Personal Development Plan

Personal Development Plan
Name:
Subject:
Date of Submission
Personal Development Plan

Name

Insert your name

Covering the Period from

Insert the Appropriate Period

To:

Insert the Appropriate Period

Goals: I intend to not only pass my exams with good grades, but also to acquire the required skills for my future career. I also intend to prepare myself to meet the required conditions for a global business environment because the current business industry is going global.

Required Skills

My Path to acquiring the skills

Required resources and support

How to gauge acquired skills

Deadlines for meeting my goals

Communication Skills
It is crucial to highlight that I have to develop my written and spoken communication skills.

This will be achieved by giving speeches to high school students and social gatherings in order to improve my speaking (Coetzee 2007). I will also improve my written skills through wide reading and writing several papers. Specifically, I will focus on business communication writings such as letters, memos, and reports.

Financial resources will be required to travel to high schools where I intend to deliver speeches. I will also use the internet to read widely in addition to using my computer for writing papers.

I will rely on feedback from my audience to identify whether I can communicate my ideas succinctly. I will also rely on my teachers and grades to determine whether my written communication meet the market standards.

I have set my deadline for assessing my communication skills on 15 July 2015. I believe I will have feedback from my teachers on assignments. I will also be in apposition to asses feedbacks from audiences in places I will deliver my speeches.

Cognitive skills
I intend to improve my analytical skills interpretation skills and critical thinking skills.

I believe my coursework at the Coventry University of London will equip me with the required analytical interpretation and critical thinking skills.

I believe I only need to invest my time and energy in order to acquire these skills. This owes to the reality that I will be relying on coursework to acquire the kills.

Will rely on feedback from assignments to identify whether I can think critically analytically and interpret problems and solutions appropriately

I have set my deadline for assessing my cognitive skills on 15 July 2015. I believe I will have feedback from my teachers on assignments. I intend to improve on areas of weakness before the final exam

Technical Skills
Business Applications
Computer software

The only sure way of achieving this goal is practice. As evidence, Beausaert et al., (2013) argues that practicing how to use different applications is the only way of learning how to use the applications.

I already have a personal computer to use for my practice. I also have business applications software such as Quick books and Sage. I believe the two software will give me the skills required to work with other business application software

I will record the time I use to solve different problems using Sage and Quick books. I will also cross check to ensure I have done everything correctly. My peers will also help to confirm whether I am working well.

I intend to review my technical skills by 15 July 2015. I will have had enough time to practice working with the required applications.

Management skills
Time management, Leadership skills, and people management skills.

I will use group discussions and coursework to work on my management skills. Specifically, I will take leadership roles in my group to build on leadership and people management skills (Clegg and Bradley, 2006). I will also use assignments to identify how well I manage my time

I will rely on my classmates and peers to build my management skills. I will also do research on the internet to identify how I can improve my management skills.

I will rely on feedback from my peers to identify how well I work a leader. I will also rely on them to help me gauge my people management skills. Ultimately, I will check how I meet the deadline for all my assignments.

I will review my management skills by 15 July 2015. I believe we shall have had several group discussions and assignments by then.

Introduction
Personal development plans are important because they help individuals to maximize their skills and meet their strategic goals. It is also notable that such plans are continuous development processes that help individuals identify areas for improvement in order to improve their productivity continuously (Jasper et al., 2013). In short, personal development plans enable individuals to reflect and evaluate themselves on their success. It follows that students can use personal development plans because the plans can help students identify and acquire the required skills in the competitive job market. Considering the importance of a personal development pan, I believe that having an individual personal plan would be helpful. This owes to the reality that the plan will improve on my skills and help me identify areas of improvement (Shaw, and Linnecar, 2007). I believe a personal development plan will also help me identify whether or not I am meeting my goals.
Background
I am an Azerbaijan national who began studies in my local country before moving to England to further my studies. While in Azerbaijan, I studied for a business degree from Azerbaijan Economic University implying my career path is business oriented. In fact, it is the reason why I made an effort to further my studies at the Coventry University London. I believe my current studies will equip me with the required skills for an otherwise challenging business career. I also understand that a business career requires leadership skills because I will be required to manage several people in my career. Additional skills required for my career include analytical skills, technical skills communication skills and critical skills. As a result, I intend to equip myself with the relevant skills upon completion of my studies.
Learning Styles
According to the United States Department of State (2006), students must be able to identify their learning styles because understanding individual learning styles enables students to complete their studies effectively. The Combe (2014) further asserts that learners should be in a position to identify what type of students in order to improve in their areas of weaknesses. As a result, I completed questionnaires from Educational Planners to analyze my learning styles. I was interested in the tests because I had no idea what type of learner I was prior to completing the tests. However, the results as indicated in appendix 1.1 reveal that I am an auditory leaner. The results also indicate that also reveal that I am a good student who attends classes, delivers assignments on time, and spends enough time studying.
It follows that I will us knowledge acquired from the tests to improve on my studies. For example, it is advisable that auditory leaners sit where they can hear well in class, check their hearing on regular basis, read aloud, and practice by taking audio tests (In Kaplan et al., 2013). As a result, I will study by applying the advice in order to maximize my ability. It is also notable that I am a good type of student owing to the results in appendix 1.2. Therefore, I will continue to attend classes and deliver assignments on time because it I the reason why I am a good student.
Personal Development Plan Analysis
Communication Skills
Effective communication is a vital skill for any job seeker or employee (Aspin, et al., 2001). Consequently, I took a communication skills test with an aim of rating my communications skills. I was surprised with the results because I thought that I am a poor communicator contrary to the results of the test. The results in appendix 2.1 indicated that I am a capable communicator, who needs to improve. Therefore, I have to improve on my communication skills by working on how I receive as well as send messages.
Technical Skills
I have no idea if particular tests can help me identify my technical skills and how to improve them. However, I believe that my experience with business application software is average because I was required to complete assignments using business application software during by studies at Azerbaijan Economic University. As high achievers say, "the sky is not the limit," I must improve on my technical expertise through continuous practice. This owes to the reality that I constantly learn new things even after repeating procedures I knew earlier.
Management Skills
Students in business courses should equip themselves with management skills because they will be required to manage businesses in their careers (Allen, n.d). It is the reason why I took a management skills test to identify how good I am, and how to improve my management skills. The results indicated that I have good management skills because I cored 70 percent in the test. However, I believe I still have to improve further because I cannot make thirty percent of mistakes in my career. The results are indicated in appendix 2.2 below.
Cognitive Skills
As aforementioned, I intend to improve on my cognitive skills by focusing on coursework at Coventry University London. However, I took a cognitive skills test that examined a combination of my analytical, critical thinking and interpretation skills. The results reveal that my cognitive skills are high because Appe...