This section asks you to state your current career aspirations. You should identify your chosen occupation

and desired job role. This should be descriptive and not just a job title’ €“ if not immediately obvious
(i.e. an accountant) you should explain what the occupation/job entails. You may wish to differentiate
between short, medium or long term aspirations. I.e. what job do you aim to move into directly after leaving
your studies and where do you want to be 5 years later? It is not necessary to state a specific
organization. However, for some this may be important.

Secondly, you are also asked to state the skills/competences that are required of individuals who move into
your chosen occupation/job. This shouldn’t just be intuitive guesswork’ €“ the reader wants evidence that
you have gone out and researched the relevant sources of data (e.g. job descriptions, careers literatures,
job/career websites etc.) for information on what employers are demanding of individuals who work in your
chosen occupation/job. As a result, these sources must be referenced in your text.

Finally, this section also asks you to identify ONE personal strength and weakness in relation to the
skills/competences you have identified above. On identifying a strength and weakness you must support this
with relevant evidence. For example it is not enough to say you have great organizing skills €“ you must also
tell the reader what makes your organizing skills great and give examples from the past of how you’ve
applied them.

Section 2: Reflection on your skills development

This section asks you to reflect on THREE recent (within the last 12 months) and significant
experiences/events where you have learned a new, or developed an existing, skill/competence. These
experiences may be based in any relevant context (e.g. work, university, home, social club etc.) but must
refer to skills that you believe will be important in your future employment and career. The experiences may
be either positive or negative.

– Firstly, you are asked to briefly describe the experience or event €“ what happened, when, why and who were
the main protagonists? What was your role?

– Secondly, you are asked to explain what new skill(s) or knowledge you feel you learnt from this
event/experience.

– Finally, you are asked to describe how you have (or will in the future) apply this new knowledge/skill(s)
as part of your working life and career development.

Section 3: Career management action plan

This section of the PDP asks that you set yourself THREE main objectives related to your career development
over the next twelve (12) months. Each objective should conform to the principles of SMART, i.e. they are€¦

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-framed

For each objective you should outline the specific actions you must undertake if you are to be able to  achieve the objective. You must also set yourself a specific and detailed time-frame for achieving each  objective.