Evaluating Career Development

The aim of this essay is to reflect upon and evaluate my personal, academic and career developments since I have started university. I will be reflecting upon my experience of the work placement and feedback received from my first semester assignments, along with evaluating my career aspirations and creating an action plan on how to get there. Throughout the essay I will be using Gibbs reflective cycle to allow me to effectively evaluate my progress and develop a plan so that I can continue to move towards my career aspirations. Gibbs, 1988 proposed that reflection can take place after an experience and provided a structure to guide the process of relating. The proposed model has “six stages with each step informing the next. (See Figure 1
I have been able to develop numerous skills, such as time management, reflective practice and working as part of a team and evaluate my strengths and weaknesses so that I can adjust and achieve the highest grades possible. The feedback from the essay immediately drew my attention to some of my weak points, for example, sourcing, citing and proofreading my work. Even though time management has proven a strength in each of the group assignments undertaken, I still believe there is room for improvement, in particular when writing my essays. It was evident from my feedback that I had not taken enough time to proofread my work, as there were countless silly errors pointed out that should have been avoided. Referencing is another area where I need to improve, as it is a significant part of all academic writing. I believe once I learn the rules and fully understand how to implement them, this will address the issue. However, I will always need to ensure that I take my time and pay attention to detail when referencing to ensure that it is done correctly. On the other hand, feedback received on group tasks clearly indicated that I work well as part of a team and can effectively apply theory to the question in hand. However, one area that was picked up on was presenting in a
The main values that I hold when looking for a job are: security, material rewards, expertise and status. I would like a job that is relatively safe in a stable environment that can provide me with the finance to be able to buy the things I want without having to worry too much about the cost. I also want to gain a high level of accomplishment in a specialised field where my co-workers respect and aspire to be like me. The values along with the results of the personality test (see figure ?? Of appendix), make me aspire to two main job roles: a marketing director or financial