Y our r oad to success

Your road to success

LEVEL 4
EMPLOYABILITY AND
SELF-DEVELOPMENT

BE
•A •
BE
OFOF •A

C AL U I
FI I STUDYG DE

FI I abeuk.com
C A LS
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ii © ABE

Contents
Using your study guide iv Chapter 1 Concept of Employability 2

1.1 Employability and the attitudes, skills and behaviours that are required by employers 3 1.2
Selection criteria in the changing workplace 11

Chapter 2 Assessing Your Own Skillset 18

2.1 Your skills versus the employability skills sought by employers 21 2.2 Assessing your skillset to
write a CV and complete job applications 27

Chapter 3 Demonstrating Your Employability 36

3.1 Demonstrating your employability during the recruitment and selection process 38 3.2
Maximising your potential to a prospective employer at interview 42

Chapter 4 Establishing Yourself in a New Role 50

4.1 Using employability skills in a new job 52 4.2 Integrating with and becoming an effective
contributor to a team 56

Chapter 5 Creating a Personal Development Plan 62

5.1 Maximising your value as an employee 64 5.2 Career goals and aspirations 69

Glossary 74

© ABE iii

Using your study guide

Welcome to the study guide Level 4 Employability and Self-Development, designed to support
those completing an ABE Level 4 Diploma.
Below is an overview of the elements of learning and related key capabilities (taken from the
published syllabus), designed to support learners in assessing their own skillsets in terms of
employability, and in creating their own personal development plans.

Element of learning Key capabilities developed

Element 1: Concept of employability

Element 2: Assessing your own skillset

 objective about self, integrity, writing
objectively and succinctly, desk research,
matching own skills with those required for speci
c job roles, networking, IT skills
• Awareness of tools and techniques used in the
Element 3: Demonstrating your employability recruitment and selection process and how to
utilise skillset to maximise employability
prospects
Self-con dence, interview skills, listening, verbal
and non verbal communication, independence,
Element 4: Establishing yourself in a new role emotional intelligence
• Utilising employability skills for a smooth
transition into a new job and to integrate
effectively with the team Communication skills,
collaboration, openness,
Element 5: Creating a personal development
responsiveness, appreciation of diversity,
plan
respect for others, interpersonal sensitivity, time
• Understanding of what employability is and
management and accountability, commitment
why employers are looking for these skills in
addition to quali cations and experience • Being responsive to feedback in order to
Commercial awareness maintain value to the organisation and
maximise future career potential through
• Awareness of own skill set in terms of self-development
employability and how to develop and use it to Self-development, openness, responsiveness,
write the documents that are required when proactivity, commitment, life-long learning
applying for jobs
Self-awareness, self-re ection and being

This study guide follows the order of the syllabus, which is the basis for your studies. Each
chapter starts by listing the syllabus learning outcome covered and the assessment criteria.

iv © ABE
L4 descriptor
Knowledge descriptor (the holder…) Skills descriptor (the holder can…)
• Has an informed awareness of different
• Has practical, theoretical or technical
perspectives or approaches within the area
knowledge and understanding of a subject of study or work.
or eld of work to address problems that
• Identify, adapt and use appropriate
are well de ned but complex and non cognitive and practical skills to inform
routine. actions and address problems that are
• Can analyse, interpret and evaluate relevant complex and non-routine while normally
information and ideas. fairly well-de ned.
• Is aware of the nature of approximate scope
• Review the effectiveness and
of the area of study or work.
appropriateness of methods, actions and
 results.

Contained within the chapters of the study guide are a number of features which we hope will
enhance your studies:

‘Over to you’: activities for you to complete, using the space provided.

Case studies: realistic business scenarios to reinforce and test your understanding of what
you have read.
highlighted in the text. Examples: illustrating
REVISION
on the go
points made in the text to show how it works in
practice. Tables, graphs and charts: to bring data
to life.
Reading list: identifying resources for further
study, including Emerald articles (which will be
available in your online student resources).
Source/quotation information to cast further light
on the subject from industry sources. Highlighted
words throughout and glossary terms at the end
Note
‘Revision on the go’: use your phone camera to of the book.
capture these key pieces of learning, then save
them on your phone to use as revision notes.
‘Need to know’: key pieces of information that are

Website addresses current as of June 2017.

© ABE v

Chapter 1
Concept of Employability

Introduction
Employability covers the key skills, behaviours and attitudes that you should demonstrate to
employers to become more employable. Employability skills enable individuals to transfer from
one job to another more easily because, often, employers value these generic skills as much as
experience, technical skills or qualifications. Employers increasingly demand employability skills
when recruiting staff because they help to distinguish between employees and serve to highlight
those individuals that are most likely to succeed in a new role.

This opening chapter reviews the concept of employability, the shifting demand in skillset and the
employability skills that employers favour, in order that individuals may understand the relevance of
employability skills to their future career success.

Learning outcomes
On completing the chapter, you will be able to:
1 Explain the concept of employability, and its relevance and value to both employing
organisations and individuals.

Assessment criteria
1 Explain the concept of employability, its relevance and value to both employing
organisations and individuals.
1.1 Explain what is meant by employability and the attitudes, skills and behaviours that are
increasingly demanded by employers when recruiting staff.
1.2 Summarise the relevance and value of this shift in selection criteria for new staff in relation
to the changing workplace.

©ABE

Level 4 Employability
 and Self-Development

Background
The nature of work is changing: the business environment is becoming ever more global and,
consequently, the skills required for work are also changing. In the past, getting a job based on
qualifications and technical experience was the norm. Today, employers are increasingly looking for
people with commercial awareness and a ‘can-do’ attitude, together with skills and behaviours that
will enable them to quickly become part of an effective team and add value to the organisation.
These soft skills enable staff to make a positive contribution to the organisation from an early
stage; work as part of various teams that are likely to be cross-functional in nature; and contribute
more effectively over time as they recognise how the skills they have, and the additional skills that
they are willing to develop, can benefit the organisation.

The changing structure of work and the workplace is also significantly impacting the career
framework of individuals entering the workforce. Globalisation, technology, reduced levels of
employment security and the speed of change means that the psychological contract has
shifted away from traditional ideas of a job for life, to individuals enjoying several careers over their
life time. One of the major challenges for individuals entering the workforce today is to remain
employable and establish a firm foundation of interpersonal skills which allow them to flex and
adapt to the requirements and needs of the employment market.

The use of the concept of employability by government policy makers, education establishments
and employers highlights the important role that employability skills play in the economy and the
labour market. The increasingly complex business environment means that organisations are
required to respond to challenges quickly in order to stay competitive. To do this, they need
employees who are prepared and able to be flexible and adaptable in a constantly changing
environment.

1.1 Employability and the attitudes, skills

and behaviours that are required by
employers
Definitions of employability
Employability is one of those words that people use a lot but is little understood. For many people
it is little more than a buzzword, but the concept continues to increase in importance, both for the
employer and the employee.

Definitions of employability vary according to context. However, there are three elements that are
captured within the concept of employability.

©ABE 3
Chapter 1 Concept of Employability

The first element focuses on a number of interpersonal skills and behaviours that makes an
individual employable. In this respect the Higher Education Authority provides a definition of
 employability as “a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that
makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations,
which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy.”

Some 20 million young people are out of school and not looking for work. As such,
they have dropped off the radar of their country’s education, social, and labour
market systems… What lies at the root of this unacceptable waste of human
potential? Among other things, too many young people leave education without
having acquired the right skills and so have trouble finding work.
OECD Skills Outlook 2015

The second element is related to the idea of an individual having a fruitful career throughout their
working life due to maintaining a relevant skills base, which makes them flexible and able to add
value to an employer who requires an agile workforce. McKenzie and Wurzburgh (1997) stated
that “lifelong employability is the capacity to be productive and to hold rewarding jobs during a
working life, and to be equipped with up-to-date skills and competences”.

The final element is linked to the ability of the individual to get a job and stay in employment
regardless of the changes that take place in organisations and the wider economy. Brown, Hesketh,
and Williams (2003) define employability as “the relative chance of acquiring and maintaining
different kinds of employment”.

Therefore, for the purposes of this study guide employability will be defined as a set of
interpersonal skills and behaviours, which provide employers with a flexible and adaptable
workforce and contribute to an individual maintaining a productive career throughout their lifetime.

Over to you
Activity 1: Defining employability

What does the concept of employability mean to you personally and how would you
describe it to someone else?

The value of employability skills

Regardless of the industry you work in or job that you do soft skills are a key requirement. Although
technical skills, experience and knowledge enable you to do the job, it is the employability skills
which will enable you to do the job effectively.
4 ©ABE
Concept of Employability Chapter 1

Transferable skills (cross-functional)

Transferable skills are skills that can be developed by the individual in one job role and
organisation, which can subsequently be transferred to another job role or organisation. From
an employer’s perspective, transferable skills help to increase workforce flexibility, enabling
individuals to take on new tasks when required.

Being able to identify and give examples of the transferable skills that you have developed will go a
long way to persuading your employer that you are a good fit for the organisation now, and in the
future.

Increased productivity (added value)

It doesn’t matter what job role you do; employers believe that behavioural and interpersonal skills
contribute to business success. A key result of the CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey 2016
was that “employers don’t just value what people know: they value what they can do.” The majority
of employers emphasise employability skills as a key area of concern because they believe that
these skills contribute to business performance.

We must develop the skills that people need now because people need jobs
now. But we must be working just as hard to develop the skills that our people
will need tomorrow. The future of our country – the prosperity of our society,
the happiness of our people – depends on it.
Deputy President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa – National Skills Conference March 2017

Increased productivity is supported by enhanced employability skills within the workforce.

Ensuring work is done in a timely fashion requires self-management skills. Being proactive in the
face of unexpected complications in completing a task requires thinking and problem solving skills.
Delivering a task that relies on cooperation with other people in the business requires working
together and communication skills. On-time delivery requires individuals to understand the business
and to use their functional skills to deliver tasks to the required quality standard.

Flexibility and adaptability

Employability skills have a direct impact on the long-term survival of an organisation. Having skills
which can be used in different contexts means that the employer can be confident in someone
being effective if their role changes, or if they are moved to a new role. This increased adaptability
allows the organisation to respond to market changes and competitive pressures more easily.
Regardless of the role you occupy now, there is an opportunity for you to add even more value to
the organisation in different roles in the future. Whilst your existing soft skills will enable you to
contribute to working together effectively with other employees to achieve the organisation’s goals,
developing your skills will enable you to identify new opportunities in the market place and develop
strategies to respond appropriately. From an employer’s perspective the greater the degree of
employability skills within the workforce, the more flexibility they have with the resources of the
organisation to meet market needs.

©ABE 5
Chapter 1 Concept of Employability
 Over to you
Activity 2: Transferring to a new role

What transferable skills do you have now that could be used in a different role in the
future?

For example: Current role – customer service representative, handling complaints can be
transferred into a role where I will need to negotiate, persuade and influence people.

The value of employability skills

Increased
productivity:
Improving and
developing your soft
skills to contribute
to business
success

Flexibility and
Transferable skills: adaptability:
The skills you have Employability skills
now that can help allow organisations to
you do different respond to market
job tasks and and competitive
roles The value of pressures
employability skills
Revision on the go

Figure 1: The value of employability skills

6 ©ABE
Concept of Employability Chapter 1

Employability skills demanded by employers

It is clear that there are a number of employability skills that employers think make a good
employee and are applicable across a wide range of job roles. There are frequent reports of
business leaders complaining about the lack of key employment skills in new employees. The
employability skills that are most frequently desired by employers are:

Self-management skills
Effective self-management is a key life skill, which involves individuals monitoring, controlling and
directing aspects of work and work life for themselves.

Elements Important to employers because it…

Demonstrates dependability and reassures the
• Punctuality employer that you will do the job, do it well and
• Time management do it on time.
• Planning and organising

• Self-confidence Demonstrates reliability and shows the employer

• Honesty that they can trust you and the work you do.
• Integrity
• Reliability

• ‘Can-do’ approach Demonstrates that you are motivated and have

• Enthusiasm a real interest in the job.
• Commitment

• Good personal presentation • Coping with Demonstrates that you can recognise, control
pressure and adapt your emotional reactions and
• Emotional intelligence responses appropriate to the situation.

Thinking and problem-solving skills

Solving problems on a daily basis at work, and in our personal life involves individuals being
able to evaluate information or situations, consider various solutions and decide on an
appropriate resolution.

Elements Important to employers because it…

workplace challenges, research and implement
• Attention to detail • Negotiation change and find a better way of doing
• Decision-making • Reflection something.

• Initiative
Demonstrates that you have the perseverance to
• Achievement drive • Drive get a task done, without relying on other people
Demonstrates that you have the right analytical to draw appropriate conclusions.
and creative skills to consider and respond to
 ©ABE 7
Chapter 1 Concept of Employability

Working together and communication skills

Working together with others requires that you can contribute positively to productive
relationships and work as a member of a team. You have the ability to get your message across
clearly, to a diverse audience. Everyone can understand what needs to be done.

Elements Important to employers because it…

Demonstrates that you can make good
• Collaboration
• Cooperation connections, adapt

• Tact and diplomacy • Conflict management • Responsiveness

Demonstrates that you can get on well with • Appreciating diversity
others to get the job done.
• Taking responsibility • Being accountable
to new situations and develop positive
relationships to get a task done.

Demonstrates that you are honest at all times

and that you are willing to say what, how and
why you have completed your work in a
• Flexibility particular way.
Elements Important to employers because it…

• Willingness to learn Demonstrates that you are able to adapt easily to change and motivated
to improve your skills and learn new skills.

• Verbal communication
• Non-verbal communication • Active listening Having good skills in reading, writing, speaking
and listening are essential to good
• Telephone skills
communication.
• Giving and receiving feedback • Presentation
skills
Demonstrates that you can set direction,
• Managing and leadership • Delegation skills
helping yourself and others to do the right
things required to perform well and be
successful.

Understanding the business

Demonstrates you are able to work together
with other people to complete work tasks.

Developing skills to maintain and grow the business that you work for improves the chances that
you will contribute to business success.
 Elements Important to employers because it…
service, and your part in delivering the
• Commercial awareness • Customer focus organisation’s promises to the customer.
• Service orientation
Demonstrates that you conduct yourself and
• Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
business activities with moral and socially
• Ethicality responsible behaviour.
Demonstrates that you are able to understand
how to provide customers with high levels of

8 ©ABE
Concept of Employability Chapter 1

Functional skills
Contributing to the effective execution of tasks requires that you have skills at levels relevant to
professional practice.

Elements Important to employers because it…

independently and effectively at a
• Numeracy • Language • ICT professional level within the workplace.
Demonstrates that you can operate

Developing the right skills will help to make you more employable in the job market. Employers will
use a job interview or performance review to assess your job specific and employability skills. Being
able to recognise the employability skills that are most important for the job you are applying for,
and communicating how your skills match those required, will improve your chances of success.
Having desirable employability skills will increase the likelihood of you getting the job that you
want, being able to perform well in that job and progress your career in the long term.

Employability skills desired by employers

Self
management
skills

Thinking and
Functional skills problem solving
skills

Employability
Skills

Working
 employers
together and
communication
skills

Understanding
the business
Revision
on the go

Figure 2: Employability skills desired by

©ABE 9
Chapter 1 Concept of Employability

CASE STUDY: Using Employability skills to step up

Understanding the business

Julia worked as a Learning and Development
Co-ordinator in the national office of an
energy
company. Halfway through the financial year,
her line manager went on maternity leave
and
Julia was given responsibility for leading a
key
flagship customer service programme.

Situation
Although her manager had completed the initial work on the objectives for the customer
service programme, Julia was tasked with designing and delivering the programme.

Task
To understand fully what customer service issues the call centre, service centres and engineers
were facing, Julia put together a design team, which included members from across the
business and the lead trainer. This helped Julia to understand the needs of the business and
the intricacies of how each part of the business worked with each other to deliver products and
services to the customer.

Activity
Following the initial pilot, Julia walked the Board of Directors through the programme to gain
their buy-in. The programme was delivered to over 200 members of staff and was followed by
monthly newsletters and toolbox talks to embed the learning.
 Result
The programme contributed directly to exceeding a key corporate metric to increase the
customer service satisfaction. In addition the evaluation of the outcomes from the programme
demonstrated a significant return on investment, improved motivation of staff and a ‘right first
time’ culture, resulting in fewer repeat breakdowns.

Employability skills demonstrated

• Collaboration
• Cooperation
• Commercial awareness
• Customer focus
• Service orientation
• Decision-making

10 ©ABE
Concept of Employability Chapter 1

Over to you
Activity 3: Demonstrating working together and communication skills

Think about an example where you have demonstrated managing and leadership skills
either in work or outside of the workplace. Use the structure in the case study:
• Situation: What were the circumstances?
• Task: What did you need to do?
• Activity: What did you do?
• Result: What happened as a result of what you did?
1.2 Selection criteria in the changing workplace
Employers use selection criteria to rank and determine which candidate should be chosen for a
job post. However, if we were to compare the selection criteria today with that used even ten years
ago there would be a noticeable difference. The changing workplace has increased demand for
flexible skills which can withstand economic, social and political pressures. Whereas job experience
and qualifications would have stood you in good stead in the past, in today’s job market selection
criteria is weighted in favour of interpersonal and behavioural competencies.

Value of employability skills to employers

Although having qualifications is important in your job search, employability skills helps
employers differentiate between people with similar qualifications and experience during the
recruitment process.

Employers don’t just value what people know:

they value what they can do.
Rod Bristow – President, UK and Core, Pearson

©ABE 11
Chapter 1 Concept of Employability

Having relevant qualifications and/or industry experience may mean you are eligible to apply for the
position, and that the employer will consider you as meeting the criteria to be invited for interview.
You will need to demonstrate in your Curriculum Vitae (CV), application form and interview that
you have the necessary soft skills to carry out the work to the required level. Employability skills are
a key ingredient which will determine whether or not the business recruits you.

Tipping the Balance

Employers consider employability skills to be the key to closing the gap between qualification
and experience and the skills needed to succeed in the workplace.
 Applicant 1

Applicant 2

Relevant
experience skills

Relevant
Required experience
qualifications Required
qualifications

Revision
Figure 3: Tipping the Balance on the go
Employability

Assessing and developing your employability skills will open up new opportunities for you to
achieve employment, develop your career, progress earning potential and make the move into
more highly skilled work.

When selecting a candidate, the key responsibility of the recruiting manager is getting the right
people for the business into the right job. They are concerned about identifying individuals who
can perform in role and contribute to the success of the organisation. Hard skills may indicate
that that you are able to do the job, but soft skills will increase your chances of being hired by the
employer who is seeking a more rounded candidate.

Being able to demonstrate that you have a good work ethic and are responsible, reliable, honest
and enthusiastic will make you an attractive prospective employee for any employer.

A prospective employer will notice the effectiveness of your communication at every stage of the
recruitment process, from the quality of your CV and covering letter, to conversations and over the
phone and face-to-face encounters.

12 ©ABE
Concept of Employability Chapter 1

Over to you
Activity 4: Comparing you with you

Compare your employability skills from 12 months ago with the employability skills you
possess today. Put yourself in the position of a recruiter. What is it about your current
employability skills that would make you a better selection choice than in the past? Why?
Doing things right the first time
Once you are employed, there will be an expectation that you will be proactive in your role.
Organisations require their employees to be both effective and efficient in delivering their job
tasks in order that the organisation may be profitable. They require that the tasks you have been
assigned will be done correctly so there are no delays or errors and the right tasks are tackled to
help the organisation achieve its goals. Doing things right first time not only helps you perform
better, but also supports the organisation in achieving its objectives. Taking the time to do things
right the first time means that you will always save time and possibly money for the organisation.

Inevitably, your job tasks are interlinked with the job tasks of your colleagues in the workplace. If
you make a mistake, then someone else may end up facing the consequences of that mistake.
Taking ownership of your responsibility and being accountable for delivering what is required will
ensure that you won’t be letting down those who depend on you. Doing things right the first time
is less about your technical abilities but instead it is about your employability skills. For example,
ensuring work is done in a timely fashion requires self-management skills as we discussed earlier.

©ABE 13
Chapter 1 Concept of Employability

CASE STUDY: Rubbish in, rubbish out

Khalil learns the value of doing things right the first time
Khalil is working as a Business Analyst on a
change project for a soft drinks
manufacturer.
Part of the project requires Khalil to deliver
 technical training to the commercial teams on how
to use the new customer relationship management
(CRM) system. The commercial teams add details
of product promotions and these in turn link to
production, supporting the manufacturing process.
The problem was that the commercial teams are
not aware of the impact that bad data is having on
production, and instead are trying to get through the data input process as quickly as possible.
The result is that not enough product is produced of some lines, leading to out of stocks for the
customers, and too much product is produced on other lines, leading to costly levels of unsold
stock.

Changing attitudes
Khalil was tasked with fixing the problem and, having investigated the problem, realised the
issue was that the commercial teams did not realise the impact of entering bad data onto the
system.
Further investigation revealed that a 5% variance in forecast accuracy led to a 20% variance in
profit. This was very important information for the commercial teams because their bonus was
calculated on profit.
Armed with this data, Khalil delivered a new behavioural change programme called ‘What is
Expected of Me?’ which focused on accountability, ownership and responsibility of ensuring the
accuracy of data/obtaining accurate data and inputting information right first time. The results
were immediate and directly impacted the profit performance of the organisation.

Ownership and accountability

Employers need individuals who are willing to be answerable for their decisions. We all have the
power to make choices that either contribute to the success of the business or lead to failure.
Sometimes these choices are unintentional but taking ownership of our actions and decisions is
important in building trust with our manager and colleagues.

Use of initiative within boundaries

The ability to show initiative and assess what opportunities there are to take actions within the
boundaries of your job role or allocated task enables you to demonstrate additional value to your
employer. Although your job description will cover many of the requirements of your job, it cannot
cover every eventuality. Understanding what additional tasks or activities you can take part in will
be seen as resourcefulness and demonstrates that you will contribute to business success.

Innovation and creativity

As an employee you will be expected to contribute to developing innovative and creative products
and services to improve customer satisfaction. Whether you develop a new method of doing a task,
which makes a process more efficient, or help develop an idea, which leads to a new product or
service it is creativity, which is the lifeblood of continuous organisational success.
14 ©ABE
Concept of Employability Chapter 1

Flexibility
Transferable skills can be used in different roles and project teams, contributing to the individual
effectiveness. The changing business environment means that organisations must be able to flex
and change. If an individual is to remain employable, they must be able to move to where their
skills and experience will be of greatest value to the organisation.

Responding to changing market and customer needs

A key feature in a competitive marketplace is that the organisation is responsive to changing
market and customer needs and secures repeat business. Being responsive to these competitive
pressures requires employees to have transferable skills in order to avoid their skillset becoming
redundant, or their organisation’s products or services becoming obsolete.

Creating loyalty and commitment

A sense of employee contribution and value creates loyalty and commitment, and; reduces staff
absence and turnover. By improving your employability skills, you will become more successful in
your role, and experience personal fulfilment and personal satisfaction from a job well done. As
you experience more success you will feel greater levels of engagement; research shows that the
more engaged you are, the less you will miss work compared to those of your colleagues who are
disengaged.

Over to you
Activity 5: Investigating the impact of interpersonal and behavioural skills

Review your current performance in work or in your education. What impact would
enhancing your interpersonal and behavioural skills have on your outcomes?

Employability skill Enhancement required Outcome

For example: Working together and commit to tackling difficult
self-management communicating tasks head on without time
Understanding the business wasting.
Don’t end up with more
Functional skills
pressure because I have
Struggle to stay focused
procrastinated so I have even
when under pressure so begin
less time to complete
avoidance behaviours which
the work. Less stress and better
leads to procrastination over
quality work
Self-management Thinking and important tasks and difficulty in
problem solving managing time. Need to

©ABE 15
Chapter 1 Concept of Employability Value to individuals

Developing your employability skills isn’t simply about helping the organisation achieve its goals.
No one goes to work to do a bad job and we all feel good when we do a job well. Since
employability skills are essential to you being able to do a job well, they are an important ingredient
to helping you feel good about work. Therefore, having the right skills can increase your capacity to
contribute to the delivery of your organisation’s goals, and the sense of achievement you draw from
this can give you improved job satisfaction and renewed commitment to the job. This in turn will
likely result in result in your progression and promotion within your organisation.

Furthermore, from a career progression perspective, developing your employability skills makes you
more employable. This enhances your opportunity to transfer from role to role and will help with
future employment prospects, whether with your current employer or with another organisation.

Progression
and
promotion Improved job
performance and job
satisfaction

Enhanced access to
development Delivery of organisation
opportunities objectives
Developing
employability
skills
Revision on the go

Figure 4: The employability skills virtuous circle

16 ©ABE
Concept of Employability Chapter 1

READING LIST
• Chris Collet, Damian Hine, Karen du Plessis, (2015) “Employability skills: perspectives from a
knowledge-intensive industry”, Education + Training, Vol. 57 Iss: 5, pp.532 – 559
• Mukta Kulkarni, Mark L. Lengnick-Hall, Patricia G. Martinez, (2015) “Overqualification,
mismatched qualification, and hiring decisions: Perceptions of employers”, Personnel
Review, Vol. 44 Iss: 4, pp.529 – 549
• Apex Leadership Ltd (2013) High-impact interpersonal skills: How to be a persuasive leader.
Bookboon.com

Summary
Employability is a set of interpersonal skills and behaviours which provide employers with a flexible
and adaptable workforce and contribute to an individual maintaining a productive career throughout
their lifetime. These skills are valued by employers over and above qualifications and experience for
several reasons: they are transferable, enabling the individual to use them cross functionally; they
increase productivity, adding value to the organisation; they also provide the employer with an agile
workforce. This contributes to flexibility and adaptability of the human resources within the
organisation.

The employability skills more desired by employers include: self-management, thinking and problem
solving, working together and communicating, understanding the business and functional skills.

Employers value employability skills because they have relevance in the shifting selection criteria for
new staff because of changes in the modern workplace. Being able to demonstrate employability
skills enables the employer to differentiate between people with similar qualifications and/or
experience and deliver a culture of doing things right first time.

Finally, the individual themselves benefits from the employability skills virtuous circle as they
contribute to improved job performance, job satisfaction and commitment. Furthermore, they help
the individual become more employable, increasing opportunities for progression and promotion.
 ©ABE 17

Chapter 2
Assessing Your Own Skillset

Introduction
A critical component of developing your employability skills and progressing in your career is to
have a clear awareness of your existing skillset, strengths, weaknesses and personal preferences.
Whether searching for a new role, developing in your existing role or seeking to progress your
career, assessing your own skillset in terms of employability will contribute to the establishment of a
robust personal development plan.

The assessment of your skillset enables you to use your skills more effectively in order to maximise
your potential value to an employer. It also provides the foundation upon which you are able to
develop a unique CV for completing relevant job applications and to provide examples of your
transferable skills in a recruitment process.

This chapter provides guided activities for you to begin the process of comparing your own
skillset with the employability skills sought by employers, identifying gaps, establishing a personal
development plan and completing the documents required for applying for jobs.
 Learning outcomes
On completing the chapter, you will be able to:
2 Assess your own skillset in terms of employability and use it to write a unique Curriculum Vitae
and complete relevant job applications, emphasising your potential value to an employer

Assessment criteria
2 Assess your own skillset in terms of employability and use it to write a unique Curriculum Vitae
and complete relevant job applications, maximising your potential value to an employer
2.1 Compare your own skillset against the employability skills sought by employers in order to
identify gaps and plan how you might address these through personal development plans.
2.2 Utilise your skillset effectively and creatively to complete the documents required when
applying for jobs.

©ABE

Level 4 Employability
and Self-Development

Background
Some jobs require that you complete an application form, which is the recruiter’s own template
that job seekers are required to fill out. Application forms typically cover the same information as a
CV, including previous work experience, education and contact details. You should complete an
application form if asked to by the employer.

There are three golden rules when presenting what you have to offer:
1 Check for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Simple mistakes make you look careless,
and create an unfavourable impression.

2 Ensure your presentation is clear and uncluttered. Today, most application forms are electron ic,
but if you do have to hand write an application form, write neatly. Make your CV and applica
tion letter easy to read.

3 Do not lie. If you secure a job by lying, it is highly likely you will lose your job because you lied
in your application. Lying about qualifications and grades is a serious offence and could have
far more serious consequences such as a prison sentence for grade fraud.

Of course, neat presentation of your CV will be a complete waste of time if the content that is in
the CV or application form is completely irrelevant to the job you are applying for. You will need to
make sure that you include information that is appropriate for the job you are applying for.
 Over to you
Activity 1: Career autobiography
On the chart below complete a career autobiography. Think about your life as a series of
learning experiences – include activities, education and your work life. What have been the
major periods of change? As you progress through time, capture your peak experiences. These
are experiences where you have felt happy, successful and fulfilled. Also plot your trough
experiences, which may not have been positive but were a key transition point. Plot these on
the chart below and reflect on the following questions:

• What do your peak and trough experiences tell you about your preferences? •
Why was this a peak or trough experience?

©ABE 19
Chapter 2 Assessing Your Own Skillset

Graduation
from
university
Joining
Good
secondary
school Interviewing
example
Prime Minister and
Good
getting article published
in paper during
6th Form

Experience Experience

Bad

Bad
Career change
into People
Development
Work
experience at
Sunday Times

Sales job
selling ice
cream cones
Time

1994 2002 2009 Time

Figure 2: Career Autobiography – chart
2016
Figure 1: Career Autobiography –
 Description of experience What does this tell you about your preferences? Why was this
a peak or trough experience?
feeling of accomplishment of finishing
Example – Graduating university with a 2:1 something. Felt proud of achievement.
degree
Really enjoy the opportunity to learn and the

20 ©ABE
Assessing Your Own Skillset Chapter 2

2.1 Your skills versus the employability

skills sought by employers
Regardless of your background, you have developed a skillset. However, because acquiring skills is
often the result of an evolving rather than a planned process, it is not until we begin to assess our
skillset that we become aware of our current skillset and are able to identify gaps where
development is required. Appreciating your strengths, addressing your weaknesses, having a clear
awareness of your preferences and identifying gaps in your skillset will give you confidence when
communicating what it is you have to offer.

Assessing own skillset

Assessing your own skillset to identify your strengths, weaknesses, preferences and gaps will enable
you to establish a personal baseline of employability skills. The first step is to detail your current
employability skills, strengths and weaknesses. You also need to consider what opportunities are
there are for you to develop your strengths further and overcome your weakness. In addition, you
need to identify the threats to your personal development.
A personal SWOT analysis provides a simple tool to set personal development objectives
and establish a personal development plan. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats and provides a useful framework for personal development decision
making as shown in Figure 3.

NEED TO KNOW
WEAKNESSES
• What are your weaknesses – skills,
experience and knowledge?
STRENGTHS • What do your colleagues do better
than you?
• What are your strengths – skills, • What skills and knowledge do you
experience and knowledge? • What do
lack?
you find easier than others? • What
skills and knowledge do you have that
you can develop further? SWOT
ANALYSIS

OPPORTUNITIE THREATS
S
your career aspirations?
• What career opportunities are
available to you? • What will stop you getting the
• What training and development training and development you need?
options are open to you? • What is preventing you from
• What opportunities do you have to developing your skills, knowledge
develop your skills, knowledge and and experience?
experience?

Revision
on the go
Figure 3: SWOT Analysis
• What barriers exist to you achieving

©ABE 21
Chapter 2 Assessing Your Own Skillset

Over to you
Activity 2: Personal SWOT analysis
Complete a personal SWOT analysis focusing on your employability skills: Strengths,
Weaknesses and Opportunities and Threats. Refer to the list of employability skills demanded
by employers outlined earlier.

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats
 Once you have completed your Personal SWOT analysis there are four actions you need to take:
of playing your strengths. Where possible see if
Take advantage of strengths you can get support from other people so you
can both play to your strengths. Take time to
identify gaps and develop strategies to
overcome your weaknesses. You should also
Develop strategies to overcome weaknesses consider your weaknesses when seeking
opportunities.
Create them, make them and take them.
Opportunities for developing your strengths
and developing strategies to overcome
Take control of weaknesses through self-development, training
opportunities and/or work experience exist in every
You will get a greater return on investment if you organisation. Establish a mentoring relationship
spend time developing your strengths. Look to with someone who can support you in
build on your strengths, and to expand your becoming more attractive in terms of
skills and knowledge in areas. 80% of your employability. Don’t let fear of rejection get in
development plan should be focused on the way of asking. Ask about skills
making more of your strengths. development, projects, secondments,
You need to spend enough time on your additional job responsibilities, work shadowing,
weaknesses so that they do not get in the way etc.

Manage threats Threats may be outside your control and there is no point worrying about what
you can’t control. Being aware of possible threats helps you
prepare to respond appropriately should the threat become reality.
22 ©ABE
Assessing Your Own Skillset Chapter 2

Identifying gaps
Identifying gaps requires you to examine the difference between your employability skills baseline
and those required for specific job roles. These can be weaknesses you have identified when
reviewing employability skills in Chapter 1, section 1.1, or skills that you don’t yet possess. This can
be achieved by conducting a gap analysis between your current skillset, and the skillset required.
This can be achieved by:
the business is going and what skills will be
Understanding required.
business needs Understand which skills you currently have that
match the business needs.
Knowing what skills you have Identify the skills, knowledge and experience
Identifying what skills you are missing which you need but don’t have that are
Revisit the requirements of the job role, and required if you are going to be able to do the
review what you are being asked to do by the job successfully.
organisation. Determine the direction in which
 Filling the gaps Identify what development activities you need to undertake and create a plan for
how you will close the gap between the skills you have and
the skills you are missing.

Identifying opportunities to close the gap

To close employability gaps through self-development, training and/or work experience requires
you to identify possible development opportunities, which will help you develop the qualities
and skills required to enable you to meet your development objectives. A range of development
opportunities can be used including:

Work experience Work experience can be informal, such as job shadowing, or formal, such as
work placement or internship. Work experience provides you
with an opportunity to gain experience and explore what a particular
job role is like.
Training Training can also be informal or formal. On-the-job training offers you an opportunity to
learn from a colleague whilst you are working in role.
Formal training might include e-learning courses or classroom based
workshops, which involve a series of lessons, lectures or activities
focused on developing particular skills.
Self-development Self-development can take many forms. This may include study such
as classes, books, seminars or blogs to develop specialist
knowledge, critical thinking skills, organising and planning skills and
self-management. This does not necessarily have to be expensive.
There are multiple affordable and flexible self-development
opportunities that can be accessed, many for free, including seminars
in the local community or online (e.g. www.ted.com), free e-book
downloads (e.g. www.bookboon.com) and massive open online courses
(e.g. www.mooc.org).

©ABE 23
Chapter 2 Assessing Your Own Skillset

CASE STUDY: IDENTIFYING A TALENT

Aleksander discovers his a talent
Aleksander had been working as service
engineer
for a few years. He had struggled at college
and
found it difficult finding work, but had shown
an
aptitude for engineering work which had seen
him
successfully progress in his job
responsibilities.
However, he continued to lack confidence, and
suffered doubt when his line manager suggested
he apply for team leader position.
 After some friendly discussion with the training
officer at work, Aleksander recognised that he
had already demonstrated managing and leading competencies on a number of occasions.
In conversation with his line manager and the training officer, suitable work experience and
training opportunities were identified to help Aleksander build confidence and experience.

Over to you
Activity 3: Close your gaps

Explore online seminars in an area you have identified as a gap that you wish to develop.
Watch at least one seminar and write a brief synopsis and reflect on what you have heard.

For example https://www.ted.com/playlists/301/why_we_do_the_things_we_do

Addressing gaps through personal development plans

Personal development plans (PDPs) provide a template for taking consistent action to enable
you to continuously improve your skills, knowledge and behaviour throughout your career. PDP’s provide
the foundation stone of supporting your development as a well-rounded person. This means that you are
investing in a range of different activities, which enable you to develop your confidence, relationship
building skills, professional conduct and creative thinking.24 ©ABE
Assessing Your Own Skillset Chapter 2

Presenting yourself as a rounded individual means addressing the gaps that you identified earlier in
regards to skills, knowledge and experience and overlaying these development plans with activities
which develop and expand your character traits. There are a number of different activities that
you can engage in to develop character, these include:

Professional Professional development covers a variety of training opportunities, which are

recognised as advancing professional knowledge,
competence and skills levels. Very often these opportunities are
supplemented by formal education and developing specialised
professional knowledge.
Social Social development is something developed within cultural boundaries. It involves learning
about how to relate to other people in order to
 contribute effectively in the work environment.
Personal Personal development is a process of assessing your personal skills, setting goals
and establishing opportunities to close the gap.
Developing views As an individual progresses their career their viewpoint will be sought on a
number of problems and opportunities. Developing a view requires
observing and building understanding in order to extract relevant
insights and provide focus for new ideas.
Opinions and values Opinions need to be built on relevant knowledge, and a critical
reflection of the values and beliefs that shape our thinking. Self
awareness and reflection on the opinions and values you hold enables
you to defend them, and where necessary consider their validity.
are responsible for their own individualised
Lifelong learning and development
learning and development.
Lifelong learning is a motivation to learn beyond
what is required for an existing role. Individuals
Reflection Reflection is an activity whereby the individual examine their thinking about their work
practice, ideas and situation. It enables an individual to
explore and explain why things have happened, feelings about what has
happened and examining what has gone well and what has not.
learning through doing.
Learning from experience
Learning from experience is a form

Building a personal development plan (PDP)

There are plenty of tools available online to support personal development planning, however
Activity 4 provides a simple template for you to use. It is important that SMART objectives are set
to enable you to continually focus on your personal development priorities. The acronym SMART
provides a simple five-step framework for setting a development activity:

Specific What area for improvement/development has been identified?

Measurable How do you know when success has been achieved, and how will you measure it?

Achievable Is what is being asked within your control and capability? Relevant Does the goal
support your performance objectives and career aspirations? Time bound What is the specific
time frame for improvement?

©ABE 25
Chapter 2 Assessing Your Own Skillset

NEED TO KNOW: Example SMART development goals

Achieve a customer satisfaction score of 90% by the end of the financial year by processing
customer orders with an accuracy rate of 95% on an ongoing basis.
Learn effective library search techniques to reduce time searching for resources from 16
hours per assignment to 12, without compromising quality of sources, by the end of the first
semester.
By January 2018, design and pilot a new outreach strategy using social media to
increase by 25% the student membership of the Revision on the go

Debate club. SMART development goals

Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time bound

Activity 4: Personal Development Planning

Revision on the go

Figure 4: SMART development goals

Over to you

• Complete a personal development plan to close any gaps you identified earlier,
develop your skills set further and to increase your value to potential employers •
Consider different opportunities to develop your skills.

My SMART goal:
to do? What resource or
Development goal – When are you going
support do you
What are you going How? What action to do it by?
need?
will you take?
26 ©ABE
Assessing Your Own Skillset Chapter 2

2.2 Assess your skillset to write a CV

and complete job applications
Knowing what skills you have is just one element of understanding how employable you are.
The next step is to understand what skills employers are looking for and how you match that
requirement. Utilising your skillset and releasing your potential in the job market requires you to
conduct a gap analysis. This involves an honest examination of the difference between your
personal baseline of employability skills and what is required for specific employment positions.

This chapter takes you through the process of applying for jobs and preparing you for each step.
This includes developing a personal profile and professional CV in order to sell yourself positively.

Developing a personal profile statement

The personal profile is the introductory paragraph to your CV and provides an opportunity to
present who you are and what you can offer to a potential employer. The purpose of the personal
profile is to make a clear statement about who you are and what makes you different from
competing candidates. In addition to being the first section of your CV you can also use it as a
professional profile description on business social media sites such as LinkedIn.

Like all elements associated with completing your job application, the personal profile must be
authentic whilst aligning to the job you are hoping to pursue. It is recommended that you develop
a short paragraph of approximately four sentences to avoid boring the potential employer. At the
same time you want to capture the interest of the potential employer to want to find out more
about you.

What are your qualities and characteristics?

Adaptable Fearless Kind Positive Analytical Friendly Level headed Reliable

Assertive Frank Logical Resilient

Committed Genuine Loyal Resourceful Conscientious Generous Mature Self-confident

Creative Genial Methodical Self-motivated Decisive Helpful Measured Sincere
Dependable Honest Objective Thorough Diplomatic Innovative Observant Tenacious
 Entrepreneurial Interested Open-minded Tolerant Enthusiastic Independent
Personable Understanding Experienced Keen Persuasive Versatile
Revision on the go
Table 1: List of personal qualities and
characteristics

©ABE 27
Chapter 2 Assessing Your Own Skillset

Over to you
Activity 5: Developing a Personal Profile

Write a personal brand profile for yourself. Consider the following structure: •
Describe your essential qualities in three or four words. “A [quality] and [quality]
individual, I have [quality] and [quality].”
• What do other people recognise as a core skill? – “Known for…”
• What are you looking for – “I am seeking…”
• What opportunity are you looking for? “I am looking for the right opportunity to…”

For example: A highly motivated and committed individual, I have a positive attitude and a
keen interest in science. Known for my logical and methodical approach to work, I am
seeking an apprenticeship as a laboratory technician. Using my enquiring mind, I am looking
for the right opportunity to bring my practical and technical skills to help carry out tests,
research and investigations.

Developing a Curriculum Vitae (CV)

A CV or résumé outlines your skills and professional experience. It should help you demonstrate
to a potential employer that you meet the requirements for the position you are applying for.

CV Résumé

Detailed document outlining education,

qualifications, experience and Expected to be used in the UK, Ireland,
achievements. Europe, the Middle East, Africa or Asia.
 one page long. Table 2: The difference
Also used in USA in academia and
medicine.
Concise summary of you CV focusing between CV and résumé
on specifics relating to the employment
opportunity.

Frequently used in USA and Canada.

Revision on the go

At least two or three pages long. Typically

28 ©ABE
Assessing Your Own Skillset Chapter 2

The terms CV and résumé are sometimes used interchangeably in other English speaking countries.

Your CV is a marketing document which you use to market yourself. It needs to be written to ‘sell’
your skills, qualifications and experience to potential employers. You can use your CV to make
speculative applications for vacancies that have not been advertised.

There are many templates available for writing your CV online, and there is not a single correct
format. How you choose to structure your CV and what you include will depend on how you want to
market yourself. However, unless you are applying for a creative job, avoid adopting a gimmicky
format.

When writing and reviewing your CV put yourself in the shoes of an employer and think about what
impression your CV will be making about you as a potential employee.

What the employer wants to know

Who are you? How can I contact you if I want to interview you?

Personal details: name, address, telephone and email.

A CV just detail facts that could be about anyone, can you tell me something about yourself
that lets me know about you as a person?

Personal Profile: a brief personal summary to help you stand apart from the competition.

What can you do?

Key Skills: Highlight your employability skills and technical skills which are of relevance to the
job you are applying for.

What have you done? What experience do you have that is relevant to the job you are
applying for?

Work Experience: Highlight your key achievements on what you have actually done in previous
roles, and the end result achieved. Use accomplishment statements constructed beginning with
a strong action verb and then capture the result of that action in terms of an outcome.

What do you know? What qualifies you to do this job?

 Education and Qualifications: Include qualifications by title, where you studied
and the grade you achieved. List from most recent first and any qualifications you
are currently studying for, with an anticipated Revision on the go

completion date. Buzzwords

An accomplishment statement describes your key achievements in a role. It is recommended

that you use buzzwords, which include strong action verbs which express your skills in regards to
actions you have taken.

©ABE 29
Chapter 2 Assessing Your Own Skillset

Example Action Verbs

Achieved Ensured Improved Reduced Arranged Facilitated Investigated
Researched Convinced Fulfilled Managed Solved Developed Gained Persuaded
Supported Delivered Introduced Planned Tested
buzzwords that are relevant to the industry
Table 3: Example action verbs and/or role you wish to apply for. This has several
benefits:
Revision on the go
It is also recommended that you research specific

• Where relevant, if you use words in your CV that are in the job role advertisement or description
your application will, in the mind of the recruiter, match what they are looking for.
• If you register your CV with an online job board then the key industry terms will be found when
recruiters search an online CV library.

Over to you
Activity 6: Develop a CV
 Develop your CV refining your personal profile from Activity 5 in Chapter 2. Use the
following section headings:
• Personal details
• Personal profile
• Key skills
• Work experience
• Education and qualifications

30 ©ABE
Assessing Your Own Skillset Chapter 2

Developing a LinkedIn profile

Social media is a significant tool used by recruiting managers for finding potential candidates.
Therefore, spending time on making your professional LinkedIn profile is essential for making a
great first impression.

NEED TO KNOW: COMPLETING YOUR LINKEDIN

PROFILE Can I find you?

Personal details: Name, headline and head shot. Keep it simple and keep it professional.
LinkedIn is searchable so make sure your headline helps people find you easily. For this reason,
customise your URL to make it easier for people to search by your first and last name.

Tell me about yourself

Summary: Add your personal profile statement, which you have developed for you CV.

What can you do?

Experience, Skills and Expertise: Avoid cutting and pasting from your CV, but use these
sections to build a clear picture of the skills and talents you possess. Add images and videos if
relevant and request recommendations from connections. Focus on your accomplishments, not
just job responsibilities.
 Who are you connected to?

Connections: LinkedIn offers the opportunity to increase your network; not only can you
maintain contact with your first connections, but you can also be introduced to people they
know.’ Be strategic; recruiters will often look at who you are connected to judge your credibility.
Don’t accept connection requests from everyone and request introductions to widen your
network of opportunities and potential employers.

What groups are you participating in?

LinkedIn Groups: Recruiters will often check out participants of industry-related

groups to find talent. You need to actively
Revision on the go
participate in groups to help make new
connections and highlight your skillset.

Looking for jobs

Knowing how to search for jobs is a skill in itself. There are lots of different places that you can look
for jobs. These include:

Online Look at job sites to find relevant vacancies. Also look at LinkedIn Jobs. Post your CV
online, so recruiters can find you!

Newspapers Read the jobs pages in local newspapers and job supplements in national
newspapers.

Journals Review the job vacancy section in journals relevant to your a specific sector. If you
aren’t sure of the journal for your industry research this in your local
library or online.

©ABE 31
Chapter 2 Assessing Your Own Skillset

Agencies Sign up with recruitment agencies relevant to the sector you are targeting. Meet
recruitment agents to discuss your job aspirations and ask to be kept up to
date with any positions that come up.

Job Centres Get job-hunting support, review information on local employers with vacancies and
employers in the local area that you could target speculatively.

Noticeboards Employers advertise on college and university noticeboards. Take time to scan
the noticeboards to see if there is anything relevant.

Websites Identify organisations you are interested in working for and visit their websites. Review
the current vacancies and information relating to careers.

Networking Make a list of people in your network; you would be surprised at how big your list is.
Then reach out to your network to let them know you are looking for a job. Don’t ask for a job,
instead ask for advice.

Setting up job alerts is one of the easiest ways to look for jobs. Alerts will notify you when a job
matching your job search criteria is posted. Early notification gives you an opportunity to apply for
 jobs before other people.

Where to find jobs

Online

Networking

Looking for jobs

Organisation
websites

Job centres
Noticeboards
Journals

Revision
Recuritment on the go
Figure 5: Looking for jobs agencies

Conducting desk
research Newspapers

The good news is that a lot of your job search can be done without leaving your desk. Preparing for
applying for a job involves desk research, which uses secondary data to find out information about
specific organisations. This information can be found in your local library, online, or through your
personal contacts who may work for the organisation already.
32 ©ABE
Assessing Your Own Skillset Chapter 2

Presenting your skillset

As you become more familiar with your own skillset, you may begin to consider options for future
job positions or career progression. Assessment of your skillset provides a baseline for you to be
able to place your skillset into the context of potential employment positions.

Matching and presenting skillset requires you to become familiar with two documents which are
used by employers in the recruitment process:

Job description Lists the general tasks and responsibilities of a job position.
Description of the qualifications, skills,
Person experience and selection criteria that are
specification required in order to fulfil the job duties.
A job advert will typically include the following information:
• Company name and information • • Location of job
Title of job • Job description • Person
specification • How to apply
• Expected salary

The job advert is a goldmine of information, which you can use to adapt your CV to demonstrate
that you are the right person for the job. Couple key details in the advert with the information you
discovered in your desk research to establish the most important things that the employer is
looking for. Review your CV and revise it to highlight your skillset and experiences that best match
the requirements set out in the job advert.

Job applications
Your job application is an opportunity to demonstrate to employers that you are the right candidate
for the role. The purpose of the job application is to create enough interest to encourage the
recruiter to shortlist you for an interview.

Application letters and/or covering emails

The application letter is as important as your CV. A bad letter will likely mean that the recruiting
manager will never read your CV. Your letter should invite the recruiter to view you as a potential
candidate for the position. The three key features of a well written covering letter are:
• It is tailored to the job you are applying for.
• It demonstrates that you understand the post that is being advertised.
• Clear and error free language and professional presentation.

What every covering letter needs

Who are you? How can I contact you if I want to interview you?

Your details: Your name and postal address, in the top right hand corner.

Who is this letter for?

Addressee details: Title (Mr/Ms/Mrs/Miss) name, job title and address of the person you are
sending the letter to. In emails, full postal addresses are not required. If you don’t know the
person’s name, write Dear Sir/Madam.

©ABE 33
Chapter 2 Assessing Your Own Skillset

What job are you applying for?

Job Details: Include a job reference number, and/or a given job title.

How should you begin the letter?

Introduction: Open your letter. For example: Please find enclosed my CV in application for the
job of [insert job title], advertised in/on [publication or website]. I believe that I have the
required skills and experience [and particularly my experience in [insert outline experience], or
my ability to [outline key skill] make me the ideal candidate for this post.

Why are you suitable for this job?

 Develop a suitability statement: Structure the main section of the covering letter around the
job description. Describe what experience and skills you have that make you suitable for the
job. Use examples and be specific on your role in achieving a desired outcome.

How will you close the letter to leave a lasting impression?

Closing: As well as wrapping up what you have said, it is important that your prompt the
recruiter take action. For example: “I hope this satisfies you that I have the
necessary skills and experience for the role of [insert job title]. I look forward to
hearing from you.” Revision on the go

When you’ve finished drafting your covering letter, carefully review. Ask someone you trust to
check it for you. Check that you are sending the letter in the correct format, and before the
deadline. When you are satisfied, send the letter.

CASE STUDY: Got it covered

Maria applies for a customer service role
Dear Mrs Box,

Please find enclosed my CV in application

for the
position advertised in The Post on 15th
February.

The nature of my college course (retail,

customer
service and hospitality) has prepared me for
this
position. It involved a great deal of study of the
business of retail and required initiative, self
motivation and a wide range of skills. For one
course, the retail selling process, an understanding
of the fashion industry was essential. I found this subject very stimulating.

I am a team player with a keen eye for detail and I should be grateful for the opportunity to
progress to customer service representative. I am available to start this position immediately
and have the passion and determination to ensure that I make a success of it.

Thank you for taking the time to consider this application and I look forward to hearing from
you in the near future.

Yours sincerely

Miss M. Tremblay

34 ©ABE
Assessing Your Own Skillset Chapter 2

Over to you
Activity 7: Draft a Covering Letter

Develop a covering letter, remembering to include:

• Your details • Addressee details
 • Job details • Introduction
• Suitability statement
• Closing

References

When applying for a job you will be asked to provide references. The best people to include for
references are those people who like and respect you and who can recommend you based on
experience of your capabilities, credentials and character. Make sure you contact the people you
are including as your references to gain their permission and prepare them for a potential employer
contacting them. As a courtesy keep them informed of the progress of your job application and
thank them for their support.

Reading list
• Ruth Helyer, (2015) “Learning through reflection: the critical role of reflection in work-based
learning (WBL)”, Journal of Work-Applied Management, Vol. 7 Iss: 1, pp.15–27
• Asher Rospigliosi, Sue Greener, Tom Bourner (2011) Graduate Employment: 333 tips for
finding your first job as a graduate. bookboon.com
• Donald English, Edgar J. Manton, Lauraa Covarrubias, and Stephania Schirru. (2012)
“Workplace qualities: Views of College of Business Deans and Human Resource Managers.”
Aabri.com

Summary
An analysis and development of your skillset should be a planned process. Appreciating your
strengths, addressing your weaknesses, having clarity of your preferences and identifying gaps will
give you confidence when communicating with possible employers about what it is you have to
offer.

Knowing what you have to offer is one element of understanding how employable you are.
Company information and job adverts provide clues as to what it is that employers are looking for.
This knowledge will enable you develop your understanding as to how you match that requirement.

Utilising your skillset and releasing your potential in the job market requires you to develop a
personal profile and professional CV and online profile in order to sell yourself positively when
 applying for jobs.

©ABE 35

Chapter 3
Demonstrating Your Employability

Introduction

Entering into the recruitment and selection process can be quite daunting even if you possess good
qualifications and technical skills. Successful job-hunting involves ensuring that you can demonstrate
to possible employers your full potential in order that you can achieve the level of employment you
desire. This chapter builds on the previous two chapters by highlighting different screening
processes you may need to navigate and how to impress a prospective employer at interview.

Learning outcomes
On completing the chapter, you will be able to:
3 Outline how your skillset can be used to demonstrate your employability during the
recruitment and selection process

Assessment criteria
3 Outline how your skillset can be used to demonstrate your employability during the
recruitment and selection process
3.1 Outline the different screening processes that may be used as part of employee selection
and how you would use your skillset to navigate this screening effectively
3.2 Reflect on how you intend to use your own skills and experience to maximise your potential
to a prospective employer at interview.
 ©ABE

Level 4 Employability
and Self-Development

Background
Recruitment and selection screening processes and interviews can make the job applicant feel
overwhelmed. Fear of failure can leave individuals feeling anxious about their prospects and
contemplating the chance of rejection.

These fears are normal, regardless of the job position being applied for. We all want to feel
successful in our endeavours and unsuccessful job applications are never nice.

If you have completed the activities in the previous chapters you will have a good understanding
of what skills you have to offer an employer. Remember, if you lack confidence in what you have to
offer, why would a recruiter have confidence in you?

Securing a job isn’t about luck but persistence. By applying for as many jobs as possible, you
increase your chances of getting interviews. The more interviews you have, the better you be at
interviewing. The result will be an improved chance of getting a job offer. Continued effort will
usually result in success.

Over to you
Activity 1: Researching recruitment and selection processes

• Conduct an online investigation into the role of interviews in the selection process. •
How many different interview types can you identify?
• What tips would you share with other job seekers?
• List them below.
 ©ABE 37
Chapter 3 Demonstrating Your Employability

3.1 Demonstrating your employability during

the recruitment and selection process
Organisations develop a number of tools and techniques to use during the recruitment and selection
process. What you experience will depend upon the type of organisation, the size of the organisation
and the type of role you have applied for. Familiarising yourself with the types of activities you might
get involved in will enable you to approach the recruitment and selection process with confidence
and enable you to concentrate on the really important task of demonstrating how your employability
skillset matches what the employer is looking for.

Screening tests
Some organisations use screening tests during the recruitment and selection process. These tests
are designed to enable recruiters to eliminate unsuitable applicants as part of the pre-employment
screening. There are two main types:

Personality tests assess your traits to predict the likelihood of you performing your job in a
certain way.

Aptitude tests test your ability to do specific job tasks in different situations. Test types include;
numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, logical reasoning, general ability, mechanical reasoning and
spatial awareness. For example, if you are applying for a job in design or engineering you might be
asked to complete a spatial awareness test which assesses your ability to mentally manipulate
images.

Practising to take these tests will help you become familiar with the types of questions being asked
and comfortable with the format of such tests.

Over to you
Activity 2: Have a go

Search for aptitude and personality practice tests on-line and try a few practice tests.

For example: www.practiceaptitudetests.com/ or www.psychometricinstitute.com.au/Free

Personality-Test.asp
38 ©ABE
Demonstrating Your Employability Chapter 3

Assessment centres
Assessment centres are used by some organisations during the recruitment process to observe
how candidates perform in a variety of situations modelled on real work situations. Assessment
centres can be designed in different ways depending on what it is that the recruiter is looking for in
a candidate. An assessment centre may be used to assess a number of candidates where there are
multiple positions which need to be filled, or when the organisation is looking for specific
competencies to be demonstrated by the candidate during the recruitment and selection process.
Depending on the position, applicants may be asked to participate in group work, presentations,
interviews and tests.

Selection Methods
There are a number of different methods that recruiters used in the selection process
including:

In tray exercises Presentations

Centres Interviews Group

Assessment
Exercises

Selection
Methods

Competency
Based Interviews
 Aptitude Tests
Personality
Pre-screening Tests

Telephone
Job Interviews Tests

InterviewsPresentations Figure 1: Selection

Revision on the go
methods

©ABE 39

Chapter 3 Demonstrating Your Employability Applying your skillset

Assessment centres provide a great opportunity for you to demonstrate that you have what the
employer is looking for. Don’t worry about competing with other candidates, instead focus on what
you can contribute and demonstrate your skills in action. For example you can use the following
activities to demonstrate your skillset:

Presentations Presentations in assessment centres are rarely about testing your subject
knowledge but provide an opportunity for you to demonstrate
your planning and organising skills, verbal communication, non-verbal
communication and of course, your presentation skills. Make sure you
breathe to help control your nerves and speak clearly. Show your time
management skills by keeping to the time limit imposed and ensure you
practice your presentation beforehand so that you are confident in your
delivery.

Case studies For specific roles such as technical and management roles you may be
presented with case study questions which provide you with an
opportunity to demonstrate your thinking and problem solving skills.
Pay attention to the details in the case study and use the case study
to show your initiative and commercial awareness in make business
decisions. Prepare to clearly answer difficult questions and also defend
your position. It’s okay to disagree with the person conducting the test
as long as you can back up your decision from facts you have drawn
from the case study material.
emails and reports to read and action. These
In-tray and e-Tray exercises exercises again provide an opportunity to show
These are business simulation exercises in which your ability to prioritise, plan and organise, but
you are expected to complete tasks that more importantly demonstrate your capacity to
employees would be expected to complete on a cope with pressure.
busy day. You will be given a selection of letters,

Group exercises Group exercises can take a number of forms. Some of these are informal
activities such as building towers, others will be more formal,
 with designated roles. Unsurprisingly these activities are seeking to
test how you work with and communicate with others. Therefore make
sure you make a positive contribute to the group task and get involved.
Don’t be afraid to disagree with others but make sure any challenge is
constructive and respond appropriately if your ideas are challenged too.

Applying your skillset in this way means that you must prepare for an assessment centre. Make sure
you read any information you are sent from the employer carefully so you can develop a plan for
demonstrating the competencies being tested and prepare anything that you are required to in
advance, including preparing a presentation.

40 ©ABE
Demonstrating Your Employability Chapter 3

Over to you
Activity 3: Have a go

Search for assessment centre practice tests on-line and try a few practice tests. For

example: www.assessmentday.co.uk/in-tray-exercise.htm

CASE STUDY: An assessment centre experience

Tabia demonstrates her presentation skills
Following an online application, screen tests
and
a first round interview, Tabia was invited to
an
 assessment centre for a pharmaceutical company.
The assessment centre lasted for two days and
included several group exercises, a role-play,
presentation and an interview.
At the beginning of the assessment centre the
candidates were briefed that they would be giving
a presentation on “the greatest achievement of my life”. They were provided with preparation
materials and were allocated time during the first day to prepare for the presentation.

Planning Stage 1
Tabia used the initial period of time to think about what she wanted to say and brainstorm ideas
and themes she wanted to cover in the presentation, making brief notes covering the main
topics she wanted to talk about in each area.

Planning Stage 2
In the second preparation period, Tabia reviewed her ideas and selected the ideas, which she
believed were the strongest, rejecting topics which were weaker and decided on the order that
she wanted to present the ideas.
She used the remainder of her time creating a presentation.

©ABE 41
Chapter 3 Demonstrating Your Employability

Using her free time

Rather than going to the hotel bar that evening, Tabia worked on ensuring her slides were clear
and impactful. Inviting some friends to join her on Facebook Live, she filmed herself running
through her presentation to practise the timing and delivery and made some changes based on
feedback from her friends.

One last run through

Having requested permission from the assessment centre assessors, Tabia used the equipment
and room where the assessment centre presentation was to be given for a final practice run
before breakfast on Day 2 of the assessment centre.

The feedback
Having planned and prepared as much as she could in the time she had, Tabia received positive
feedback from the assessor not only for the content of her presentation but the way in which it
was delivered. The assessors had observed her organisation and planning, commenting that her
ability to deliver a compelling presentation was a result of her rehearsal and professional
approach to preparing to give a presentation.

3.2 Maximising your potential to a

prospective employer at interview
Developing your employability skills will contribute to your success in securing a new position.
Employers will assess your job specific and employability skills through conducting job interviews.
Being able to identify the key employability skills that are being sought for the position you are
applying for and communicating how your skills match those required by the employer during the
 interview will improve your chances of success.

Matching your own strengths and abilities

If you have been invited to interview for a new job, all the hard work you have put into your job
application has paid off. However, you now have to plan in order to make the best impression you
can for the interview stage.

Interviews are a two-way process so your preparation needs to focus on matching your strengths
and abilities with those sought by the organisation and also preparing to find out whether both the
organisation and the role are right for you.

If you have been invited for interview it is likely that you have already demonstrated that your
skillset matches those that the organisation is seeking. However, you can further explore matching
your skillset against the competencies outlined in the job description and person specification.

During the interview you will be asked to provide examples of when you have displayed specific
competencies. For example, you may be asked to describe a situation where you have had to work
on a project to demonstrate the competency of collaboration. The STAR outline used in Activity 3,
Chapter 1 can be used to help you prepare for such questions.

42 ©ABE
Demonstrating Your Employability Chapter 3

Over to you
Activity 4: Prepare examples of your competencies

Research an organisation and job role that is of interest to you. Identify three
competencies sought by the organisation for this type of role.
Prepare examples using the STAR framework of when you have demonstrated the
required competencies.

Interview skills
Interviewing is a skill which you can develop and improve with practice. Prepare and think about
how to position your skills and experience in advance. Consider ways in which you can position your
skills and experience in a succinct and clear manner, which will interest the interviewer. Once in the
interview you need to use a number of skills including;

Listening Practising active listening techniques requires you to focus deeply on what the
interviewer is saying, both in terms of what the words they are
saying, and also reading their body language.
what you believe the interviewer wants to know
Clarifying what is required before answering the question.
If you aren’t sure what the interviewer meant by a
question, paraphrase the question to confirm

Re-phrasing Expressing an idea in an alternative way can help clarify a point you are trying to
make or emphasise a skill without repeating yourself.
person specification.
Using knowledge, skills and experience
effectively when
answering questions Interviewers will have interviewed many
candidates give generic claims as to how they
Supporting answers with relevant evidence and meet the requirements of a position. Standing
examples out from the crowd requires you to provide the
Answering the question asked is essential but interviewer we specific examples to support the
don’t forget to explain exactly how your skills claims you make.
and experience match the job description and

©ABE 43
Chapter 3 Demonstrating Your Employability

Over to you
Activity 5: Grab the attention of the interviewer

Consider the following generic claims that might be made in an interview situation.
Write a specific example to back up these statements.
• I am self-motivated
• I am very organised
• I work well with others
• I deliver good customer service

For example: I am self-motivated. I have a huge amount of drive to succeed. I bring that
same drive to managing my priorities and delivering to deadline. In my college work I have
successfully completed a number of projects in advance of deadline, and volunteered for the
role of student representative to support my peers, communicating with members of staff
and improve the learning experience for students.
44 ©ABE
Demonstrating Your Employability Chapter 3

Interview skills
Active listening

Clarifying what

is required Rephrasing

Interview
skills
 Supporting
answers with
relevant
Using evidence and
capabilities examples
effectively
when
answering
questions
Revision
on the go

Figure 2: Interview skills

Presenting yourself effectively

The hard work that you put into writing your CV and cover letter has impressed the recruiting
manager enough that they want to interview you. A similar level of preparation is required in order
that you present yourself effectively at interview. This means not only saying the right things, but
doing the right things right as well. Your preparation will need to include:

Reviewing your CV You may have applied for a number of jobs at the same time. Revisit the
adapted CV that you sent to the employer, the job description and
person specification and the organisation information you found during
your desk research. Consider how you will articulate your skillset to match
the needs of the employer.

Preparing to answer and ask questions Remember that you are also interviewing the
Research common interview questions and employer to check that the organisation and
practise answering them. A mock interview job is right for you. Write down any outstanding
with a friend or family member might be questions you have and use them during the
embarrassing but it’ll help you fine-tune your interview.
answers.

Planning your route There is nothing worse than travel stress when going to an interview, except
perhaps arriving late. Plan your route carefully and make sure you know exactly where your
interview is taking place. Some office buildings
are hard to find, so if you are not sure make time to check it out before
your interview. You want to arrive at the interview a few minutes early so
you can appear calm and unflustered.

©ABE 45
Chapter 3 Demonstrating Your Employability
Plan your outfit before the interview so you
don’t end up in a panic. There is nothing worse
Managing your that discovering that your planned outfit has
appearance food stains, missing buttons or damage, or that
it no longer fits properly. You want to look smart
and professional whilst wearing something you
feel comfortable in.

Think also about the impact your hairstyle,

body-art, clothing choices and general
appearance will have on the recruiting manager.
You have to manage the tension between being
your authentic self and dressing appropriately
to fit in with the organisation’s workplace culture.

Over to you
 Activity 6: Common interview questions

Conduct a search online for common interview questions. Consider how you will answer
some of these questions.

For example: https://www.assessmentday.co.uk/free/competancy-based-interview/

CompetancyBasedInterview-Questions.pdf

46 ©ABE
Demonstrating Your Employability Chapter 3

During the interview

Interviews provide recruiting managers with a very short period of time to get to know you so the
impression you make during the interview will be crucial in deciding whether you get offered the
position. Throughout the interview you will be giving non-verbal signals to the interviewer about
your appropriateness for the job position. Consider the following:
1 Introduce yourself confidently – Stand tall, give good eye contact and a firm - but not vice-like
grip – handshake. Smile at the interviewer(s) and greet them pleasantly.
2 Control your breathing – If you don’t breathe you will struggle to speak normally or clearly.
3 Body position – Don’t slouch in the chair, lean slightly forward and show interest. Don’t forget to
keep eye contact.
4 Be timely – Time is short and you want to use that time wisely. Avoid rambling.
5 Thank the interviewer – at the end of the interview don’t forget to shake hands with the
interviewer and thank them for their time.

CASE STUDY: What not to do when attending an interviewAn author’s

tale
I might be writing a study guide which provides a framework
for
how to interview well but like most people I have, in my past,
an
experience where I have interviewed particularly badly.
Twenty
years on, it is
a laughable example of what not to do when attending
an interview.
The highlights of a single interview experience were:
• Spilling breakfast down my suit and not having a spare so going
to the interview with a stain on the front of my skirt.
• Discovering almost all of my hosiery had holes in them, and
then ripping the only decent remaining pair meaning I had to
dispose of them for the interview.
• Getting caught in traffic so not having any spare time to find what turned out to be a difficult
to spot office building.
• Not being able to contact the recruitment agent or the employer by phone to inform them I
was running late because it just went to answer phone… and my phone messages getting
increasingly desperate.
• Finally finding the building 5 minutes after my interview was supposed to have started and
discovering the address I was given by the recruiter was the wrong one and almost sobbing
when I found out.
• Getting lost on the way to the actual building taking a further 20 minutes to drive “5 minutes
away”.
• Being asked if I would like a glass of water whilst I completed a numerical reasoning test and
replying; “No thank you, or I’ll need the bathroom.” Yes I actually said that out loud.
• Calling the recruiting manager by the wrong name throughout the interview.

©ABE 47
Chapter 3 Demonstrating Your Employability

• Stumbling badly on my high heeled shoes when being escorted from the office I was taking
the tests to the interview room, knocking over a table full of company brochures and
breaking a glass in the process.
• Inadvertently throwing a pen at the interviewer trying to get the lid off.
 Not my finest hour when job-hunting.

NEED TO KNOW: What to do or not in a job interview Review the

following link for tips on what to do or not in a job interview.

https://th.careercross.com/en/article/what-to-do- feedback

or-not-in-a-job-interview Asking for

Revision on the go

Receiving communication from a prospective employer informing you that you have been
unsuccessful following an interview can feel devastating, especially if you walked away from the
interview thinking it had gone well. Rejection is never easy, but finding out why you have been
rejected plays an important part in helping you to be successful in the future.

Asking for feedback enables you to place your rejection in context. It may be that you were a close
second, and it was a simple case of a better candidate on the day. Bad luck, but it will give you
confidence that you are doing all the right things.

Alternatively, the employer may highlight areas where they perceived that you had experience,
knowledge or skills gaps. This gives you actions that you can add to your personal development
plan, or it can provide insight into areas where you are not selling your skillset well, which you can
use to plan for your next job interview.

Reading list
• Sarah Simpson (2015) Ace that interview: How to Answer the Top Ten Most Asked Questions.
Bookboon.com
• Fiona Setch (2014) The art of interview skills. Bookboon.com
• Megan Hodge, Nicole Spoor, (2012) “Congratulations! You’ve landed an interview: What do
hiring committees really want?”, New Library World, Vol. 113 Iss: 3/4, pp.139–161
48 ©ABE

Demonstrating Your Employability Chapter 3 Summary

Being confident and responding appropriately to the various tools and techniques used by
employers during the recruitment and selection process will provide you with skills you need to
respond appropriately and professionally in any given situation. It is important that you are
able to use your skillset to navigate screening processes effectively and demonstrate how your
employability skillset matches what the employer is looking for.

Job interviews are a key tool used by employers to assess your suitability for a job position during
the recruitment and selection process. Developing your employability skills will contribute to your
success in securing a new position. For you as a candidate the purpose of the interview is to
demonstrate that your key employability skills match those that are being sought for the position
you are applying for. It is essential that you are able to communicate how your skills match those
required by the employer during the interview in order to improve your chances of success.
 ©ABE 49

Chapter 4
Establishing Yourself
in a New Role

Introduction

Despite possessing good qualifications and technical skills, many new recruits find it difficult to
integrate and establish themselves in an existing team when starting a new position. This can have
an adverse impact on their productivity and performance during the early stages of their
employment. This chapter reviews what it takes for new employees to become fully established and
highly effective in their team roles. It focuses on the use of interpersonal skills and team work as key
enablers of effective employment.

Learning outcomes
On completing the chapter, you will be able to:
4 Appraise how employability skills can help establish you in a new job role and become part of
the team.
 Assessment criteria
4.1 Explain the usefulness of employability skills when starting a new job and how these could
be evidenced during a probationary period.
4.2 Describe how employability skills can help a new employee integrate with and become an
effective contributor to a team.

©ABE

Level 4 Employability
and Self-Development

Background
Joining a new team can be a daunting experience, especially when you are also starting work for a
new organisation. It is normal to be anxious about whether you are going to get on well with your
new colleagues and whether you will be able to do your job well.

As a new recruit it is important that you take time to establish yourself positively within your new
team. Interpersonal skills and team work will allow you to develop effective work relationships.
These skills will also enable you to be able to be friendly in a professional way, without being over
familiar and confident without appearing arrogant.

Team work is when everyone is able to combine their strengths and efforts in order to deliver an
effective and efficient coordinated action. In a corporate environment this requires individuals in the
team helping each other and creating a workplace environment where people are able to reach
their potential.

Over to you
Activity 1: Good and bad team members

Think about your experiences of being part of a team in the past. This might be at work, as
part of your course or perhaps being part of a sports team. Consider the qualities that make a
good team member and what makes you think someone is a bad team member.
How could this help you to be a good team member in your new role?
 Good Team Member Bad Team Member

©ABE 51

Chapter 4 Establishing Yourself in a New Role 4.1 Using employability skills in a

new job

A good first impression is important because it establishes your reputation and relationships with
your co-workers. It will shape other people’s opinion about you, your potential and your future
opportunities within the organisation.

Making a positive impression

Making a positive impression during your initial period of your employment is essential to
ensure that people take you seriously in your new role. There are several elements to making a
good impression:

Personal presentation Dress professionally, even if the organisation has adopted a casual dress
policy. Image matters. Being well groomed and dressed appropriately is
associated with professionalism and reliability. How you look and dress
matters.

Punctuality There is nothing that creates a bad impression more quickly than poor time keeping,
as it suggests disorganisation, disrespect for others and
laziness. Be on time for work and meetings. Return from lunch in a
timely fashion. You can’t be professional and late.

Being informed You may have done research in preparation for your interview, but once you work
for an organisation there is a lot more to learn. Information
is everywhere. The employee handbook, company reports, technical
manuals, employee newsletters. Become well-informed about your
organisation and your job.
questions, be curious and listen to your
Showing interest and listening colleagues. Doing so not only ensures that you
There is no expectation that you will know do your job tasks in the right way, but also
everything when you start a new job. Ask
 demonstrates that you have an interest in your job and the organisation you have joined.

Enthusiasm There is an expectation that you are interested in your new role and are enthusiastic
about the opportunity given to you by the organisation.
Show it. Smile when you enter the room. Be alert. Be positive in your
responses. Be enthusiastic.

Retaining information Make sure you take notes. In your first few weeks you will be given large
amounts of information, which will be very difficult to retain. The
information provided is being given for a reason, because you need it
to do your job. Making sure you have that information to hand will help
you to be effective and efficient more quickly.

52 ©ABE
Establishing Yourself in a New Role Chapter 4

Making a positive impression

Personal
presentaition

Retaining
information

Punctuality

Positive
impression
Enthusiasm

Figure 1: Making a positive impression

 Revision
on the go

Being
informed

Showing
interest and

listening

Making a positive contribution

Asking how you can make a positive contribution in your job sounds like something that you might
be asked at a job interview but it is a legitimate question that you should be asking yourself.
Making a decision to make a positive contribution is the difference between you being a liability to
your team and being a valued (and valuable) team player. This includes:
 listening attentively and might miss instruction.
Listening to instructions But failing to listen to instructions might result in
a project failure, or worse still threaten the safety
of other people in the workplace. Take notes to
ensure you remember any instructions given to
you.

In organisational life there is often lots of

Clarifying complex information being shared, and a lot of
understanding through this will be in organisational shorthand that you
may not know. If you are not quite sure what has
questions
It can be more difficult to listen and follow been requested or what the information you
instructions than you think. You might have your have been given means, use questions to check
mind on other things, be distracted or think that what has been said to avoid confusion and
you already know. If you have one ear on misunderstanding. Don’t assume you can guess
another conversation, or an eye on your what was
computer screen it is possible that you are not meant, clarify.

©ABE 53
Chapter 4 Establishing Yourself in a New Role
to being productive. Be clear on when different
tasks and projects need to be completed then
Applying skills diligently plan and manage your work load so that you
deliver to deadline. This will help build your
reputation as being reliable and increase trust
between you and your colleagues.

Meeting It is all very well delivering a piece of work on

deadlines time, but if what you are delivering is of a poor
standard or contains inaccuracies not only are
you wasting your time, but that of your
colleagues. Doing things right first time is far
more valuable than people having to correct
Checking work carefully your mistakes.

Good feedback is easy to respond positively to.

But feedback that is pointing out where we have
Responding positively to feedback gone wrong is challenging. It is worth
You sold your skillset at the interview stage, now remembering that it is harder for someone to
you need to use those skills in your job. Being give corrective feedback. Regardless of whether
diligent in applying your skills is simply about feedback is positive or negative thank the person
being effective at work. Review how you are you for their feedback because it provides you with
doing your work, make sure you are managing an opportunity to grow and develop. Seek
the demands being made so you use your time clarity if you need more information on what you
to manage competing priorities. could do better next time. Then act on it.
Being organised is the most important ingredient

CASE STUDY: A new job, a different email culture

Accidently upsetting others

Tarish had just begun a new job in a new
organisation. In his previous organisation the
subject line of emails was used so that others
in the organisation could filter the emails by
priority. Tarish would start his subject line with
 ‘Urgent Action’ if he needed the email acting on
immediately, Action, if action was required but
not urgently and Information only if no action
was required.

After a few weeks at work his manager asked if he could speak to him. His manager explained
that his use of the subject line was causing a negative reaction in other teams, and that he’d
had several senior managers expressing their frustration at an unknown person demanding
urgent action.

Tarish apologised to his manager for the complaints and explained his use of the subject line.
The manager understood but suggested that, because this was not the email culture of the
organisation, those subject headings came across as aggressive. Tarish thanked his manager for
the feedback and stopped using the subject line in this way.

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Establishing Yourself in a New Role Chapter 4

Over to you
Activity 2: Seeking out feedback

Soliciting feedback is a great way to understand the impression you give and whether the
contribution you are making is valued. Seek out three people that you work with, or who
know you well and ask for feedback. Ask them:
• What was your first impression of me? Why?
• What three things do you value about my contribution?
• What three things would you like to see more of from me?
Reflect on the feedback you receive and consider what you need to do differently going
forward to create a great first impression and deliver a positive contribution.

Achieving goals
At the beginning of your employment it is likely that you will have a probationary period. At the
end of the probationary period your performance will be reviewed. Therefore, the first thing
you need to understand is what goals is your performance going to be measured against. Ideally
you will be given SMART goals as outlined in Chapter 2, section 2.1. If you do not have clear goals
it will be difficult to know what you will be judged on. If you are not sure what your performance
will be measured against ask for clarity from your line manager. These goals should become your
priorities and you should work to achieve goals set for the probationary period.

At the end of your probationary period your manager should meet with you to review your
performance. If you have achieved your goals you should secure your job permanently.

NEED TO KNOW: Preparing for your probationary review

1 Read through the job description to refresh your memory of what is expected. 2 Review your
performance against the objectives set at the start of your probationary. How did you do?
Makes notes of areas where things have gone well and also where you have struggled. 3 Think
about possible performance goals going forward. Write down some draft SMART goals to share
with your manager.
4 Think about what skills, knowledge or experience you would like to develop and write some
draft personal development and career goals to discuss with your manager. 5 Prepare yourself.
You want to approach the meeting with an open mind and a positive attitude. The feedback
from your manager will be valuable in your
development as an employee. Revision on the go

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Chapter 4 Establishing Yourself in a New Role

4.2 Integrating with and becoming an

effective contributor to a team
Having a clear understanding of your workplace responsibilities will help you to feel secure in your
job role and contribute to higher levels of job satisfaction. When you start in a new team you will
want to make a good impression on your team members and this requires you to understand how
you, and your role fits into the team dynamic. Understanding how to integrate yourself into the
team and how to establish yourself as a valuable team player will help you become an effective
contributor to your team.

Accepting your role and working within boundaries

Having clarity about the larger organisational purpose will help you to understand how your role fits
into the bigger picture. It is essential that you are able to work within the boundaries of your role,
that you know where your role ends and someone else’s role begins. This goes beyond the job tasks
in your job description and includes acceptable interpersonal and behavioural norms, such as
respecting personal space or interactions within the team. Understanding your designated role and
working within guidance within your new team requires proactive communication and learning
where boundaries exist.

Over to you
Activity 3: How do job roles fit together?

What do you know about where a job role fits into the bigger picture and how the
responsibilities of the job would interact with those of other team members? Find the
following documents and review them:
• A job description
• Copy of the organisation’s mission, vision and values
• Organisation chart
 • Team or department strategy document
In small groups discuss where the job role fits into the wider organisation and capture your
thoughts as to what guidance this gives you in regards to how you would work and act in
the role.

For example: the organisation want to double its growth in 5 years but the workforce isn’t
going to double. This means we have to be able to do more with less. This means that when I
do my work I need to consider how I can continuously improve the way I do things.

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Establishing Yourself in a New Role Chapter 4

Effective use of own skills

Having confidence shouldn’t be mistaken for always knowing everything. Truly self-confident people
are open to the fact that they might not know everything there is to know on a subject. The more
you know and the more skilled you become, the more you understand how much more there is that
you can develop.

Confidence is a willingness to learn. It means you have a growth mind-set while feeling able to
perform your role and job tasks.

You can improve your confidence by planning and preparing for new or potentially difficult
situations. This may include speaking to colleagues and gaining their feedback. Responsiveness to
criticisms and compliments from your colleagues and line manager will ensure you are able to
recognise how others see your strengths and weaknesses and take action to develop your skillset.
Increasing your awareness about what is expected will enable you to identify areas where you have
knowledge or skills gaps and request support and training to close them. Discussing openly your
strengths, and encouraging team members to talk about their own will provide the opportunity to
utilise those strengths more often. Therefore to effectively use your own skills, invite feedback,
actively listen and remain open to different ideas.

CASE STUDY: Self-confidence at work

Meiying needs reassurance

Meiying’s first year at work had brought its fair

share
of challenges. The new job meant she had to
move
to the city from the small town where she grew
up.
She was used to having people around her who
she
knew and who shared her beliefs and values,
 but she
found that the people she worked with had different
backgrounds and therefore a different perspective
on life. Moving away from friends and family meant
that she felt lonely and spent a lot of time feeling
uncertain about her place in the world.

When she started her job she realised that there were aspects of the work that were completely
new to her and she had no idea whether she was doing things right. She didn’t receive any
formal training so was picking up information and knowledge as she needed it. Furthermore her
line manager did not give her any feedback on her work so she had no idea whether she was
performing or not. Over time she began to doubt herself more and more, which led to her
withdrawing and not speaking up during meetings.

A performance review

After three months Meiying had her probationary performance review. The line manager was
pleased with her work and gave her lots of positive feedback on her performance but also
highlighted some areas where Meiying needed to improve. Meiying highlighted her lack of
training in these areas. Meiying and her line manager worked on a personal development plan
to close her knowledge and skills gaps.

The performance review left Meiying feel more confident that she was able to do her job well
and supported by her line manager in getting the development she needed to close any gaps.

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Chapter 4 Establishing Yourself in a New Role

Several months after the performance review one of Meiying’s colleagues commented on how
Meiying seemed to have changed from being quiet and withdrawn in the first few months to
showing positivity and confidence in her work now.

Meiying knew that the turning point was getting feedback and support and that she felt more
motivated and successful as a result.

Valuing diversity
Diversity in teams isn’t just about dimensions such as culture, sex, age, race etc. but also
understanding that each member of the team has a variety of strengths and talents which
contribute something of value to the team. By being aware of and valuing the diverse skills,
knowledge and experience within the team it is possible to operate at high levels of performance.

Belbin Team Roles

Belbin (http://www.belbin.com/) is a tool, which identifies nine possible team roles that individuals
play within the team based upon different types of behaviour and performance. Understanding
and developing the behaviours and team roles within the team can improve a team’s performance.
Belbin proposes that if a team is constructed of individuals who exhibit all nine types of behaviours
between them then the team will be highly successful. The nine roles identified by Belbin are:
and resources for the team. Enthusiastic but
Resource investigator can lose interest and be over-optimistic.
Seeks out and finds new ideas, opportunities

Team worker The versatile diplomat of the team, who encourages the team to cooperate and
 gets work done on behalf of the team. Avoids conflict and can be
indecisive.

Co-ordinator Keeps the team aligned to its goals and tasks are delegated to meet objectives.
However might over delegate and not take their full share of the workload.

Plant Creative and will find novel solutions to problems. Generates ideas but can be forgetful
and fail to communicate effectively.
can be uninspiring and at times critical of
Monitor Evaluator others.
The impartial judge who is strategic, logical
and weighs all options. Dispassionate but

Specialist The specialist who has expertise in a key area, however their focus is narrow and can
produce information overload.

Shaper Provides the drive to keep team momentum moving forward. Overcomes obstacles
but can sometimes offend in pushing to get things done.

Implementer Practical and strategic, turning ideas into action and organising work. Reliable
but can hold tightly to the plan demonstrating inflexibility in the face of
change.
errors. Conscientious quality controller but can
Completer Finisher let perfect get in the way of good.
Effective at finishing work off and checking for

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Establishing Yourself in a New Role Chapter 4

Over to you
Activity 4: Belbin Team Roles

What team role(s) do you play? Search online for a free Belbin team role assessment.
Completing the test will increase your self-awareness and provide a useful start point for
discussing your personal development.

For example: http://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/3113

Belbin team roles

 Resource
investigator

Completer
finisher

Co-ordinator

Implementer
Belbin Team
Roles
Team worker

Plant

Shaper

Specialist Monitor evaluator

Revision on the go
Figure 2: Belbin team roles

©ABE 59

Chapter 4 Establishing Yourself in a New Role Meeting team objectives and responding to

feedback

Being able to work effectively in a team is an essential employability skill and you have a key role in
contributing to the delivery of team objectives. When you join a new team, there is a lot to take in.
First of all, you need to understand what your job role is, but also how you fit within the
organisation. There will be gaps in your knowledge, both in terms of what needs to be done and
how things are done. You must take responsibility for learning from others and not being afraid to
ask for help if you are not sure. No one will think less of you for acknowledging that there are areas
of the job, or team objectives that you are unfamiliar with. Seeking, being open to and responding
to feedback from others is an essential part of being an effective team member. If the team’s
objectives are to be met sharing knowledge, supporting each other, working together and holding
team members accountable to one another are all necessary.

Going the extra mile

Demonstrating your commitment and enthusiasm at work takes more than arriving at work on time
and meeting your own performance goals. Going the extra mile takes initiative, deliberately
learning new and better ways of working and supporting your colleagues in solving problems and
delivering projects on time. Going the extra mile won’t be written in your job description, and it isn’t
about you taking on so much you feel overwhelmed. It is an ongoing process of noticing where
additional effort and help is appropriate and being willing to do extra when needed.
 Over to you
Activity 5: Where can you do more?

Reflect on your current workload, and that of your fellow students or colleagues. Are there
areas where you can give support and help someone out? If so, how do you propose to
offer support?

For example: Having finished my tasks on a project, there has been a meeting, which have
resulted in some revisions needing to be made to get the final project approval. Although it
is not my responsibility to complete these revisions, I have asked my colleague if he needs
any help.

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Establishing Yourself in a New Role Chapter 4
 Reading list

• Ajay Singh, Bindu Gupta, (2015) “Job involvement, organizational commitment, professional
commitment, and team commitment: A study of generational diversity “, Benchmarking: An
International Journal, Vol. 22 Iss: 6, pp.1192 - 1211
• Apex Leadership Ltd, (2013) There’s no I in Team. Bookboon.com
• Robert J. Trent, (2003) “Planning to use work teams effectively”, Team Performance
Management: An International Journal, Vol. 9 Issue: 3/4, pp.50-58, doi:
10.1108/13527590310482235

Summary
Employability skills contribute to a smooth transition of a new employee into a new job and help
them to integrate effectively to become a fully established and highly effective member of their
team. These skills allow you to develop effective work relationships and be friendly in a professional
way, without being over familiar and confident without appearing arrogant.

A positive first impression and your contribution to the team objectives will ensure that people take
you seriously in your new role.

©ABE 61
Chapter 5
Creating a Personal
Development Plan

Introduction

Getting a new role is just the beginning of releasing your full potential. Employability skills are
required throughout your working life to maximise your value as an employee and to develop your
career progression. This requires an element of on-going personal and professional development –
not just ‘growing with the job’ – but also reflecting on your performance and planning your
development so you can achieve your career aspirations.

The concluding chapter of this unit focuses on the concept of lifelong learning and personal
development planning. This includes building a career development plan that proactively maps out
the skills development opportunities required to progress your career. This is a practical element
that, if successfully executed, will have lasting implications for each learner’s employability and
future career development

Learning outcomes
On completing the chapter, you will be able to:
5 Using a process of self-awareness and self-reflection, summarise opportunities for personal
development planning in order to ensure you maintain your value as an employee and advance
your career potential

Assessment criteria
5 Using a process of self-awareness and self-reflection, summarise opportunities for personal
development planning in order to ensure you maintain your value as an employee and advance
your career potential
5.1 Utilise feedback on performance to maximise your value as an employee. 5.2 Appraise the
value of feedback on performance with your own career goals and aspirations.
 ©ABE

Level 4 Employability
and Self-Development

Background
Self-development is a practice, which is under-utilised within organisational life. Too often
individuals will believe that they do not have talent, or will have a limited understanding of
their talent. This is not only unfortunate for the individual, who has no self-awareness of their
true potential, but is also damaging for the organisation that does not get to benefit from a full
appreciation of an individual’s capabilities.

Self-assessment of your skillset provides the opportunity for an honest appraisal of what you have
to offer. Individuals can underestimate the breadth of skills they have because our strengths are
things that we find easy, and therefore are, to us, of no consequence. Equally, without self
assessment we may fail to reflect upon areas of weakness, remaining ignorant of areas where there
are shortcomings in our performance. In such cases, it is not unusual for our weakness to get in the
way of us playing our strengths, further disabling our ability to release our full potential.

Over to you
Activity 1: WWW and EBI

Think about a recent piece of work that you completed. It might be a college report, a work
project or even a task you did in your personal life. Reflect and give yourself some feedback
on the work using the following framework:
• WWW – What went well with the work? Be specific about the things YOU did and
about the experience that worked well.
• EBI – It would be even better if….. Reflect on the work YOU did and the actions you could
you have taken that might have made the work or experience even better if you had
done them.

WWW – What worked well EBI – Even Better If

on other things that were more interesting or
For example: I finished the work ahead of easier, wasting time by procrastinating when I
deadline because I had a work plan and stuck should really have done the project first.
to it.
For example: I found some days I would work

©ABE 63
Chapter 5 Creating a Personal Development Plan 5.1 Maximising your value as an

employee

It is sometimes difficult to consider ourselves in terms of value. Lisa Quast suggests that individuals
consider themselves in terms of a product. Organisations continuously upgrade and improve
products and in doing so meet the needs of the market. .

Think of yourself as a product. That’s right! View yourself as a

competitive product with features, benefits, assets and liabilities – all
waiting to be improved upon year over year, carefully differentiating
yourself from others and creating your personal brand.
Lisa Quast – Career Coach, Contributor Forbes

Maximising your value as an employee requires you to embrace opportunities to receive feedback
and reflect on your performance in order to provide information on areas where you can improve
your skills, knowledge and behaviour. To remain valuable you must continually be willing to be open
to reviewing your performance in order to develop and improve.

Probationary Reviews
When you begin a new role many organisations will ask you to complete a formal probationary
period (see Chapter 4, section 4.1). At the end of your probation you will review your performance
with your line manager. This probationary review is an opportunity for you and your line manager to
assess how well you are getting on in your new role. It is a chance to get some formal feedback and
gain support for any improvement needed.

Formal Performance Reviews

Done well, a formal performance development review (PDR) or appraisal has the potential to
have a hugely positive impact on your performance and your personal development goals. It is an
opportunity to highlight your accomplishments and the contribution you are making to the team
and the organisation in your job role. It is also an opportunity to have dedicated time with your line
manager to discuss your job performance and formally record your achievements and career
aspirations.

The key to a positive PDR is preparation.

• Look Back – Consider your progress since your last performance review. Remind yourself of your
achievements and your contribution.
• Look Forward – Your line manager will want to set performance objectives for the next
performance period. Consider what these might be, and develop your own objectives.
• Learning opportunities – Review the learning opportunities you identified in Activity 4 in Chapter
2. What opportunities are there for projects you would like to be involved in or training from
which you would like to benefit.
64 ©ABE
Creating a Personal Development Plan Chapter 5

Over to you
Activity 2: Conduct an analysis of your job performance

Consider your job performance using the following dimensions:

• Expected performance – Take into account your job description, team goals and
organisational priorities; how would you rate your performance?
• Desired performance – Consider you career ambitions and development plan; how
would you rate your performance?
• Potential performance – In relation to your true talent potential, is there more that you
could be doing that you are not doing in your job role? How would you rate your
performance?
For each dimension consider what room there is for improvement and write one action you
are going to take to improve your performance.

Expected Performance

Excellent Good Neutral Could do better Poor One action I will take to improve

is…

Desired Performance

Excellent Good Neutral Could do better Poor One action I will take to improve

is…

Potential Performance

Excellent Good Neutral Could do better Poor One action I will take to improve

is…
Informal feedback mechanisms
Feedback doesn’t have to wait until your formal PDR. Ideally, you will receive regular feedback on
your performance from your line manager to avoid any surprises in your formal PDR.

It is recommended that you take time to ask your manager for feedback on your performance. You
may also ask for support for work tasks that you are working on. For example you may ask your

©ABE 65
Chapter 5 Creating a Personal Development Plan

manager to review how you plan to tackle an upcoming meeting, provide feedback on a practice run
through of the presentation or review progress on a project you are working on. You can also ask for
some post-action feedback when you have completed particular job tasks or at the end of a project.

Reflecting on Feedback
Reflection is a key component of learning. By reflecting on our actions we are able to consider
what we are doing well, and what areas we need to work on in order to improve performance.
When you receive feedback you can react in a variety of ways: you can choose to ignore it, you can
acknowledge it but not act on it, or you can consider what it means, how it applies to you and how
you can action it.

Ideally, feedback will be used to close the gap between what you currently understand in regards to
your job performance and what the person giving the feedback wishes you to understand in order
that you have a shared understanding about satisfactory performance and the changes that need to
be made in order for you to get there.

Failure to act on feedback, especially if the person receiving the feedback doesn’t understand what
is meant by it, will result in a one-way process where no change takes place. Responding to
feedback is a proactive process, which empowers you to take ownership of your own development
and learning.

NEED TO KNOW: How to action feedback

Be clear what needs to change. Sometimes feedback can leave you confused. If you are not
sure what was meant by the feedback ask for clarity.
Prioritise. In a performance review meeting you could receive a lot of feedback. Take time to
identify two or three areas of improvement to work on.
Plan. Once you are clear on what to improve, create an action plan to make it happen. Consider
different options for development and learning.
Get support. Review your personal development plan with your line manager.
Take action. Make your plan happen, and make sure you review progress with
your line manager. Luke had worked hard on the project report he
was tasked with delivering. The report was over
50 pages long, and included information from a
number of different departments. A large
quantity of data had been collated and
CASE STUDY: Could do betterLuke
presented in various sections of the report.
needs more information Luke submitted the draft report to his line
manager for review. His line manager wrote at
 the bottom of the report:

“I’m not happy with the way you handled the

project.”
Revision on the go

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Creating a Personal Development Plan Chapter 5

Luke wasn’t quite sure what his line manager meant. The feedback could be interpreted in
several ways:
1 His line manager was unhappy with the way the report had been written – the format,
content and written report itself.
2 His line manager was not happy with the way Luke had conducted himself when writing the
report, perhaps with his communication with other team members.
3 His line manager didn’t think that Luke had managed the writing of the report well, in terms
of his attitude toward writing the report, and behaviour whilst writing.
4 The conclusions in the report did not meet the manager’s expectations. Perhaps Luke had
not gone into enough detail or had presented information which was not supported by the
data.

Getting clarity

Luke asked for a meeting with his line manager to clarify what it was he could have handled
better. The manager explained that Luke had not formatted the report in the correct way, and
some of the data was incorrectly displayed. His line manager was more than happy with the
content of the report, and delighted at the way Luke had worked with different teams to gather
the relevant information. It was just that there were specific guidelines for report formats, which
Luke was not aware of.

Once Luke understood what was wrong with the report he was able to reformat the report and
the line manager was happy for him to submit the final.

Striving for excellence

Being professional in your job requires you to try and deliver everything you to do to a high quality.
Striving for excellence, therefore, is about your attitude toward achievement and wanting to excel
in everything you do.
 We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and everyone
should be really excellent. Because this is our life.
Steve Jobs

No one can make you excellent. You have to choose to take responsibility for closing gaps between
what you can do and what you need to do in order to achieve great results. Learning new skills
requires that you observe what is happening around you, both in the workplace and in the wider
context. Be curious and ask questions about to how things are done, why they are done the way
they are and consider options for how you can do things better.

Asking for and responding to constructive feedback will demonstrate that you are not content to
remain at your current level of performance and that you are checking the quality of your work
against expectations and set standards.

Finally, taking responsibility and being accountable for your own learning and development
is essential for professional growth and development. Seek out, and take up opportunities for
learning in order to learn new skills and improve your capability.

Closing gaps and striving for excellence – learning by observation and by asking questions, asking
for and responding constructively to feedback – will give you the chance to take up opportunities
for professional growth and development.
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Chapter 5 Creating a Personal Development Plan

Over to you
Activity 3: Excellence Journal

For the next week, at the end of each day write an entry into an excellence journal.
Consider the following questions:
• Did I do everything to the best of my abilities today? What could I do better?
• What one question could I ask tomorrow, and to who, that will help me be better than
I am today?
• What have I learned today that I didn’t know yesterday? What do I still need to
know?

Striving for excellence

 Asking for and
responding
constructively to
feedback

Taking up
Learning by striving for
observation
and asking questions
excellence

Figure 1: Striving for excellence

opportunities
for professional
Revision
growth
and development on the go
Closing gaps and

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Creating a Personal Development Plan Chapter 5

5.2 Career goals and aspirations

Taking time to appraise the value of feedback given by our line managers and colleagues in regards
to our performance provides the opportunity for the individual to review the reality of their current
performance and their own career goals and aspirations.

Developing your employability skills will increase your desirability to recruiting managers and
increase the likelihood of you getting the job that you want, staying in a job and progressing your
career.

Personal development plans

Identifying what career you would like to pursue will enable you to begin to build a career
development plan. Review your current skillset, your preferences and your natural team role to
identify the types of roles you might be suitable for and that also appeal to you.

At this stage don’t dismiss possible prospective career choices just because you don’t tick all the
boxes. Think about what you would like to do. Identify the skills that you need to develop into that
career role.

Consider also short-term and long-term aspirations. It may be that there are several steps required
to get to the job you really want in the long term. In understanding what you really want to do, you
can research different career paths to get to your ultimate goals.

It may help to review your thoughts with a careers service, or someone in your network who may
already be enjoying a career that you desire. Take time to research different options. The key is to
have a career development plan.

Over to you
Activity 4: SMART objectives for your career plan

Review the SMART objective framework in Section 2.1. Set SMART career goals at three
levels:
• Short term – next 12 months
• Medium term – 12 months to 2 years
• Long term – 2 years to 5 years

Short-term career goal – next 12 months

How? What action support do you to do it by?
Career goal – What will you take? need?
are you going to do? What resource or When are you going

©ABE 69
Chapter 5 Creating a Personal Development Plan Medium-term career goal - 12 months to 2 years

Career Goal – What will you take? need?

are you going to do? What resource or When are you going
How? What action support do you to do it by?

Long-term career goal – 2 years to 5 years

How? What action support do you to do it by?
Career goal – What will you take? need?
are you going to do? What resource or When are you going
 CASE STUDY: Career pathways
Aarav changes career

When Aarav left university he thought that he

would
pursue a career in business, but didn’t have a clear
idea
of what work he would like to do. He began
working
in the family business, a food production
manufacturer,
starting as a production manager.

After a few months Aarav realised that he had

developed a curiosity for where the produce came from.
In his role he had the opportunity to speak to a number of suppliers who produced the raw
ingredients for the products that the family business produced. He was particularly interested in
how food was grown on an industrial scale and the technology behind helping farmers grown
healthier crops.

Short-term goal

In the short term Aarav decided that he would like to transfer from production management
into supply chain management specialising in working with the farmers and suppliers for the
business. This gave him the opportunity to visit farms. In this role he began to learn a lot about
the skills, technology and science behind growing food.

SMART goal: Meet with six medium and two large supplier farms in Q1 developing knowledge
and experience in soil testing and how these tests provide an estimate of the plant-available
concentrations of plant nutrients. Examine how these results impact the choice of fertiliser used
by the supplier farm.

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Creating a Personal Development Plan Chapter 5

Medium-term goal

This experience helped him to understand the career possibilities open to him. His business
background gave him an opportunity to consider a role in an agricultural business and study a
Masters in Applied Farm Management, developing his knowledge of environmental sciences
and engineering. During his Masters studies, he was able to secure a job with an agricultural
business vendor, which specialised in farm systems, soil fertility and productivity.

SMART goal: Work with a career counsellor at university to complete the documents needed
for applying for job and securing employment in the agriculture industry, which uses the
knowledge gained from my Masters in Applied Farm Management by the end of July 2014.
 Long-term goal

Aarav’s long-term goal is to become an agronomist, a plant scientist and crop advisor. In his
current role, he is using his transferable skills related to business understanding to provide
vendor solutions relating to agronomic data, irrigation management and sustainable farming
management. At the same time he is gaining insights into how agro-industrial companies work,
advancing his understanding of farm management economics and developing his knowledge of
how processes of soil and plants change with different management practices.

SMART goal: Complete soil management projects working closely with 3 agro-industrial clients,
tailoring sustainable farming solutions to their individual requirements in Q4 2017. Work with
finance department to adapt mechanisms to monitor the financial impact of the proposed
solutions to report on a quarterly basis throughout 2018.

Utilising development opportunities

Once you have identified your career aspirations you will have identified areas where you need to
develop specific qualities and skills. You can then identify a number of development opportunities,
which you can utilise to develop as a professional. These include:

Shadowing This is an informal form of short-term work experience where you have the
opportunity to observe someone doing a role in order to understand
how they do their job.

Face-to-face training Face-to-face training involves a series of lessons, lectures or workshops

focused on developing particular skills.

Online training Online training programmes offer lectures, webinars or e-learning sessions
focused on particular skills or knowledge which is delivered
online, rather than in a classroom.

Training on the job On-the-job training is where training takes place whilst you are work. This may
be sitting with a buddy whilst they walk through a particular process
or a form of instruction as you are completing a work task as part of an
apprenticeship programme.

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Chapter 5 Creating a Personal Development Plan Transferable skills

Remember that your employability skills which got you the job that you have now can be
developed to progress your career into another job role. Even if you are not working in a particular
field of work now, you can entertain different types of work because transferable skills are flexible
and can be used in different ways to deliver different job tasks.

Review the transferable skills that you have developed in your current role and consider how they
can be transferred into the role or career that you would like to progress into.
 Over to you
Activity 5: Transferable skills check

• What transferable skills did you identify when you started your current role?
• What transferable skills have you acquired or developed during this module? Think
about extra-curricular activities as well as skills you have developed in your current
job.
• How do these map to the skills you require for your next role?

For example: Prior to my current role I had never managed any projects. I have now
developed some managing and leadership skills including setting direction, developing a
work plan, delegation and monitoring work.

72 ©ABE
Creating a Personal Development Plan Chapter 5

Lifelong learning
Committing to continuous professional development and life-long learning is essential to keeping
your employability skills up-to-date and relevant. The labour market and the world of work are
constantly changing. As such the skills that employers are looking for are constantly changing too.

Lifelong learning, therefore, has an important part to play in supporting your career plan. If you
want to develop your career and maintain your employability in the marketplace, you must manage
your learning alongside your career development. The quality of your career choices will depend on
the quality of your learning activities.

No one is going to make you pursue learning opportunities, so it is up to you to volunteer yourself
to ongoing development. This could be as simple as keeping up to date with the latest information
in your industry, developing your skills in work and attending training workshops when they are
offered. You may also look to develop a professional career and take part in further education
opportunities, networking and attending regular conferences and seminars. There is no right way to
develop.

RReeading list: ading list

• M.S. Rao, (2015) “Debunking the myths of career success: It all comes down to attitude,
aptitude, abilities and awareness”, Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol.
23 Iss: 7, pp.38–41
• Peter Greenan, (2016) “Personal development plans: insights from a case based approach”,
Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 28 Issue: 5, pp.322-334, doi: 10.1108/JWL-09-2015-0068
• Jan Reuter, (2013) “Five steps to a recession proof career”, Industrial and Commercial
Training, Vol. 45 Issue: 1, pp.60-63, doi: 10.1108/00197851311296719

Summary
Self-awareness of your transferable skills not only benefits your current employer but also helps you
to get a full picture your capabilities and plan for your future.

Utilising feedback to examine your strengths and areas where there are shortcomings in your
performance will enable you to maximise your value as an employee.

Developing your employability skills will increase your desirability to recruiting managers and
increase the likelihood of you getting the job that you want, staying in a job and progressing
your career.

©ABE 73
Glossary expected to take responsibility for and justify
their decisions and actions.
Glossary Add value The increase in value that your
skillset adds to a job role.
Accomplishment statement A bullet Agile workforce A work force which can
statement highlighting an achievement and adapt quickly and easily to the demands of the
describing action you took in a particular role. market.
Accountable Where the individual is Application form A form that must be filled
 out by an individual seeking employment. with desired performance.
Appraisal A formal assessment of employee Growth mind-set A belief that your most
performance. basic abilities can be developed.
Aptitude tests An exercise or challenge that is Hard skills Specific, teachable abilities that
designed to determine a person’s ability, skills can be defined and measured.
or knowledge.
Interpersonal skills Skills used to interact
Assessment centre An employment with other people in order to get the job done.
process where candidates are tested and Life-long learning Learning activity that you
assessed for suitability. engage in throughout your life.
Capabilities The ability of an individual to do Performance development review A formal
something. annual discussion about your performance and
Change project Helping an organisation development to set an action plan for the next
make significant changes, such as resources, period.
processes and operations.
Personal development plan An action
Character traits Characteristics that a person plan based upon goal-setting and planning
possesses and distinguishes them from others. for personal development for the purposes of
career improvement.
Competencies Abilities that enable an
employee to do a job successfully. Personal Profile A personal summary at the
Curriculum Vitae (CV) A document in start of your CV to introduce who you are to a
which you market yourself to an employer. potential employer.

Diversity A range of individual differences. Personality tests Questionnaire designed

to reveal character or personality of an
Effective Successfully doing the right things
individual.
to produce the required result.
Proactive Someone who makes things
Efficient Doing things with minimal wasted happen, rather than responding to things
time or effort. happening to them.
Employability Doing work which is Probationary Period A short process of
recognised as adding value, enhancing your ensuring your fitness for a job role.
ability to get work.
Productivity Efficiency of an employee
Employability skills Transferable population.
interpersonal and behavioural skills that make
you more attractive to current and future Psychological contract Unwritten
expectations that forms part of the employment
employers.
relationship between employee and employer.
Q1 The first quarter of the calendar or fiscal
year.
Reference An individual who is a source
Flexibility Employee population which can of information regarding an individual’s
develop and grow to meet the needs of the employability.
organisation. Secondment Temporarily transferring a
Gap analysis Comparing current skills level worker into a differing position.

74 ©ABE
Glossary

Selection criteria The knowledge, skills,

qualifications and experience a person needs to
do the job.
Self-development A process an individual
goes through to development themselves.
Soft skills Interpersonal attributes that help
you to interact effectively with other people.
Speculative application An application for a
job which has not been advertised.
SWOT analysis A study of strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Talent Natural skill or ability.
Toolbox talks A short presentation that
highlights one particular topic to a workforce.
Transferable skill A capability that has been
developed that can be used in different
situations.

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