Maisha Miah

Friday October 3rd, 2014

Your Personal Development Plan

Personal development planning (PDP) means reflecting on your learning, performance and achievements. It is a useful tool to make sense of who you are; what skills you have; and what skills you need to have to be successful with your studies, personal and professional life. You will need to continually visit and re-visit your PDP throughout your studies.

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.                                                                                        

Epictetus (Greek Sage and Philosopher)

Your Personal Development ChallengeThe two week induction programme is nearly complete and we hope that it has been an interesting and challenging couple of weeks for you. Now we would like you to think about your learning experiences so far, what skills you have, what skills you wish to acquire. How do you wish to acquire new skills?

Personal Development Planning Handbook (© University of Bath)

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Your PDP Journey

This task sheet will help you with your PDP journey but this is only the beginning. You need to refer to this document again in the Business and Professional Issues module and during the rest of your studies.

This journey is broken down in small manageable stages and we would like you to document each stage in your e-Portfolio which you will start during the Business and Professional Issues module.

Stage 1 - Where am I now?Stage 2 – Where do I want to be?Stage 3 – How do I get there?Stage 4 – What support do I need?Stage 5 – What have I achieved/yet to achieve?

We will work on Stage 1 for the time being. You do not need to complete this exercise during your lab session today but it would be good to make a head start. Your Business and Professional Issues tutor will visit this document with you in a couple of weeks.

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Stage 1 - Where am I now?

Name: Maisha Maarya Miah

Course/Group: Com104

Personal Tutor: Paul Carden

My Achievements:(Qualifications, Jobs, Training, Achievements)

Qualifications: GCSE: (10 A-C GRADES CERTIFIED) A LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY: D A LEVEL ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: D A LEVEL COMMUNICATIONS AND CULTURE: C BTEC LEVEL 2 in WORKSKILLS: C

Work Experience: Citi Group Bank: Office Assistant Topshop: Sales Assistant Asian Beauty Bridal: Customer Service

Jobs: Next Retail: Sales Assistant

How do you feel right now?If you had a slogan on your T.Shirt, what will it say about you? For example:‘I feel frustrated, tired and lost” or “I am happy/challenged/motivated”

I feel lost and tiny.

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How do you want to feel instead?If you had a slogan on your T.Shirt, what will it say about you? For example: ‘I am motivated to take on another challenge’

I am motivated to work hard in order for my success to make the noise.

Taking stock: SWOT analysis of my current situation, including evidence:

SWOT analysis is a useful tool as it helps take stock of the situation and is a simple way of analysing your level of readiness for a new task.

Strengths

What are your strengths that you may build upon?

I am a good listener I have good reading and writing

skills I have good attention to detail I have good research skills I have the ability to learn topics that

are interesting to me fast I am good at teamwork I am good at contributing strong

opinions I am good at following instructions I am good at analysing

Weaknesses

What are your weaknesses or area to develop and work on?

For example: I am NOT good at programming

I am not good at maths I do not know much about

programming It may take me a while to get used

to elements of a topic I am confused about

I am not good at presentations I do not easily adapt to new

environment instantly

Opportunities

What opportunities do you see to develop

Threats

What treats do you see to your personal

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yourself?

For example: I need to practice my programming skills

I want to improve on my programming skills

I want to improve on my maths I want to build on my confidence

level I want to be confident in my

presentation skills I want to develop my problem

solving skills

development or barriers that you need to overcome?

For example: I work part-time and this might affect my studies

I want to get a part time job however this may affect my studies

If I get a bad grade, I may see that as a threat and feel discouraged. I need to overcome this fear.

Activity: self-evaluation of personal qualities associated with success

Good Wish to improve

Not relevant to me

Self-knowledge and self-awareness TICK

Problem-solving ability TICK

A creative approach TICK

Positive attitude TICK

People skills TICK

Team-working TICK

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Leadership TICK

Negotiating skills TICK

A desire to succeed TICK

A willingness to ‘do what it takes’ TICK

Emotional intelligence TICK

The ability to manage personal stress TICK

The ability to cope with and/or promote change TICK

Self-confidence TICK

A broad range of personal interests TICK

Self-knowledge (reflection, self-analysis) TICK

Risk management TICK

Ability to cope with uncertainty TICK

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Activity: self-evaluation – how good are your people skills now?

Rate each of the following statements as follows:

Rating: 3: Strongly agree 2: Agree 1: Sort of agree 0: Disagree/don’t know/no opportunitiesScore

I have worked with a wide range of people of different ages and backgrounds 2I am told that I am very good at working with others 2I feel very confident about talking to people I do not know well 3I am comfortable about leaving silences whilst other people gather their thoughts 2I can start a conversation easily 1I find people extremely interesting 2I am aware of my body language and its effects upon others 3I can be very helpful and polite to people I hate or despise 2I can see the good points in most of the people I meet during a week 3I can listen well without interrupting somebody who talks a lot 3I am very good at developing trust between myself and others 3When I am in a group, I can easily tell the strengths of each person 2When I am in a team, I can tell easily who will be the best for each job 2I work very well as a member of a team 2I am clear about the particular strengths I bring to the group or team 3I am able to be very supportive of other people 3I am very good at resolving difficulties that arise in group or team work 0I know what support I need from others 2I am able to ask for what I need 2I am assertive 2I can deal well with difficult people 1I am able to accept, publicly, responsibly for my own part in interactions that go wrong 2I am skilled at offering constructive criticism to others 3I am able to take negative criticism well 3I am able to accept praise well 3I negotiate well with other people 2I know how to arrive at a good compromise 2I am clear what direction I need from people in leadership roles 3I feel very comfortable about taking the lead in activities 1I am very aware of what other people need 2

Add your score Total66

Maisha Miah

Competitiveness Audit: Rate each statement according to how typical it is of you.

Rating: 4: Very typical 3: typical 2: Quite typical 1: Hardly ever the case 0: Never true/Don’t knowScore

I am aware of my skills, personal qualities and expertise 3

I know how to apply these strengths to new situations 3

I take active steps to learn new skills 3

I ask for help when I need it 3

I have a clear vision of what I want to achieve 4

I set myself challenging targets 2

I am keen to receive feedback on my performance 4

I pay attention to feedback I receive and use it to improve my performance 3

I am usually keen to better my past performance 3

I take steps to discover and meet my personal development needs 2

I know how to measure my performance 2

I can set clear priorities 3

I am good at planning ahead 3

I pay attention to small details 4

I can see quick ways of doing things, without impairing quality 2

I can get going on a new task without much direction 3

I can make decisions quickly about what needs to be done 3

I am good at managing money and keeping to budget 2

I am good at meeting deadlines 3

I can co-ordinate my work with that of other people 3

I can manage responsibly 4

I can take orders from other people 4

I am good at finding solutions to problems 2

I can adapt and be flexible according to what is needed 3

I am prepared to ‘do what it takes’ to get a job done 4

Your competitiveness score Total (out of 100) 75

Activity: your top forty strong points

Make a list of your strong points, successes, qualities, attitudes and attributes. List at least

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forty things. If that sounds like too many, you are underestimating yourself. Put stars (*) by the ten that your greatest assets. Put plusses (+) around the seven of which you are most proud.

1. Attention to detail 21. Lively

2. Good listener 22. Humorous *

3. Team player 23. Dedicated +

4. Strong opinions * 24. Open minded * +

5. Friendly * 25.

6. Straightforward person * + 26.

7. Follow clear instructions 27.

8. Can meet deadlines 28.

9. Aim to succeed * + 29.

10. Solve other people’s problems * + 30.

11. Contribute ideas + 31.

12. Honest * + 32.

13. Self-motivated * 33.

14. Trustworthy 34.

15. Good analysis skills 35.

16. Hard worker 36.

17. Sensitive 37.

18. Responsible 38.

19. Optimistic 39.

20. Patient * 40.