This is a reflection of my experience in the learning of the module Personal Development Planning (PDP). The report highlights the lessons learnt as well as the understanding gained in the module. The application of the ideas in the module in my personal and professional development is also a key aspect of this reflection.
While this report is an important part of this subject module, it’s has not been lost for me that the ideas learnt in the module may be of great importance to my academic and professional life and may therefore demand further interrogation in any future engagements.
What did you find most beneficial/enjoyable?
The motivation and interest s summary sheet exercise was one of the most enjoyable tasks that I took. This task not only enabled me to identify my potential but also allowed for my exploration of my personality and prospective career fit with regard to my personal interests. This has had an enduring impact on my understanding of me and others as well as expanding my worldview.
Most importantly, is its influence on my career choice in a real world situation?
The personality test questionnaire was also an appalling one, as I did not think that I would get the results as they were. I have always considered myself a different person all together but taking this test brought to light a different dimension in my personal and developmental life.
What did you learn from this?
I have learnt many things in my academic life, as well as personal experiences, but it never occurred to me that there is such a big shift in mindset that I would experience in my mortal life!
I am normally the self opinionated type, but learning from this module made me realize that there is more in life than a career, a great pay, a big company and all. There is a lot to do with personal interests, personal goals and objectives as well as motivation. This came as a surprise since I have always held the belief that after my school work, my major concern will be getting hired by a great tourism company all the glamour that comes with a big employer but I now know better.
The module has taught me that all the things that are glamorous in a career may be pointless if one does not enjoy what they do, or whatever they do is not in their interests. This unconventional way of looking at issues was a strange one to me, as my parents have always drummed conventional wisdom into my head.
The wisdom in this module was great, to the extent that it has not only impacted on my life and future career, but I have spend a lot of time discussing what I have learnt with friends to try and make them understand that one’s personality has a significant influence on what jobs they would enjoy, as well as their productivity in those jobs.
I have also come to appreciate the many tools of learning that have been developed to assist learners to be able to know their potential. The personality questionnaires were new to me, as well as most of the other tests conducted in this module, but I have now appreciated fully, their roles in personal identity, personal knowledge, professional growth and development. In my honest opinion, these tools should be extended and used on other modules so that their importance and wisdom is inculcated into the curriculum for the benefit of other students.
It was also not lost for me that for one to fit in a given career, then they ought to have specific skills and attitudes so that they can be successful. Depending on one’s personality, I have learnt that their performance in a career can be influenced. It is with this understanding that I have taken it upon myself to offer my unsolicited advice to friends and family on the wisdom of this module with regard to the suitability of their present and future career choices.
Most importantly though, I am now well informed that a career choice is no child play. It requires just more that qualifying grades or financial muscle. A good career choice should be a factor of personal understanding and evaluation of one’s potential and this is where the tools studied in this module come to be appreciated.
These tools help not only in understanding once potential but also in career planning. This way, the student will strive to attain the required skills for the given career choice so as to ensure that they properly fit to the required career specifications and do not get a career shock by pursuing uninteresting and boring careers.
What skills did you use/develop?
I must admit that I have developed both hard and soft skills. The soft skills that I have developed are those unrelated to the general academics but are more inclined to my personal self. These I have gained mainly from the general module and other university lessons. The combinations of these soft skills as well as the hard academic skills now bring me out as an accomplished scholar who fully understands their place in the society today.
Of importance amongst the skills learnt will include
Career planning,
Communication skills
Report writing skills
Problem solving skills
Paper formatting in the different stylesInternal motivation as well as career enhancement
I still feel that there is a lot that I need to know from the little learnt in this module and this can only be unearthed by concerted research. I will not only actively seek for avenues of exploring my personal personality traits, but I shall also do my best to better my areas of strengths and work on the areas that I feel that I need to enhance.
Could you have improved your input? If so how?
While I appreciate the knowledge gained in this module, I feel that I was not best prepared for the same and that my participation would have been more significant if I had familiarized myself with the teachings in this module.
Prior familiarization with a given topic, chapter or even module enables the learner to easily comprehend a particular lesson as one is able to easily identify with some of the terms and tests to be administered.
I will attempt to try and study ahead of the instructor, so that I am well aware what to expect in a module.
Secondly, my initial analysis of this module was that it was just another academic thing, one of those classes that one does not mind missing. I have however come to appreciate the essence of time and presence and had consistently attended to these lessons. I would therefore have done much better if I had known that this is a lifelong lesson in development.
I would have paid more attention to the module from the onset, since as I am now aware, the module has life changing lessons, which are a must learn for all, whether one is a student or not. Its impact on one’s life is incredible while the consequences of not having this information can be life changing.
Conclusion
While I have been in school for long enough to have learnt important things, I cannot now sit back and assume that I am very knowledgeable in a given field. In something like my personality trait to my career choice can easily be analysed using simple questionnaire forms, then this is a field that needs more research on the best methods of evaluating once performance, aptitude as well as commitment in a more objective way.
