The competencies developed

Professional development refers to the different types of educational experiences that are related to an individual’s work. Lawyers, doctors, educators, engineers, students and other people who are associated with a range of business and professions should often participate in professional development programs. This will help them acquire new skills and knowledge. This improves their performance. A personal development plan consists of defining things that are of extreme importance to us, things we intend to achieve, our strengths that will assist in achieving the goals and the necessary improvements that need to be developed with time (Moon 2013). As a part of my graduation study, I have built a personal and professional developmental plan that will improve my performance in academics.  . It will also help me increase intellectual interaction with my peers and colleagues. This reflective exercise on personal and professional skills and development plan would help me seek new learning opportunities. It would be an honest appraisal of my strengths and weaknesses and will enable me to evaluate the value of the training I have received so far (Hopkinson 2016). I will be able to utilize it for my future leadership development capabilities.

Before I develop my long term and short term goal plans, I conducted a personal analysis. It helped me in identifying my competencies that might affect any plans which I make (Tracy 2012). In this following section I will discuss all the competencies that have gained during my learning course along with their importance, to what extent I have developed and the ways through which I have developed.

• Competent to deliver complex information: The importance of this skill is to develop the ability in order to communicate the essential information to everybody in my learning course. This skill can be developed by leading a workshop, providing lecture to the class and presenting the general public apart from my study place. I will rank this competency on advanced section as I have the ability to deliver the important information through workshops, lectures and presentation to the general public (Crane et al. 2012).
• Being ambiguous: It is the competency to be adaptive and confident in decision making within a complex environment. It can be developed by multitasking with instant decision making and ability to manage complex personalities. In this part I will rank myself in average section as I believe that I have gathered the potential to handle multiple tasks and deal with complex situation but some time I face hurdles in managing some complex personalities (Rogers et al. 2013).
• Competent in dealing with complex characters: This skill entails the ability in building teams with right personalities, managing them and skilled enough to visualize situations with different perspective and to become a quality colleague and head. This skill can be developed by teaching a class and by performing in groups. I believe that I am still to learn a lot about managing a whole class and performing activities in and out of my discipline thus I have ranked as beginner in the chart (Cameron and Green 2015).
• Competent enough to complete within deadline: the competency in managing time while meeting the deadlines of any task.  This skill can be accomplished by forming a research plan by sticking with the deadline. This information should also be communicated to others involved in this. I think I have learnt a bit of time management by meeting the strict deadlines but as I move forward to my course, I will need to face more complicated task with deadline issues thus I will rank myself in some competency (Umbleja Kukk and Jaanus 2013).
• Competent in reaching and defending the conclusion of any matter: This skill illustrates in analysing and evaluating critically the arguments and the evidential proof related to the project. This can be established by defending proposal or providing research ideas to the team by submitting the research proposals and represent the proposed ideas to broader audience. I will rank myself in average section, although I have defended some proposals but still I need to orient myself in presenting the ideas to the audiences (Walton 2016).
• Competent analyser: This competency describes the potential in evaluating and discovering more effective ways in performing tasks. This goal can be achieved by analysing the data of the task by availing courses to increase the logical and reasoning skills and managing the task budget. I will rank myself in the advanced section as I have been regularly taking courses to strengthen my skills in conducting any research work (Ferrari 2012.).
• Ability to write and edit clearly and concisely: This ability illustrates the potential to write clear reports and related papers that corresponds to data collections and research findings. This skill is developed by submitting the research proposals by forming peer editing groups and by attending workshops on publishing, proposal writing and finally write papers, articles and blogs with respect to different audiences. I will rank myself as expert in this field as I have previously submitted many research proposals by forming groups and attended various workshops for gaining knowledge and writing various formats of papers by keeping the different audiences in mind (Fawcett et al. 2014).

 In most career sectors, a graduation degree is the minimum requirement for employment. With a graduation degree in Information Technology, I will be able to secure an entry level position as in different professional fields (Von Culin, Tsukayama and Duckworth 2014).  While holding a graduate degree will not guarantee me a sense of ultimate success, it will certainly open many avenues for employment. A graduation in academics would also help me earn recognition and the financial rewards from companies. The feeling I will achieve while walking across the platform to receive my graduation degree will be overwhelming (Monaghan and Attewell 2015). Despite moments of uncertainty and doubts, the efforts I will put forth to complete my studies to earn the degree will act as a major life experience. 

Proper learning of a particular subject will only be facilitated when I am able to structure existing and new knowledge around the major principles and concepts of the discipline. A highly proficient performance in my related subject domain will require a knowledge that is both usable and accessible. I will need to develop a comprehensive knowledge on my subject area. It will function as a necessary component, which will enable me to think and solve problems in the related domain (Erickson, Lanning and French 2017). A deep understanding of the subject will encourage me for continued growth and will make me desire for more. I will utilize all academic resources available at the library in my department. I will also seek help from my teachers to gain a better understanding of my subject. Regular online test will help me evaluate my performance. It will foster my ability to structure and recognize the growing content of knowledge based on the principles of my discipline. Therefore, an advanced study would instill a learning habit and enable me to see past the features of any problem and connect it to fundamental principles of my discipline.

Goals

 Self-confidence is the attitude that a person holds about himself and it allows the person to achieve immediate goals. A self confident person always displays a sense of controlling his own life. He can do what he plans, wishes, and expects. Developing self confidence will help me believe that even if certain things do not go the way I expect them to be, eventually I will be able to take control of them.  Self confidence and oration skills will make me value my capabilities. It will increase my self esteem and will make me feel proud of myself. I will be naturally able to accept and handle all types of situation and replace my fears and anxiety (Anwar 2016). To build my confidence I will have to eliminate dependency on others and will need to trust my personal opinion and abilities. I will have to stay away from all forms of negativity and evaluate my circle of family and friends. Positive enthusiasm will create excitement whenever I intend to begin a new task. I need to be prepared for tough times in the field of academics and career. That will make self confidence soar. Communication skills are also essential for a successful career. I need to develop my reading, listening and writing habits. Delivering presentations, speeches and reports as a part of my curriculum will help me in managing my skills. I will try to achieve this by participating in group activities in the classroom and my community as well. I also intend to get enrolled in small workshops that will assist me to improve my skills and engage in effective communication.

I plan to develop my sense of responsibility by looking for opportunities that will allow me to pursue my interests and practice my skills in a variety of ways.  I will cater to various learning styles. I can become more responsible by tracking my development over time. I will try to engage myself in different classroom activities and small group discussions where I can portray my leadership skills. I will try to volunteer to contribute to all types of events that occur in my college and community (Torre Gibney et al. 2017). This will inculcate a sense of responsibility in me.

It will help me increase my social opportunities. I plan to join university clubs and get benefited in more than one ways. I will be able to meet various people coming from different backgrounds. It will assist me to maintain a balance between academic success and social life. It will also create a potential platform to showcase my talents (Thomas et al. 2017).

 In the above discussion I have talked about the different competencies that I have developed still now in my ongoing course. I have also represented the various goals that are implemented in educational and developmental plans. But apart from all these, there are still some competencies that I have feel should be developed in the completion of my course.

• Ethical and integrity development: This competency discusses the potential to relate and apply the codes of professional conduct as these are related to generally relate to the work in and out of discipline. This will be developed by attending workshops on conduction of ethical research and thereby learning the essential codes of conduct. After learning the codes, the importance should be communicated to the undergraduate students, audit the courses of ethical issues and take part in teaching the ethical thinking. I will rank as a beginner in this section as I have just started attending and learning from the workshops on ethical issues and code of conduct (Meine and Dunn 2013.).
• Thinking strategically: This skill demonstrates the potential in clarifying the direction and project vision and study the various relationships that support the institution goal. This can be achieved by taking up jobs, projects and/or internships during my course of graduation by undertaking vision and making strategy. This can be carry forwarded by learning the working experiences of the faculty and administration. I will rank myself average in this part as I am yet to undertake any jobs or internships but as I have worked on some of the projects and recently collaborating with the faculty members, have gained a partial competency in this section (Liu Frankel and Roohr 2014).
• Succeeding in competitive surrounding: This competency illustrates the ability to solve any problem with promptness along with potential communication skills. This can be achieved by proposing, completing and publishing a proposed work and win fellowships to carry out further project for the department. In this section I will rank myself in the advanced part as in my previous session I have completed and published many projects successfully. But I am yet to apply for any fellowships for conducting a major project to advance my knowledge and education (Rothmann and Cooper 2015).   

Conclusion

This report utilized the concept of reflection and enabled me to keep a track of the steps I need to take to acquire skills. It will help me to keep a track of the required changes in my life and the weak areas that need improvement. The plan will provide a gauge to view my progress, and determine the competencies I need to develop in future. This will act as learning opportunity and will help me to find greater coherence with my learning programs.

References

Anwar, K., 2016. Panel Discussion and the Development of Students’ Self Confidence. English Language Teaching, 9(4), pp.224-229.

Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2015. Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.

Crane, R.S., Kuyken, W., Williams, J.M.G., Hastings, R.P., Cooper, L. and Fennell, M.J., 2012. Competence in teaching mindfulness-based courses: concepts, development and assessment. Mindfulness, 3(1), pp.76-84.

Erickson, H.L., Lanning, L.A. and French, R., 2017. Concept-based curriculum and instruction for the thinking classroom. Corwin Press.

Fawcett, S.E., Waller, M.A., Miller, J.W., Schwieterman, M.A., Hazen, B.T. and Overstreet, R.E., 2014. A trail guide to publishing success: tips on writing influential conceptual, qualitative, and survey research. Journal of Business Logistics, 35(1), pp.1-16.

Ferrari, A., 2012. Digital competence in practice: An analysis of frameworks. Sevilla: JRC IPTS.(DOI: 10.2791/82116).

Hopkinson, C., 2016. PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH REFLECTIVE PRACTICE. Becoming a Nurse: Fundamentals of Professional Practice for Nursing, p.430.

Liu, O.L., Frankel, L. and Roohr, K.C., 2014. Assessing Critical Thinking in Higher Education: Current State and Directions for Next?Generation Assessment. ETS Research Report Series, 2014(1), pp.1-23.

Meine, M.F. and Dunn, T.P., 2013. The search for ethical competency: Do ethics codes matter?. Public Integrity, 15(2), pp.149-166.

Monaghan, D.B. and Attewell, P., 2015. The community college route to the bachelor’s degree. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 37(1), pp.70-91.

Moon, J.A., 2013. Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice. Routledge.

Rogers, K., Luton, R., Biggs, H., Biggs, R.O., Blignaut, S., Choles, A., Palmer, C. and Tangwe, P., 2013. Fostering complexity thinking in action research for change in social–ecological systems. Ecology and Society, 18(2).

Rothmann, I. and Cooper, C.L., 2015. Work and organizational psychology. Routledge.

Thomas, B., Nguyen, T., Washburn, A. and Dyess, J., 2017. Student Engagement: The Effects of Goals, Personality, Relations, and Society.

Torre Gibney, D., Preston, C., Drake, T.A., Goldring, E. and Cannata, M., 2017. Bringing Student Responsibility to Life: Avenues to Personalizing High Schools for Student Success. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), pp.1-17.

Tracy, S. J. (2012). Qualitative research methods: Collecting evidence, crafting analysis, communicating impact. John Wiley & Sons.

Umbleja, K., Kukk, V. and Jaanus, M., 2013, March. Competence-based approach to learning. In Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 2013 IEEE (pp. 552-559). IEEE.

Von Culin, K.R., Tsukayama, E. and Duckworth, A.L., 2014. Unpacking grit: Motivational correlates of perseverance and passion for long-term goals. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(4), pp.306-312.

Walton, D., 2016. Evaluating Expert Opinion Evidence. In Argument Evaluation and Evidence (pp. 117-144). Springer International Publishing.