My Career Path

I am currently working as a bar attendant in a Korean bar. My work entails mixing and serving alcoholic beverages to the customers. I am responsible of ensuring customers get the correct orders they place within the shortest time possible. This position is not exactly what I want to serve throughout my career but it as a stepping stone to get to know how the hospitality industry operates. I would like to be in a managerial position when I complete my studies and officially start my career as a graduate. I intent to use the position to gain a practical experience of how the hospitality industry works, especially on matter concerning the roles of junior staff in the running of a restaurant, bar, hotel, or a night club. I am hopeful of gaining insights on how the management relate with such junior staff and the customers for a smooth running of business.

The organization I am working with is medium-sized bar that serves mainly the middle class people. It is an average entity with several branches in different towns and cities. It is an elite bar that highly regards professionalism among all its staff. Although good customer service is a top priority, any form of misconduct from a customer is never taken lightly by the management. Securing a safe and convenient working environment for employees is highly valued just as much as offering quality services to the customers. I find it as one of the best organizations to work in the hospitality industry. I am confident that it would add a substantial value to my career once I am done with the industrial placement period.

Personal Strengths

I have a satisfactory awareness about my short term career goals. They give me a guidance on what I want to achieve in the short run. I fairly know the skills and knowledge I need to achieve my short-term goals. Theoretically, I have the relevant knowledge and understanding of how to comply with the legal and regulatory requirements regarding the short term goals of my career. Recognizing and learning from my mistakes is one of my greatest strengths. I am never quick to judge, but instead I can withhold my judgement whenever there is a problem to solve. My ability to stay calm when under pressure is quite appealing. I understand my personal strengths and limitations very well and I can balance my work and personal life to keep everything in their right perspectives.

Personal Weaknesses

I lack the confidence of having appropriate practical skills needed to achieve my career goals in the short term. I have a conviction that it will take me some time of learning and working before I can acquire these skills. Although I have acquired some knowledge through learning, I still don’t feel confident of having the appropriate theoretical knowledge to achieve my goals. I need to acquire more skills and knowledge of achieving personal career goals to increase my confidence in this specific perspective.

The Capability to Develop

I would like to develop my capability of bouncing back when things go wrong. I am not quite good at this capability and it could be detrimental if I fail to perfect in it. It is essential in ensuring the survival and success of a business and personal career. A professional who has a high score in this capability stands a high chance to thrive in his or her career as well as manage to salvage an organization from such adversaries as stiff competition, deteriorating public image of the organization, and a declining market share. I have selected this capability because it would help me to know how to overcome different challenges that are ever present in a business setting. To grow my career, I need to understand that bad happenings and situations do occur in organization as well as in one’s career. Therefore, I need the capability of bouncing back in such conditions to avoid failure in my career.

SMART Goal

I will discuss my career progress with a senior manager in the hospitality industry by 31st

May 2018 to assess the feasibility of my career plans, set both professional and personal targets by the end of 30th June to help myself with a defined career progression.

Action Plan

Taking Action

This is the part where I will implement my goal plan.

Assess my commitment to achieving my goal.

I will ensure that I am truly committed to my goal to achieve it. I will have to frequently reflect on the goal and give myself a score of between 0-10 depending on the level of commitment at a particular time.  A score of 0 indicates non-commitment while 10 shows full commitment. This will help me to adapt to my plan whenever necessary.

Check on the clarity and feasibility of my aims and the goal

I will ensure my aims as well as the set goal are realistic and clearly defined to make them achievable. This decision helps especially when they seem challenging, but within my comfort zone.

Make a list of reminders

Enlisting things to do can be very useful in providing a real picture of progress every time I complete a task and mark it as completed. Alternatively, I can send myself a text message as a reminder to kick-start my momentum.

Enlist support

Engaging other people especially the experienced professionals can increase the chances of achieving my set goal. I will identify a mentor, family members and friends who can offer me support and help me to remain focused.

Brainstorm my way forward

Procrastinating plans can be the worst obstacle to my plans of achieving the set goal. I will regularly try to brainstorm what I can do next. I will do this by writing down whatever that comes to my mind regarding my goal without any judgement. After jotting everything down is when I can order the relevant ones based on the level of importance of each item. It is possible that this activity can unblock the hindrance and get me started.

Reward myself

To keep myself motivated when I complete a series of tasks , it would be helpful to reward myself as if I have completed a major milestone.

Reviewing Progress

Priorities can change depending on situations. Therefore, I will have to regularly review my progress to ensure my goal is still appropriate and if possible, add new ones. I must decide how often to conduct the review. When things go astray, my experience will be a learning opportunity to revise my plan accordingly. The following is a list of some of the things in my career action plan.

a) Recognizing the important things in my career and personal life.

b) Knowing my strengths and the talents I can offer as well as how I can positively contribute to an organization.

c) Updating myself with the changes in my workplace and the entire industry.

d) Identifying personal constraints and how to overcome them.

e) Identifying the broad aims that align with my SMART goal.

f) Define a clear vision for my future.

g) Identify people who can support me in achieving my goal.

h) Reward myself for any success that I achieve.

i) Using experience, I learn and accept situations that come due to mistakes.

j) Staying flexible while regularly reviewing my progress with the willingness to adapt to different circumstances and change.

SMART Action Plan

The table below shows a structured action plan of what I intent to achieve within a definite time frame. The plan is based on a broad aim of identifying a specific career position in the hospitality industry where I think I can make positive contributions.

Goals

What I will do

Date to complete

Expected outcome

1

Undertake an online research to find a career consultant within the locality and book an appointment to assess the different career options.

20th February

Identify a career consultant and book an appointment on 20th February.

2

Using a career-matching tool, identity 3 potential career positions that suit my interest.

5th March

Three possible career positions in the hospitality industry:

Management

Consultancy

Catering

3

Use the internet to identify 4 local organizations in the hospitality industry that offer career positions of my interest. Arrange for a meeting with each organization to investigate on each position.

20th March

Meetings arranged separately in 4 consecutive days.

4

Meet with staff in career positions of my interest to discuss the pros and cons of the various positions.

20th April

Prioritizing the 4 positions according to their pros and cons with those with much less cons taking the top preference.

5

Have a detailed discussion with my career consultant on career options to assist me make the best choice.

30th April

Speak to the career consultant and choose the career position to pursue.

6

Adjust my studies to focus on acquiring knowledge and skills that pertains to the chosen career path I want to pursue.

10th May

Have a collection of reading materials and sources that can help build my career towards the chosen path.

Relevancy of Writing a Reflective Journal

Writing a reflective journal during my work placement helps me to evaluate my experiences, analyse concepts both in theory and in the workplace as well as form opinions. It offers me the opportunity to question and examine my opinions, beliefs and values. It is through such writing that I can observe, ask questions, and put ideas, facts and experiences together to gain new knowledge and the meaning of some aspects of a practical experience. Through the activities entailed in reflective writing, I can gain a new perspective of what I want to achieve in my career. Such a perspective can redefine my career objectives based on the experience I would have earned.