J.A., 2013. Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice. Routledge.pp.88-90
Parkay, F.W., Anctil, E.J. and Hass, G., 2014. Curriculum leadership: Readings for developing quality educational programs. Prentice Hall.pp.67-69
Specht, J., Bleidorn, W., Denissen, J.J., Hennecke, M., Hutteman, R., Kandler, C., Luhmann, M., Orth, U., Reitz, A.K. and Zimmermann, J., 2014. What drives adult personality development? A comparison of theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence. European Journal of Personality, 28(3), pp.216-230.
Zimmermann, J. and Neyer, F.J., 2013. Do we become a different person when hitting the road? Personality development of sojourners. Journal of personality and social psychology, 105(3), p.515.
Zuber-Skerritt, O., 2013. Professional development in higher education: A theoretical framework for action research. Routledge.pp.76
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