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.