Daniel Crush

Professional Development

Further Education & Training: Further education and training is a term that’s used to
describe the education that occurs following the compulsory post 16 secondary education in
the UK and Ireland (not including Universities). It includes a range of things such as A-levels
and higher national diplomas. Further education is most commonly taught in sixth-form
college (which is part of a school) or in independent colleges and the programmes on offer
will usually go up to a ‘Level 3’ which are designed to provide the skills to advance into
higher education.

Furthermore, students at most colleges have the

opportunity to complete a work based skilled training
course. The course will teach students the key skills that
would be needed when working in a job, for example,
someone working in an office or someone working in a
restaurant or retail store.

Full-Time Degrees: During some full-time degrees you’d be expected to be present from
9am to 5pm or equivalent, every day during the week. With other full-time courses
universities will provide a set number of hours teaching or contact time per week, expecting
that the students will complete a substantial amount of study in their own time. This is more
common for masers programmes. Moreover,
postgraduate courses are usually studied full-time by
students who are continuing with study following a first
degree, or have decided to make a specific investment by
giving up work or taking a career break and studying full-
time in order to complete the course as quick as possible.

Part-Time Degrees: Doing a part-time degree can be ideal if you’re looking to continue
working whilst completing a degree. However, not all part-
time courses are timetabled to be taken in the evenings or
on specific, regular days each week. For courses offering a
wide range of optional modules, it may be possible for it to
be timetabled. For international students you’d be able to
attend a part-time programme where study takes place for
less than a specific number of hours per week.
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Foundation Degrees: Foundation degrees are a combined academic and vocational

qualification in higher education that is equivalent to two thirds of an honours bachelor’s
degree. It was introduced by the government of the UK in September 2001. The degrees are
available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and are offered by universities, some
colleges and employers running course that are validated by universities. Furthermore,
foundation degrees are ideal if you’re unsure about taking a full degree or if you want to
study while you work. By doing a foundation degree you can gain professional and technical
skills to further your career within a shorter time frame than that of a full degree. On
average, they usually take around two years
full-time to complete or longer for part-time
students. At the end of the degree, you’ll
have the opportunity to continue for another
year to gain a full honours degree, which can
be useful if you decide to go for a full degree.

Bachelor Degrees: A bachelor’s degree is a course of higher education that leads to a

qualification such as a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BSc). This type of degree
is known as an ‘undergraduate’ or ‘first’ degree. A bachelor’s degree usually takes around
three years to complete full-time in England, Wales and Northern
Ireland. Additionally, it’s designed to give learners a thorough
understanding of a subject. After completing a bachelor’s degree
you will be awarded one of the following titles: Bachelor of Arts
(BA), Bachelor of Science (BSc), Bachelor of Engineering (BEng)
or Bachelor of Law (LLB). They are all of equal status. As well as
that, it’s possible to get your degree with ‘Honours’ which is a
variant of the undergraduate bachelor’s degree.

Master Degrees: A master’s degree is a second academic degree that’s awarded by

universities upon completion of a course of study, demonstrating mastery or a high-order
overview of a specific field of study. Usually, a master’s degree
requires previous study at bachelor’s level, either as a separate
degree or as part of an integrated course. Throughout master
degrees, you’ll be expected to possess an advanced knowledge
of theoretical and applied topics, high order skills in analysis,
critical evaluation, or professional application. As well as that,
you’ll be expected to have the ability of solving complex
problems and to think independently. The most common titles
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upon completion of a master degree include: Master of Arts (MA) and Master of Science
(MS, MSc, MSi, or MCA). These can either be course based, researched based or a mixture
of two.

Work Experience: Work experience refers to some form of temporary work placement
within a company where you will work on junior-level tasks for the purpose of gaining
experience and insight into the industry. Work experience is most commonly done at
secondary school and college and the placements are usually for a week. The students go to
their work placement instead of going to lessons. The work
can vary hugely, from making cups of tea to offering
administrative support or working on projects. If you
prepare well and are proactive you may be able to gain a
fantastic insight into an industry or role and gain a set of
valuable contacts for the future which you could use to
possibly get a job in the future.

Training on the job: On the job training is one of the earliest forms of training. It’s one-on-
one training that’s located at the site of the job or office. Essentially, people are taught how
to complete a task while they are doing the job, instead of being taught prior to being put in
the real scenario. Furthermore, training on the job consists of an experienced employee
passing down their skills to a new employee. It is a frequently used method of training
because it requires only one person who knows how to do the task; this means it’s
practically free as you don’t have to pay for them to go off on a course. It may not be the
most effective or the most efficient method at times, but it
is normally the easiest to arrange and manage. Because
the training takes place on the job it can be highly realistic
compared to if they did the training off site with a larger
group of people because they are experiencing it for real.
However, one drawback is that during the training the
trainer and materials are out of production for the
duration of the training time.

Skills Analysis: When applying for a job, it’s important to impress your employer and a good
way of doing this is by displaying your personal skills. Personal skills could include the
following: public speaking, verbal communication, non-verbal communication, listening
skills, negotiation, problem solving and decision making. Having all of these skills will
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increase your chances of the employer choosing you out of everyone else. This is because
they want the best, most successful and efficient employee they can get.

Furthermore, alongside personal skills, it’s also important to have some form of technology
skill. This is due to the fact that it’s a key role in many jobs. Some important technology skills
are as follows: word processing skills, spread sheet skills, database skills, electronic
presentation skills, web navigation skills, website design skills, e-mail management skills and
scanner knowledge. There are, however, many more technology skills that are important to
have that I haven’t listed.

Moreover, it’s also important to have a personal development plan. Personal development
planning is the process of creating an action plan based on awareness, values, reflection,
goal-setting and planning for personal development within a career, education, relationship
or for self-improvement. Additionally, a personal development plan usually includes a
statement of one’s aspirations, strengths or
competencies, education and training and
stages and steps to indicate how the plan is to
be realised. In addition to that, plans may
include a statement of one’s career and
lifestyle priorities, career positioning and an
analysis of opportunities and risks.

Sources of Information: When looking to go into a profession, it’s important to research

about it so that you have a wide understanding of what it may entail. Furthermore, one of
the best ways of finding sources of information is via the internet. There are thousands
upon thousands of different pages on almost any subject or topic, along with forums where
you can ask experts for advice and help. In addition to that, all of this can be done from
home or work, during your free time. Moreover, if you’re looking to go into higher
education before going into a profession there’s websites with information about courses as
well as guides for applying. One website in particular that’s a great source of information for
higher education is ‘UCAS’. If you’re looking to go
straight into a job instead of further education then
job sites such as ‘Total Jobs’ is the best place to start
as there are lists of hundreds of jobs available that you
could choose from.

Trade Unions: Trade unions are groups of employees who join together to maintain and
improve their conditions of employment. Typical activities of a trade union include providing
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assistance and services to their members, collectively bargaining for better pay and
conditions for all workers, working to improve the quality
of public services, political campaigning and industrial
action. Furthermore, more than seven million people in
the UK belong to a trade union. The different union
members include the following: nurses, hospital cleaners,
professional footballers, school meal staff, shop assistants,
teaching assistants, bus drivers, engineers and
apprentices.

Careers Services: Careers advice can be found in a range of places

such as from your local school or college, from careers advice stores
that are placed around the country, including job centres. These are
all in place to help people that are unemployed or those that are
seeking a change in career. As well as that, there’s a National
Careers advice service that can be found online, on their website. It’s a
publicly funded careers service for adults and young people (aged 13 or over) in
England that was launched in April 2012. The National Careers Service aims to provide the
following: high-quality information about careers and skills, and independent, professional
advice and guidance. It also provides a focus on specialist careers guidance, built on the
principles of independence and professional standards. As well as that, it provides
information, advice and guidance both to inform and to stimulate demand for further
education, work-based training and higher education. The National Careers service realise
that it might not be your fault that you’re unemployed and that jobs these days have
become harder to come by due to the ever increasing skills and qualifications needed.
Furthermore, this means that it can be a lot more difficult to make the right decisions. This
is why the ‘National Careers Advice’ service is available for young people and adults to help
improve their skills and to find a job that perfectly suits their skills or personality.