Personal Development Plans

Damian Gordon

Introduction

And the end of all our exploringWill be to arrive where we startedAnd know the place for the first time.• T. S. Eliot

The Personal Mission Statement

• Develop a statement or several statements that describe success for you.

• This may not be a quantifiable destination or goal, but rather a description of your personal purpose or “reason for being” as you would like it to be.

Ten Power Questions

1. When am I most naturally myself? What people, and activities allow me to feel like myself?

2. What one thing could I stop doing, start doing, or do differently, starting today, that would improve the quality of my life?

3. What is my greatest talent?4. How can I get paid for what I love?5. Who are my most inspiring role models?6. How can I best be of service to others?7. What is my deepest heart’s desire?8. How am I perceived by my best friend, my worst enemy, my boss, my

friends, my family, etc.?9. What are the blessings of my life?10. What legacy would I like to leave?

SMART Objectives

Objectives must be

SMARTSPECIFIC

MEASURABLEAGREED

REALISTICTIME BASED

• Make the objective specific–Break large tasks down into smaller tasks

• Breaking large tasks into smaller ones makes it easier to assess progress

SPECIFIC

• How do you know when you have completed the work

• Make sure they are evidenced based – you should have a deliverable attached to the objective

MEASURABLE

• Get the agreement of the stakeholders in the project–Especially your supervisor!

AGREED

• Will you achieve the objective?–Unrealistic objectives can be very de-

motivating–Challenging objectives which are

realistic can be motivating

REALISTIC

• Set timescales on your objectives–Deadlines and Milestones

• Review progress against these deadlines

TIME BASED

• Set objectives at multiple timescales–This week I will read 4 papers on

modelling–This month I will prepare a short report

on modelling–In the next 2 months I will review the

three principle modelling techniques and write the literature review of these techniques for my thesis

TIME SCALES

Europass

increasing mobility, releasing potential

Europass – Why the need?Some Statistics:

2.3% of Europeans (11.3 million people) live and work in a European country that is not their Member State.

Approximately 17% of Europeans consider that they will work in another Member

State in the future.

34% of Europeans rate their chances of finding a job as better abroad than at home.

13% of Europeans have lived abroad for the purposes of education and training.

17% of Europeans envisage working abroad in the future, ranging from 51% in Denmark to just 4% in Italy.

Although 52% of respondents indicated that they had had or expected to have practical difficulties finding work (only 19% said that the need to learn a new language would be a discouraging factor).

When asked about the practical difficulties that had, or were expected to be, encountered when going to work abroad, 10% answered that they had experienced or expected to experience difficulties having their education and professional qualifications recognised.

Source: Special EUROBAROMETER 337

Europass – What is it?How did it come about?

A tool developed by the European Commission and launched in 2005 following Council Decision No 2241/2004/EC.

It was designed to facilitate one of the fundamental principles of the Treaty of Rome, namely the free movement of workers across Europe, by making it easier for individuals to find employment or study abroad.

It provides a number of documentary tools to increase the transparency of qualifications, experience and competences.

How does it facilitate mobility?

• Helps Employers and HEIs, to understand the skills, competences and qualifications of individuals, particularly those from other EU Member States.

• Helps Individuals, by providing a means to clearly demonstrate their skills and experiences in a transparent fashion.

Europass – What is it?

CurriculumVitae

Language Passport

MobilitySupplement

DiplomaSupplement

CertificateSupplement

The Documents:

The Europass portfolio comprises 5 documents:

The component parts are distinct and separate and can be used individually or in association with one another.

There is a National Europass Centre in each European Member State, whose job it is to promote the use of the Europass Portfolio in that country.

Europass Curriculum Vitae (CV)– what is it for?

What does it do?

The Europass CV helps users highlight their skills, qualifications and work experience. It is free of charge, available to all and can be downloaded or completed and edited online.

How can it help the individual?

• It provides a standardised template recognisable across the EU to help users draw attention to the attributes that will set them apart from others.

• It contains a language section designed to promote the user’s language skills to potential employers.

How does it help organisations?

• If used as standard, it allows employers to easily compare applicants’ attributes as the CVs can be easily cross referenced.

• It gives an even playing field to applicants from all member states, thereby aiding equal opportunities policies.

Who applies?

The individual can find out more, and complete the CV online or download the template at http://www.uknec.org.uk/Individuals

Europass Curriculum Vitae– who uses it?

How widely used is it?

UK EU

Europass Curriculum Vitae– what does it look like?