Personal Development Planning (PDP) for Students

Personal Development Planning (PDP) for students is the process theough which universities enciurage the students to reflect on their current skills and see how the learning (the new semester) has helped them acquire new personal as well as employability skills; PDP also helps students plan for their short-term as well as long term future, and helps in academic as well as career development.

Most universities now have PDP for students (throughout their college experience) as it is encourages them to assess their learning experience.

Here’s a typical example of a PDP for student, where the university encourages the student to answer/relfect on various aspects of their learning and development.

Provide a short introduction to your assessment PDP

The module has helped me grow as an individual. I have learned more about myself and has also helped me figure out how I work as an individual and how I think and take decisions for myself. It has taught me what my weaker areas are and how I can work on them. It has helped me become more responsible about my work. The primary reason I was able to enhance on my weaknesses was through my PDP with the help of my SWOT analysis. Here my main focus was on numeracy, poor long-term planning and academic skills. My PDP helped me overcome these weaknesses in different ways.
“The only journey is the journey within.” – Rainer Maria Rilke (Sourcesofinsight.com, 2018)

Overview/summary of what you learnt during the semester about yourself

For me, it has been such a journey from the moment I stepped on campus all the way to today. It has been a big jump from the comfort zone I had in high school. Having access to expert teachers and the library gives us more knowledge about our work and helps us do the in-depth research and it is always so easy to contact the teachers as they are very friendly and always ready to help. We have guest lecturers coming in to our college and telling us how they are so successful and have reached the position they are in and this helps me understand how the outside and the corporate world works.

Learning for business success has made me learn more about myself and what my strengths and weaknesses are. It has motivated me to grow as a person. Organization structure of effective management has taught me a lot about how company’s function and operate internally and externally and lastly, introduction to people at work helps me understand the people I am working with in a much better way and how teamwork can be implemented effectively.

These modules have taught me new skills and helped me challenge myself. I have gained so much confidence in the first semester and have met and socialized with so many different kind of people, I am excited to go through the remaining semesters.

Reflections on your first employability skill (on your PDP)

My first area of development were my numeracy skills. I realized that it was necessary to take steps to develop in this area after seeing low grades in my tests which made me unconfident and it was clear that I had lack of knowledge of this subject. I can work on improving on this skill through quantitative theory (K. M. Iiussain, 1969).

With the help of this I can apply mathematical and statistical models and processes to management situations which would make my learning for this more interesting. The most effective development technique was the Math Master app. It enabled me to answer various different types of questions at a quicker rate and eventually as weeks went by I could see the increase in my marks. It helped me improve in the areas of subtraction, addition, multiplication and division. I could see the difference in my calculation skills and how it had developed after using this app.

This was one of the most helpful techniques for me to improvise on my numeracy skills but I used other techniques too like interpreting graphs, measuring area of shapes, etc which was also through the help of the app. The more I worked on the papers and tests the app provided to me I could see how I understood the other methods and sums in a much better way. This not only helped me with making my calculations quicker but also as accounting is one of my important subjects it helps me in those financial cases as well.

“God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically.” –Albert Einstein (Iith.ac.in, n.d.)

Reflections with examples on your second employability skill (on your PDP)

Another area for development on my PDP was poor academic skills. I tend to get distracted very easily because of television, social medial and because of this I used to delay my work for later. This had also affected my grades and it was better to do it late than never. I had to make up for lost time so I had to concentrate more on improving my essay writing skills (Fairbairn and Fairbairn, 2010). I have sat with my teachers and made sure to ask them whatever doubts I have and have solved past papers and made sure that my teachers help me by giving their feedback about my work. For every assessment, I have sat and made notes when the teachers take our briefing sessions about what has to be done so that makes my work easy when I have to make reports or presentations in class. It gives me a clear understanding of the module. I have also started to make a timetable and so I can time myself and be more organized about what I have to do when during the day. I make sure to take time out for my academics also the extra curricular activities. I have also watched a few YouTube videos (YouTube, 2016) (YouTube, 2014) which have helped me understand how I can develop my academic/writing skills.
“The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.” –John F. Kennedy.

Reflections with examples on your third employability skill (on your PDP)

Another My third area of development was in poor long-term planning. This weakness of mine leads to poor time management. I tend to push things off for later and all my work is then left for the last minute which puts a lot of pressure on me and this may be bad for my future as if I run my own business I can not afford to make last minute decisions as it not only affects my life but also of the people working with me and for me as an individual it is very important to maintain a good work-life balance.

I used the Locke’s goal setting theory (LATHAM and LOCKE, 1991) which helps me set a goal to achieve a big target or a deadline which will in turn improve my performance. I need to start prioritizing my work and organize myself before my assignments so because of the last minute pressure I do not mess up my work (Unom.ac.in, 2019). To improvise on this, I have started to create deadlines for myself and made a schedule on my google calendar because this not only helps me finish my work on time but also helps me learn the value of time. This makes me aware of what and how I have to perform and I have a proper schedule of the tasks that I have to finish off on a daily basis. “Time is the best teacher, time is the best counsellor for all”- Pericles (Latumahina, 2018)

More reflections related to your learning on the modules in the University that relates to employability skills

Through many tests and and audit materials I have come across three main areas of development but other than that I have developed another employability skill through the use of my other modules such as my confidence in front of a larger audience. I get very nervous when I have to talk in front of many people even if it’s a known or unknown audience. Standing on a stage and speaking in front of hundreds or thousands of people scares me and I tend to stammer a lot, but my teachers have helped me a lot with this. Recently, my teacher pushed me to talk in front of an audience during an event where we had different guests coming from outside as well.

Initially I was very reluctant on doing it but my teacher motivated me to do it and after a few practices I presented very well and after joining my college I have seen a vast difference in my presentation skills as we have to present in front of a panel judging our work. Hence, my teachers have helped a lot in this process and helped me boost my confidence.

Key issues/problems that you encountered and overcome, lessons learnt that will make you do things differently next time.

While I was working on Strengthening my weaknesses I got a lot of opportunities such as college fests and social events that helped strengthen them. Through these opportunities I managed to find out the important aspects I was missing out on and that has helped me work on my weaknesses. I have tried to use these opportunities to the best of my ability and battled my way through the threats I faced during the opportunities I got.

Conclusion / Summary of the key elements of your CAP (Career Action Plan)

I prepared a Career Action Plan where I explain the three main career goals of my life. My First Career goal is to complete my degree from the university with a distinction. The knowledge I gain from completing my degree from the university will be the stepping stone that will be useful for me in my future career goals. Getting a degree from the University will also give me recognition when I apply for my Masters Degree Abroad or during job applications.

My Second Career goal is to get a job in the department of marketing at Vogue in the next five years. I have always been interested in fashion and lifestyle so for me getting a job in Vogue will give me a great exposure. I already have experience in the marketing department as I was a part of the marketing team for my college fest ‘IMPULSE’ and I really enjoyed working in the marketing team. So getting a job in the marketing department at Vogue will give me platform where I portray my marketing skills.

The Third Career goal is to become the head of marketing at Vogue in the next ten years. By using all my strengths and skills productively I would like to become the marketing head for Vogue through my hard work. By using my leadership skills and teamwork I plan to use new innovative ideas and lead the marketing department to help Vogue excel and be able to compete with its competitors.

Final thoughts; how will this learning affect your future career, life in general?

This module has helped me understand myself in a better way. I have figured out and analyzed my strengths and weaknesses and it has changed me and made me a better person as I have learned to use my strengths at the right places and figured out how to work on my weaknesses. Motivation is the main thing that has helped me work on my weaknesses and also the passion to achieve the goals I have set for myself. Before joining this college, I was a different person and as semester one has come to an end, I am a different person as I have learned so much about myself. It has shown me what I want and what I want to do. It has in some way given me a direction. I have become more confident as a person and will I am confident that I will be able to achieve great results in semester two as I have developed great employability skills.

References

• Iith.ac.in. (n.d.). Mathematics quotes, quotations, Famous Mathematics quotes. [online] Available at: https://www.iith.ac.in/~jbala/publications/The%20Right%20Angle/Quotes/Mathematics%20quotes,%20quotations,%20Famous%20Mathematics%20quotes.htm
• K. M. Iiussain (1969) Introduction to Quantitative Management, Technometrics, 11:2, 403, DOI: 10.1080/00401706.1969.10490697
• LATHAM, G. and LOCKE, E. (1991). ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND HUMAN DECISION PROCESSES. [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232501090_A_Theory_of_Goal_Setting_Task_Performance
• Latumahina, D. (2018). Time Quotes: 66 Best Time Management Quotes. [online] Available at: https://www.lifeoptimizer.org/2007/03/08/66-best-quotes-on-time-management/
• Sourcesofinsight.com. (2018). Personal Development Quotes. [online] Available at: http://sourcesofinsight.com/personal-development-quotes/
• Develop Good Habits. (2019). 73 Knowledge Quotes to Inspire Learning and Increase Wisdom. [online] Available at: https://www.developgoodhabits.com/knowledge-quotes/.
• YouTube. (2016). Language tips to improve academic writing. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNGBqXQGb7c&t=45s.
• YouTube. (2014). 5 tips to improve your writing. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgkRoYPLhts&t=21s
• Unom.ac.in. (2019). [online] Available at: http://www.unom.ac.in/asc/Pdf/timemanagement-IMPORTANTone.pdf
• Fairbairn, G. and Fairbairn, S. (2010). Reading at university. Buckingham: Open University Press.

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