BUSS1066 Professional Development In Business - Reflective Journal

Reflective journal Part A

You are asked to keep a weekly Reflective Journal.  In your journal, you should reflect upon the self-knowledge, career development, planning and management learnings acquired during this course. The journal is for your reference and to help you recall your learning throughout the course.  Use the weekly journal entries to monitor your progress in self-awareness and career planning. Draw on material in the course to help with ideas for what to write in your weekly reflections. These include:

• weekly voice-over PPT presentations
• e-readings
• self-assessment exercises
• discussion forum contributions

In week 5 and week 9 you will prepare a brief summary of your journal. These summaries are assessable.  You should refer to examples of your learning that are in your weekly journal entries as part of your summaries.  Be sure you understand the specifics of these two assessment submissions (Reflection A and Reflection B) which are described below.

Summary reflection A

By week 5 you should review your work in the course so far and write a brief summary (1000 words). This should include:

• A reflection on the self-knowledge you have gained so far during this course
• A discussion of self-assessment tools/exercises that provided new self-knowledge or confirmed existing self-knowledge
• Explanation of how this information has affected your career thinking and/or influenced your career ambitions (short and/or longer term)
• Keep your weekly reflections up to date
• Summary reflection A can provide evidence of your learning in the course so far

In Reflection A, pay particular attention to your discussion of the following key issues covered in weeks 1 to 4:

1. Theories about professional development (covered in week 1) and how useful they are in your understanding of your career development and job preferences.  In your reflection give examples of your understanding of career development and your job preferences and analyse how relevant the theory covered in this course has been in your understanding.
2.  Issues concerned with your personal identity development and how you have learned about your own identity from identifying the four quadrants of the Jo-Hari Window.  In your reflection give examples of your understanding of your identity and analyse how relevant the content covered in week 2 of this course has been in your understanding.
3. What career paths are open to you? In your reflection give examples about your understanding of the labour market and analyse how relevant the content covered in week 3 of this course may be in your choices of what career paths you might pursue.
4. How might you access the hidden job market? In your reflection give examples about your understanding of how you might use LinkedIn.com to access opportunities and assist in your decision making about jobs while also discussing how relevant the content covered in week 4 of this course has been in your understanding and choices. For example, how and why you have connected with your primary network versus your secondary network.

Submit Summary Reflection A in week 5.