Personal Development & Employability
Personal and Professional Development, also sometimes referred to as Personal Development Planning (PDP), is about reflecting on what you learn during your time at university, be it your academic studies, your professional training year or other activities such as participating in societies, volunteering or part-time work. This process of reflection can be really useful when it comes to applying for jobs after university as it will make you more aware of, and better able to explain, what skills you have learned, how you have developed and what you have to offer an employer.
While a graduate career might seem to be a long way away if you have just started at university, the process of reflection can help you to develop your employability. Adopting a more reflective and self-aware approach will also help you to take active control of your studies, identify areas you need to work on to improve your performance and make connections between your learning in one area and another.
If you want to talk to someone about planning your PDP objectives or reflecting upon what you have done, please make an appointment to see a student learning advisor.
Many of you will have formal reflection activities as part of your course. If you do, the SPLASH handout on writing a reflection on action and podcast on reflection will be particularly helpful, but these will be useful for anyone.
The University of Surrey Careers Service offers and excellent service to its students and alumni. It also has guides to for those writing CVs for placements and CVs for graduate jobs.
