P6

For this task I held a meeting with Connell, Connie and Harrison talking about CSR for our company, the meeting started at 12pm and it began by me saying 'so who wants to talk first?', this then led to Harrison saying 'I aspire to be an estate agent, I am currently working for Future Let as a part time worker but after I have completed the course I will be working full time, I can then improve by working for another comoany hopefully selling houses as an estate agent, after gaining a large amount of experience I would like to become a manager of an estate agency through extra training and guidance from the business owner'

Connie then said 'I also aim to be an estate agent, I am going to begin looking at companies to work for and vacancies available, I will then apply for a role as an estate agent, I will begin by working in the comoany doing admin work and work my way up to being an estate agent through training and understanding of what the job role includes, this would be a good way of progression as they can guide me up the career ladder."

Connell then stated "I aspire to work for GSK, I have an apprenticeship lined up at the company as a supply chain manager, this is a higher apprenticeship and I will gain qualifications through working at the company, after the course is completed, I hope to have a full time job working for GSK as a supply chain manager working on a normal employee wage instead of the apprenticeship wage."

I then said "I aspire to work in assurance and audit for a large company in the city, this will be done by completing my degree in business management and accountancy, I will then pursue an ACA accountancy course which would mean I would be an ICAEW accountant".

P5 M3 D2

Interview skills

In the market research unit, we had to do interviews for a method of market research for our own company which was created in Unit 37, this involved performing an interview and being interviewed for the benefit of gaining more detailed answers from a respondent. This involved asking the interviewee a number of questions which involved answers which gave me a lot of detail in regards to my company. This effectively led to me being interviewed and answering questions for a researcher, this meant I could give my own opinions on a researchers new company that they were performing market research for.

Above, I am being interviewed by a researcher for the market research of a new night club they wanted to open in the Harlow town centre. 

Above, this is the respondent in my interview for the market research for a comoany that I wanted to open which is an American Diner named 'Pykett's Diner'.

Witness Name:

Comment on skill demonstrated:

Witness signature:

To be at the skill level required for my career plan, I will have to be a lot more fluent in my responses, this is to ensure that the interviewer has a good impression of me and feels as though I can answer questions confidently without stuttering or getting lost for words. I need to be at an impressive level of interviewing and this will come through experience and confidence in my abilities. By learning these skills in college, I will feel more confident in the work place interviewing and being interviewed. I can improve this by practising and rehearsing my answers beforehand and preparing better for the interview, 

I have developed these skills outside of college through taking jnterviews for a number of comoanies, I have been successful upon completion of every interview I have partook and this gives me a great sense of self esteem and confidence for any future interview, I believe I have developed this skill extremely well and this makes me a lot more relaxed and comfortable in an interview situation in the future. 

Accounting skills

By completing the management accounting unit I have developed a string understanding if accounts and how they can be used by a business, I have particularly been strong in making break even charts and cash flow forecasts and have often given help to people in the class. I feel very comfortable in creating a break even chart for any company with any figures put in front if me, I also feel positive in creating a cash flow forecast. 

Above. This is my cash flow forecast created from scratch for my comoany 'Pykett's Diner'.

Witness Name:

Comment on skill demonstrated:

Witness signature:

I can develop these skills by changing the figures around and developing a better understanding of cash flow forecasts and how changing different areas can change different parts of the cash flow forecast. As I aspire to be an accountant in the future, it is beneficial to have a strong understanding of cash flow forecasts as I know I will have to deal with them in my career. I can improve upon these by using them more and researching them thoroughly to become fluent in understanding them. This would be effectively used in the workplace in an accountancy firm working for clients. 

I feel as though this skill can be improved, this is because that even though I feel comfortable in using this, it was for a make believe company and was not used in the real world, I need to be completely confident in using them in order to use them effectively in real life situations and taking other factors into account when doing them. I will have to develop this skill to my maximum potential in order to be successful In gaining clients trust.

Meeting deadlines

This course has improved my deadline meeting skills, this has been improved through constant deadlines being set, by having a deadline, I have understood exactly how much work I need to do within a set time frame, this has made me take note of how much work I have left to do and how much work needs to be completed by the deadline date, deadlines are often non-negotiable which means I have to be oreoared to meet them. 

Witness Name:

Comment on skill demonstrated:

Witness signature:

The tracking grid makes this so easy to do and helps a large amount, by using a tool like this, it becomes very simple to follow progression and it makes me aware of how close I am to the deadline, I must continue to meet deadlines in every step of my career plan during uni and In the workplace. I can improve this by planning in advance what tasks to perform at what time in order to successfully meet deadlines. These skills can be transferred from college, through to university and then onto the workplace, by the time I am finished with education I will have gained a large amount of experience in meeting deadlines and it will become like second nature to me.

I have developed this skill through constantly meeting deadlines in the college course, I still feel as though I can make slight improvements but even if I get work do e towards the deadline, I still get all work done and completed, this is a valuable skill it have learned and I can use this effectively in my career plan. To improve this skill and make this skill work to its maximum potential, i can make a plan of work that needs to be done and what time I need to complete it in order to ensure I am not rushing and my work is a tuts highest quality.

Presentation skills 

In a recent unit we had to prepare a PowerPoint presentation as part of a group of 4, this meant we had to make the presentation look good whilst ensuring that we all knew exactly what we had to talk about and made sure that we were fluent and understanding in everything we talked about, we effectively planned the PowerPoint and all took turns in talking about our chosen researched area. This was a very successful PowerPoint however improvements still needed to be made. 

We used initials/ symbols in the bit irk corner to show who was reading what slide, we used the 7+/- rule when making the PowerPoint to ensure it looked as good as possible. 

Witness Name:

Comment on skill demonstrated:

Witness signature:

I feel as though I can develop this skill further by talking slower and rehearsing before the final presentation, this would mean I know exactly what to talk about and I would not have to read off of the slide. After progressing in my career, I will have to present in front of the board, this means I will have to have a completely fluent presentation and correctly explain things. I can transfer these skills learned in college and use them in university and in the workplace, this is a very useful skill to have and if I have string presentation skills, that could make me more employable. 

This skill needs improving on my behalf, I need to focus more on rehearsing prior to the presentation, I also have to be confident in speaking and ensure that I speak fluently and confidently to make the presentation stick in to the audiences minds. I feel that this is easy to improve and by imact using more. I can present excellently with no issues, 

Writing reports

Whilst completing this task, I have constantly been using different methods of showing my work, one of these methids is writing reports, I feel as though I have become very string in writing these and perfectly describing the subject/topic required, this is a valuable skill to have learned and to be able to use it confidently and effectively is a good way to feel confident about going to university where I will be writing reports on a regular basis.  This will also help in my career as I will have to write reports as part of assurance and audit as a chartered accountant, this is a good way to shiw the analysis if firms as well as possibly writing in newspapers/magazines. 

As you can see this is a well written document in report format.

Witness Name:

Comment on skill demonstrated:

Witness signature:

I can develop this more by improving my vocabulary and using business terms more, I will need to be fluent in business language when writing reports in future as I will have to perfectly describe certain topics and subjects, this will only come by reading more and reading business reports from leading characters in the finance industry, by learning this skill, I can use it effectively in university and the workplace.

As previously mentioned, I could improve this skill by improving business vocabulary this will effectively lead to my writing being more interesting and it will make the work seem a lot more intelligently performed, I believe this would put me close to writing at my maximum potential which would be effectively used in university and in the workplace. 

Independence

I feel as though I have become a lot more independent after completing this course, this is because I have developed a great deal of understanding for the business world, I don't have to ask for help very often and this is because i find it easy to gain information online through the use of laptops or the iPads. I have also taken it under my initiative to get all work needed to be done complete on time this has been a great leap in the right direction as I previously struggled to work off of my own initiative. 

Witness Name:

Comment on skill demonstrated:

Witness signature:

I can develop this further but it is not needed because being too independent is not good, it is good to ask for guidance and gain all the information required so I feel this is at the correct level of independence, I can use this in university when living in my own and I can use it in the workplace when I have tomworkmkff of my own initiative and not be guided step by step all of the time.

As previously mentioned, I feel as though this does not need further improvements as I feel my jndependemce is at  no good level. I feel as though this will help me reach my maximum potential as I have that right level of guidance and working on my own.

P4M2

Smart target 1

Specific: complete Level 3 BTEC in Business studies to grade D*D*D*

Measureable: this is Measureable through the use if the tracking grid, I can measure my progress effectively by using the tracking grid as it shows me how much work I have done and how much work I need to do

Achievable: this is achievable as I have achieved distinctions across a large amount of the units, this means I only have to complete a few more units to Distinction level in order to meet my target grade of D*D*D*

Realistic: as previously mentioned, this is a realistic target because I have achieved distinction in a large amount of the units I have already done meaning I have to only complete a few more units to distinction level in irder to gain my target grade if D*D*D*

Time: all work has to be completed by the 22nd May, if any reworks need to be made then I will be called back to the college to complete any work that needs to be improved. 

I can assess if I have completed these tasks as I will know by the time I have finished all my college work to the level of distinction, I feel as if I am on the right track to completing and achieving this target as I do not need to do a large amount of work in order to gain the required grade. By completing my work to this level I will have achieved the highest grade possible for my course which will look good for any employer. 

I will use this action place to cross off as i complete this target by the 22nd May:

Complete and finish unit 7, 32, 12 and 15

Finish all reworks

Specific: complete my university degree in Business Management and Accountancy

Measurable: similarly to college, there will be a tracking grid so i will know how much work I have completed and how much work needs to be done, I will have exams so I will know when these exams are and how well I have completed my exams.

Achievable: this is achievable as I have travelled such a long distance and I feel that I can complete my degree to a high level.

Realistic: this is a realistic target as am confident I can achieve this target and complete my degree

Time: this will be completed by the year 2019, this is because my course is a four year course with a sandwich year.

I can assess if I have achieved this target by the fact that I will have completed university to whatever level, I will have completed the course and gained a degree in Business Management and Accountancy. I have not made progress towards this yet however I am on track to gain the qualifications required to attend this course. I will have to complete my qualification to my target level as this is a conditional offer upon gaining my target grades. As previously mentioned, this course will be completed in 2019 as it is a four year course with a sandwich year.

I will use this action place to cross off as I complete this target:

Complete BTEC Level 3 in Business Studies

Begin course and complete Year one of my degree.

Complete year 2 of my degree

Take sandwich year working in a firm in London

Complete year 3 of university

Specific: take a successful sandwich year in University in a firm in London

Measurable: this will be easy to measure as I can see the progress from the first step to the last, this means I can measure progress effectively in the application of jobs.

Achievable: this is achievable as the university will help me gain a placement year in a well established firm.

Realistic: this is realistic because the university will help me gain a placement.

Time: this will be done in the third year of my course.

I will know if I have achieved this after completing the placement, it will help me know if a role is good for me or if I should look at different working environments. I will begin progress towards doing this as soon as I begin university. I can begin looking at firms to work for to work at when on my placement. As I mentioned this target will be completed in my third year of university and the university itself will help me gain the placement.

I will use this action place to cross off as I complete this target:

Start researching firms to work for

Begin university placement research when attending university

Apply for placements

Gain interviews and make decisions

Specific: gain a full time job

Measurable: this will be measurable as I will have recieved offers for jobs or gained interviews

Achievable: this is achievable as I could get offered a job through my placement at university or I can use my degree to gain a good job.

Realistic: this is realistic as I will have experience and a recognisable qualification

Time: I would like for this to be done by the year 2020 after completing my degree

I will know if I have achieved this because I will be in the line up to being employed, or I will have had interviews. I will have progressed towards this by completing my placement year and my qualification, this will send me on my way to being employed by a well established firm. I can begin looking at firms to work for in the long run, this means i can change my characteristics in order to be the ideal candidate for these comoanies. I will want this to be done as soon as I have completed the degree, this is because I will have gained the qualification specifically in order to get a good job.

I will use this action place to cross off as I complete this target:

Complete college and university

Complete placement year

Apply for full time jobs

Gain interviews and job offers

P3 skills audit

Skills I need to work on

Punctuality: after speaking to the manager if the business team, I have taken it under my initiative to work a lot harder on being more punctual, I realised this was a real issue and that it had to be improved. Recently my punctuality has improved, however, further improvements could be made as sometimes I am still not in time, I know this still needs to be worked on, however, it is not as much of a concern as it was a few months ago. 

Explaining: sometimes I find it hard explaining certain things, when I am asked to describe something or if I am describing something to a group of individuals i stutter or get lost for words, this problem has developed in the last year, I know that I need to improve upon this as if I am giving a presentation, I cannot stutter or get lost for words, I will have to be fluent. I feel that I could improve this by speaking slower, taking more breaths and explaining things slowly and surely rather than rapidly and hard it understand.

Record data: in my years of education, I have never really been the type of person to take notes or record lectures, this is mainly because I have a good memory and I have a good understanding if what the teacher is feeling me, however, I feel that if I took notes and recorded what the teacher was saying then I would find it a lot easier to perform tasks and write about things because I have notes and all the information is right in front of me. 

Listening: I often get distracted , this has often led to me not understanding the task that needs to be performed and I often become the person who is distracting everyone else, this is because I am very talkative, however, if this was improved then i would complete tasks a lot more quickly and efficiently as well as helping others complete tasks more quickly .

Time management: I often leave things to the last moment and usually end up regretting it, if I planned the things that have to do and devised a plan or order to perform the tasks in and times to have them complete by, then I would have completed the tasks/course a lot sooner, this has become a problem over the last few years, if I improved on this then I would be a lot more organised.

My skills 

Communication: I am very string at communicating and have developed these skills through my kart time jobs, through communicating effectively, the job becomes a lot easier to understand and effectively becomes a lot easier to do. 

Confidence: I am known by my peers as a confident individual, I am able to talk to anyone confidently about anything, this has always been a skill and I have never been one to shy away from a challenge, I often take lead roles in group tasks and enjoy doing this. My confidence helps me massively when doing presentations and this is a key skill to have in the business world.

Adapt to different situations: in my job I have learned to work in lots of different areas effectively making me an innovative member of the team, this is a good skill to have and by learning about how to perform these job roles, I become more employable as I can work in different areas at a good level.

Creativity: I am an extremely creative individual and often like to get involved in the creative side of this course, I strongly enjoyed the create your own business and project management unit as it allowed me to be creative and take the lead in the team, this has always been a skill of mine and I enjoy getting creative and active. By being creative, It helps me create a lot of ideas of how to move forward and make good decisions.

Motivated: for a long time now I have understood what job role I wish to pursue in the future, this has helped me create a pathway in order to gain the qualifications required in order to be successful in gaining a jib in this role and it has made me extremely motivated to do the best i can in order to get a job in the city in accountancy/investment banking. By being motivated I know exactly what I have to do and how to do it.

Strengths

I am a confident individual with a lot of drive

I am very motivated and I know exactly which oath way I have to follow

I am very innovative and can adapt to lots of different situations and be positive in each if this situations

I am a very strong communicator and have gained large amount of recognition for this.

Weaknesses

My punctuality is my main weakness and has become a cause for concern

I often get distracted which is also a cause for concern

I have poor time management and often leave things to the last minute

I am not very good at explaining things however I know where improvements must be made

Opportunities

I still have a large amount of education time left before I enter the real world

I have a placement year where I can gain a lot of skills 

I will be living at university therefore making it a lot easier to be punctual 

University will help me gain the skills and valuable knowledge required to be successful in the real world.

Threats

If improvements are not made, I could be kicked off the course

I could get sacked on my placement year which will not look good on me

I could gain a bad reference

I will not gain the best grade possible

P2M1D1

Goal 1

I aim to complete my business management and accounting degree (4 years)

Strategy 1

I will attend Brunel University and undertake my Business Management and Accounting degree with a sandwich year

Deadline

This will be completed in 4.5 years time

Development needs

I will have to improve my punctuality and independent working abilities, I will have to be more business minded and become a lot more motivated in order to be successful in completing my degree.

I will be attending Brunel University in September 2015, I will be taking a Degree in Business Management and accounting, this is a 4 year course with a placement in the third year, I have gained access onto this course by being predicted the highest grades possible for my current course which is the Level 3 BTEC in Business studies, I will complete this course in 2019, I have chose this course because I feel as though it can send me in the right direction to a career in the business world in which I would like to become an ICAEW chartered accountant. . I feel I have travelled a long distance since beginning this course as i only achieved a Merit in Level 2 business studies at my secondary school, as I am set to achieve the highest grades possible, this shoes the distance I have travelled since leaving school. 

Goal 2

Complete placement year at university

Strategy 2

Use my university effectively in order to gain a very good placement in a large company such as Goldman Sachs.

Deadline 2

2018

Development needs

I will have to gain the best grades possible in order to have a good opportunity at gaining a good placement, I will have to be motivated and prove myself as to why the university should give me a placement in a good company. 

I have chosen a course with a placement year because I feel this can give me a great deal of experience for when I leave university and wish to gain a full time job, I feel that if I prove myself that I could possibly gain a career in the company I work for, this will be completed in the third year of my course at university and this will be set up by the university to suit my aspirations and desires. I wish for my placement to be in assurance and audit as this is what I intend on doing when I leave university as this seems like a very interesting role. The university will help me choose where this will be taken but as previously mentioned I wish to work for a company along the likes of Goldman Sachs. 

This again shows his far I have come since I left school after completing my GCSE's, when I was at school I wanted to be a PE teacher but by completing this course I have decided that a job in the business world as a high profile accountant definitely seems like the role for me

Goal 3

Gain a full time job 

Strategy

Use my degree and experience gained in the placement year to gain the best jib possible. 

Deadline

2020

Development needs

I will have to gain the best degree grade possible, this is to beat off competition for the roles that lots of people will be competing for, my experience gained will hopefully help me as these companies will be looking for experience within the role or they will be looking for those with transferable skills, I will have to maintain a High level of attendance and punctuality, a huge willingness and I will have to learn fast to make sure that I am of best use to the company as possible. 

I wish to gain a high profile role as an accountant in London working globally, to do this I have to have the best possible grade in my degree and I will have to prove myself impeccably in order to make the company want to hire me once I finish the degree, I wish for a role like this as it seems exciting, high pressure and smashing targets, the sound of this excites me and in a high profile role, I feel this suits me down to a tee. As previously mentioned, I have travelled a long distance since leaving school, this is because I once wanted to be a PE teacher but I feel I have travelled a long distance in the aspect that I have found my ideal career oath, I joined harlow college as I felt that It was a good transition as I previously done A Levels but did not enjoy the courses I chose, once I came to harlow college I found a great deal of enjoyment in doing business studies and I decided this was the career path I wanted to go down. 

Goal 4 

Climb up the ranks within the organisation i work for

Strategy

Be the best I can be to impress senior management and lush them to give me a promotion 

Deadline

2025

Development needs

I will have to use all the skills I have learned whilst on the job to prove to the senior management why I deserve to gain a promotion, I will have to be excellent in everything I do and be extremely willing to out in the hard graft in order to climb up the ladder. 

Within the job i work at, I wish to gain a promotion because I feel as though I would enjoy having the power in the business to make decisions, the sound if this excites me and I feel this is what I want to be able to do, I want to do this within 5 years if beginning work for the company as this means I can gain a great understanding if the company, this also gives me a lot of time to prove myself. 

P1

Internet

The internet is filled with websites and information that can help you in order to find out all about the career path you are interested in, this effectively becomes a good way for anyone interested in a chosen career can simply out the career into the search bar and a large selection of different websites which can give you all the information you need. A good example of this is the government website 'nationalvareersservixe.direct.gov.uk' which contains information in every job available such as the role requirements, qualifications needed and the average salary for someone who is employed in that role, this also contains information for the training and development available for an accountant and the skills, interests and qualities. 

Reed Jobs

There is a company called reed jobs which operates within Harlow College, they are put in place to give guidance and information to students within the college as well as students outside of the college. The reed company that operate within the college now specialise in apprenticeships, this is a great way to begin a career as you gain qualifications whilst in the job and earning a wage. Reed also operate outside of college, you can find out all about jobs by going into their website and entering a chosen career into the website search engine and it will give you lots of information regarding the career you have chosen, you can also go into a reed store on the high street which will also give you all the information you wish to find.

Careers advisor

At mist colleges and educational facilities there is a careers advisor who can give you all the information you need in order to pursue your chosen career, this is free if charge and they can help you out greatly. They are there specifically to make sure you either end up going to university ion they also make sure that you have a career plan if you do not wish to go to university.

The job centre

The job centre are specifically put in place to help you find a job, if you cannot find a job, they will even offer you job seekers allowance within reason, all the jobs available in the UK will appear on this website via the Universal Jobsmatch, they can also give you tips on how to write cover letters and your CV, you can go inline or visit a JobCentrePlus. 

Apprenticeships 

There is a national apprenticeship website which gives you information on beginning a career in a chosen sector. This effectively gives you a different pathway to your chosen career and is a great way to get experience and people that do an apprenticeship often end up with a job at the end of the course. This method helps you gain all the required experience and qualifications whilst earning a wage at the same time. When signing up to the website you gain contact with the apprenticeship team before gaining contact with the employer to ensure you are guided in the right direction, they can help you improve your skill frame and give you all the information you need to be successful in this role. 

The company you wish to work for

If you know what company you want to work for and the job you want to do, you can search for the job role within the company and exactly what they are searching for in an employee, you can then adapt your skills and work towards gaining the qualifications they desire. This will effectively help you in the aspect that you know what the company is looking for and you can work towards becoming their ideal candidate.

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/managementaccountant.aspx

https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/JobSearch/PowerSearch.aspx?rad=20&rad_units=miles&pp=25&sort=rv.dt.di&vw=b&re=134&setype=2&tjt=Accountant&where=London&q=

http://www.smithandwilliamsontrainees.co.uk

Unit intro

In this unit I am going to be talking about development in a career in business, I will do this by talking about the career I desire which is an accountant/investment banking role in London, I will be talking about my personal development and how I can work towards being successful in gaining a role in this business environment.

   

I will be talking about how to access career related information, I will be developing my own personal career development plan, I will be talking about my business skills and how to develop these skills and transfer them into a business environment and I will be researching and talking about methods of professional development and training. 

I feel as though this unit will help me gain a better understanding of the roles I want to work in and I believe it will show me how to get there, I feel as though it will help me learn about how I can develop myself and gain an understanding of the skills required to be successful i an accountancy role within an investment banking firm.