Professional Practice In A Digital World: Employability Skills Reflection

Employability Skills Reflection

Discuss about the Professional Practice In A Digital World.

The field of IT is one of the best fields to venture into as per my opinion. The learning experience has been one of the most beneficial ventures that I have engaged into due to the different exposure I have had. It comes as an all rounded field which focuses on different areas such as discipline, knowledge and capabilities, communication, critical thinking self-management, teamwork and global citizenship. All the have been greatly improved by the end of the learning period and improved my IT skills and real-life application of all the skills. There is a thin line between all the GLOs given above and they work together hand in hand so as to deliver the best out of IT to the real world or for the application of a client’s scenario. For instance, when handling a client’s project that requires a website development, the capability to deliver and the fields knowledge is key. You have to be in a position to deliver what the client needs. Communication, how do you interact with this client, do you sell your idea to the client in an audible manner or will the communication lose the client in the process, how creative are you in the whole project or will you be able to deliver something that is mind blowing to the client that will retain them or will the project deliverable be the same boring products being offered out there in the market. The product needs to stand out and for this to happen critical thinking is required. Self-management another key important aspect covered through out the learning period, will you meet the required deadlines and will there be deliverables at all the specified timelines, with this in mind self-management is crucial for all to be met. Having some experience in the IT workplace some of these learned skills got to be sharpened as well as fine turned due to the different handled projects during the experience.

According to my Employability toolkit results, I have four literacies 5 out of 6, like ethical, cultural and social literacy, basic literacy, rhetorical literacy and occupational literacy. I still have two 4 out of 5 is emotional literacy and personal and critical literacy. For emotional literacy I need prove handle stressful situations and problems. For personal and critical literacy, I should be satisfied with myself and my qualities. And for occupational literacy, I should match my skills, values, and interests to relevant occupation. I still should be listen to and consult with other people to exchange expertise and information. I very love my course. This has helped me realize some of the specific parts that I am supposed to work on and improve so as to fine tune all my skills. With more practice I get to sharpen my skills more and improve my employability skills. The learning process has helped me adapt to different skills such as the ethical and cultural fields but for a better understanding of the social literacy for instance, the direct interaction with the customers or at the work place skill set gets amplified. Just like a teacher, the first day of teaching one may find it hard interacting with the students but as they get used to the socialization tool-set it becomes easier and flows effortlessly. For my profession, socializing with the customers, other professionals in the field, gives me an upper hand in mastering the social literacy of my employability skills. Occupational literacy also come with the adapting to once field. Being around the professionals and the work associated in my IT field gives me the occupational literacy, one gets to learn the different challenges that you encounter on a daily basis. The profession has a pattern close to that of a driver a thing I have learnt through out the learning period. As a driver starts learning how to drive it becomes easier for them to drive long distances comfortably but not that they do learn to rive today and tomorrow they drive across states. Step by step they get to adapt to the different driving skills together with the different challenges they encounter on the road. My learning experience in my field has been the same for instance in coding different websites, the more you code the different feature for the website the more you learn how to make your work easier, how to make it more presentable as well as how to effectively have your work communicate your professionalism. This give one an upper hand in the employability skills and from the period of study, getting a better or higher score on my employability toolkit has got me practicing a lot in my field. From the results there has been a major improvement from my initials starting point and not only has this been reflected on the paper but I have taken up personal projects that I have recorded improvement if I was to compare my starting point and my current project that I did after the first few projects.

Shark Tank Reflection

After an analysis of the results and the improvement, personally the results were a reflection of the hard work I had put to improve the performance in my understanding of IT as my profession and career. For these improvements to be registered major efforts have been put in line and as seen from the introduction, I have engaged into different projects personally to gain that experience and knowledge hence leading to the reflection seen in the results, communication for instance, these are some of the fields that can hardly improve unless one works his skills and communicate to multiple people and different matters so that they may get their skillset on point. Coding so as to get my knowledge in relation to designing flawless websites is another practice-success identity. I have been coding on a daily basis and this has exposed me to turns of things that have helped me perfect my occupational literacy. Hence one can confidently say the improvement in the results are based on actual facts of my current employability skills in the IT field.

It is also evident that my communication skill are perfect with a good score but I have come to realize that my actual strength fall under web coding, this is because of the fun I drive from the process, having to code a feature and then immediately see the outcome of my work instantly. The area is such a broad field that developments are made daily, different technologies implemented and keeping up with all these will ensure customer satisfaction when working on different projects. The thing that drives your passion is always the best motivation and a reflection of the learning period it has become clear that the coding field of the IT process gets my skills on the move. This keeps me challenged and makes me work even harder every day, I have been coding on a daily basis with no breaks to ensure smooth skills and to ensure that my skill set are not out dated a thing that I have realized is a major challenge in the field. With the advancement in technology which keeps happening every day, it is important to keep the skills in check. This has become my focus are but I have also realized a few weaknesses in me that needs improvement and this includes the different coding languages. For a perfect web designer, it is evident that I need to be proficient in multiple languages since the combination of all these gives the best end results. But for the other skills such as communication I have room for improvement but currently the learning period has significantly sharpened my skill set. From a view of other classmates at some point I felt I was so hard on myself since I went the extra mile to involve my self in personal projects which led me to deeper research in relation to my field. I clearly don’t know if the others went to that extra mile, I even did research on some of the leading web developing companies, what it took to become a web developing company or to start up a web developing company among other extra mile covered so as to perfect my skill and also get ahead of the web developing industry. To some point I had made research on how different companies host their services and what it took to be in a position to provide search services.

After venturing in the field of Information Technology I decided to come up with a project that will help in solving customer problems. One day I wanted to purchase a commodity and I faced a lot of challenge before getting the right product. This involved moving from one shop to the other a situation that was so much involving and tiresome. However, after undergoing such stress I decided for a way of coming up with an application that would reduce the stress of purchasing a product. In addition, before coming up with the APP project there were some few issues to put into consideration and one of them was a business model that would be friendly to the prescribed program.

Through the business model it was possible to identify the source revenue and the targeted customer base. A good business model will help in coming up with an application that is cost effective in it is development. The business model identified was aimed in making sure a cost-effective Application was developed. Again, the same model helped in identifying a business model that could be easily accessed by the targeted customer base. Again, the business model identified was a low pricing strategy that would encourage companies to embrace the newly developed application.  A low pricing model will always companies to minimize their operating cost and at the same time be able maximize on profit. After being willing to come with the marketing application I decided to approach some of my classmates and form a group that would help in achieving the dream of a marketing strategy. Through the seminars I attended it was possible to gunner more information on what required for the project to be successful and effective. Through sharing ideas with individuals who attended the series of seminars it was possible to identify the best application that would meet the targeted market niche. It was possible to learn more on the diversity of the targeted customers.

Through the seminars I learnt more on the behaviour of the Australian customers and this helped in coming up with one of the most appealing marketing software where customers would be able to access a variety of goods and services and simple and easy way. The application would safe individuals the stress of moving from one shop to the other searching for the commodities they required. My project would help solve one problem experienced with most of the applications that offered the same services. From a research conducted it was evident that the issue of timely delivery was faced by many and it got to the point that I felt the need for such a system in place. The projects main idea was to meet the needs of the customers and solve them in an effective approach that satisfy them completely. This made the project stand out as compared to the other systems already available in the market. Different skills were perfected during the project such as the communication skills between me and my team mates, the interested party which in this case was the customers, and also sharpened my developing skills. The project was quite productive in relation to my course. Understanding the needs of the people and formulating an IT related solution is the core basics of my profession and coming up with such a stand clearly pointed out the efforts that the learning period had generated to my skill set. It gave me an inner understanding of what was expected of me and how to apply it in real life scenarios. More projects also need to be considered and as seen through the introductions I have went ahead and engaged into personal skills so as to perfect my skills and improve my employability skills.

One major realization that I made after working on the project, I realized that the chances of self-employment in my field are high due to the vast knowledge one acquires in the field. I felt that I would wish to take up this path of coming up with customer solutions to their needs, pitching to them the solutions and providing them with these solutions. This would mean that I would have to base myself under software and applications development. The field feels challenging and interesting at the same time. I would have to get my software and applications development sharpened but it would be completely worth it. With the advancement in technology, the field of computer related solutions is growing to be one of the most important fields in the market and every on needs a certain customized application to meet their needs. With this in mind, I considered venturing deeper into the field after the Shark Tank project. 

There is a huge difference in me from the start of the learning period to the last week, GLO’s has been one of the key concepts that I have focused on and their impact on my career are significant. Their application in real world also being of great impact to my career. The interconnectivity found between them makes it easier for one to relate them and work effectively employing all of them. Most of these GLOs were more effective if practically applied and the practical application that I had with them made me understand them more and appreciate them also in relation to my field. Some of these can hardly be explained but their impact in handling the relations with clients, and how one approached different projects in the field completely changes when they are applied.

What?

Communication was the basics of the entire learning process, in one of our interactions at the beginning of the seminar, an instructor discussed the importance of communication but a few people had a grasp of what he was trying to relay to us. The learning period involved the interaction with different people from different backgrounds and different culture. This gave one the experience you would have got in the outside world dealing with clients from all over the world. The learning period placed us in such a communication challenge that we had to overcome. Communication was required for the exchange of ideas as well as passing these ideas from one person to the next. With this at hand it is evident that communication was the foundation block for the entire Learning process as well as the career practicality. During the assignment presentation the importance of communication was tested and seeing groups fail due to communication barrier made me realize what it meant to effectively communicate. Excellent projects would be show cased and groups would fail to communicate their idea to the others.

So What?

Having seen all this, I had to reevaluate my communication skills and sharpen my communication package. I had to ensure extensive interaction with multiple attendants during the learning period so as to strengthen my communication patterns with others. When it came down to the assignment we had to perfect our communication skills or we were doomed to end up as some of the previous groups that we had encountered. To avoid this from happening we carried out private presentations where we had to exercise communication and see whether we were able to communicate with each other effectively. I enjoyed the spirit of my team members since the stronger communicators ensured that the others were on the same level as they were or closely behind them so as to ensure communication did not bring the team down. This helped me learn how one could help another person perfect their communication and what it meant to be a team as well as what one had to do for the success of a team.

Now What?

The entire process has taught me a lot, communication and how to effectively communicate, one does not only communicate but is the persons communication effective? This was one of the key accomplishment that cam to light during the whole process. The value of communication was also put in play, how poor communication can be disastrous especially in my profession. For a successful project communication was the basis of everything, one would have all the needed resources but connecting all of them would become impossible if communication would be a problem.

What?

During the learning process it was evident that we all have our personal skills that worked best as compared to the rest. Joining them together made one solid team that was incomparable to many. During the assignment we realized the skills of different members a thing that was evident among the other groups as well. We had to focus on the interpersonal skills so as to capitalize on these as the strengths and help cover up the other weaknesses that some of us had. For instance, the presentation package, some members had a better position in doing presentation that was based in pitching the ides, others had an upper hand in doing the systems requirements presentations and specifications. We joined all this together and learnt more of our inter-personal skills.

During the first assignment it was evident that we had not learnt of our skills and I cannot say that the performance was recommendable since we had different group members doing tasks that they were not comfortable handling. This proved to be a challenge since the flow through out the assignment was lacking. Personally, the task I was assigned was not well compatible with me but we had one member who could have delivered better than I did. We came to realize this later after the first assignment. We had to reshuffle our roles and tried to capitalize on what one felt comfortable with. This was achieved during a group exercise after the first presentation.

For the next assignment the group had had a chance to show case their personal skills and we had to implement an inter personal skillset and the out come was perfect, everyone handled the sections they were comfortable with and the results were way better as compared to the first run.

So what?

From the learning period, it was evident that every one has a list of skill set that they can comfortably deliver. With this in mind, the group had utilized this knowledge to perform the best in the entire project making it possible for everyone to explore their skills and inter relate these skills to give an effective end result. In the field of IT projects are broad, touching on different concepts that require interpersonal skills so as to ensure a successful deliverability.

The learning period made use realize this. As a group we undertook smaller personal or one could call them private projects which were aimed at helping us identify our strengths further. The inter personal skills also led us to interacting with other groups where we felt we lacked a particular skill set. This gave us the chance to incorporate more skills within the team’s skill set.

Now What?

From the gathered information in relation to one’s skills it has become easier for me to understand where my strengths are and how to use them for the advantage over my weaknesses. Most of the participants also are in the same position since the inter personal skills analysis made many learn a lot about there strengths and weaknesses in the IT field. Understanding a group’s skill set also was one major concept analyzed during the learning process. For the successful deliverability of the group, some of these things needs to be tabled.

What?

Through out my learning process I had never taken the time to reflect on my actions or decisions in relation to some of the things that I did but during this period all this cam in play. I had to reflect on some self-management activities especially my time management processes due to the shared workload one had to manage there self accordingly so as to avoid disappointing the other team members. This was to help also build the teams morale among other things. One had to manage themselves accordingly so as to meet the set goals. We had to get ideas from some of the most effective groups that we observed in the learning period. Personally, eagering from some of the most effective leaders gave me ideas on how to work with a team and ensure you develop a self-delivering strategy. I had to reflect on some of other things that I had learned before the tasks that I had to tackle currently.

So What?

In the pursuit of becoming better in time management, project handling among other professional related matters a lot about my profession and hobby, I was able to learn a lot about what my weakness and strengths are. This brought me closer to understanding what was expected of me in case am to find my self in any IT related project. It also became possible for me to understand how to be effective in a group set up where our deliverables are expected. For instance, my communication skills, as well as organization skills we all put in test and intensively reflected on. 

Now What?

I was able to realize some of my major short comings during the learning period, this happened mainly during our first assignment although this was for most of the group members but for the next assignment it was possible for me to rectify on my shortcomings. But analyzing all these strengths and shortcomings. It became possible for me to sit and come up with a comprehensive portfolio of who I am in relation to my profession as well as what I can deliver.

What?

Some of the basic concepts covered in the unit included different practices in IT profession, ethics in relation to our profession and different laws which govern the profession. During the seminar al this cam into play and we had to closely interact with this for a better understanding of this. Through this I was personally introduced to so many international IT related platforms all over the world where different people in the same field could comfortably interact and exchange ideas such as programing platforms, web development platforms where we could share the different challenges we encountered and people with solutions get to reach out. This made me get the global exposure to my profession. I also found the great impact of social media platforms for the growth of our IT field.

So, What?

I have personally integrated my social media presence in relation to all the specific platforms and forums that are relevant to the IT field so as to ensure that all the changes in the field for not pass me at any moment. This will enable me deliver the latest technologies in relation to my field and also ensure any case that may be a hand one to overcome I have a link to the right community to help out.

Now What?

I have learnt to integrate the different legal laws associated with my field, cultural differences and responsibilities associated with the profession. the profession has greatly exposed me to so many different career concepts that I have had a chance to consider and ponder over. The learning period has been so effective and has also helped me transform my profile from just a simple profile to an international related profile and given me a chance to greater job opportunities.

References

Cottrell, S. (2015): Skills for Success: Personal Development and Employability. Palgrave Study Skills. Chapter 8: The art of reflection. (see library website)

Deakin Air (2014): Portfolio and reflection – Study support. Available via https://video.deakin.edu.au/channel/Portfolio+and+reflection Studysupport/49238832  

Williams, K, Woolliams, M, and Spiro, J (2012): Reflective writing. Palgrave Macmillan, Pocket Study Skills. (See library website)

VCC Baking & Pastry Arts (2013): What is Reflective Learning? Available via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIsznZR4hzY