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L&E Individual Reflective Report – Jack Austin
pg. 1
BUS132615: Leadership & Employability
(Marketing)
Individual Reflective Report
Name: Jack Austin
Student Number: N0676066
Word Count: 2999 words
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L&E Individual Reflective Report – Jack Austin
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Executive Summary
This report has reflected, by using Kolb’s Experimental learning cycle on particular
experiences and applied the CareerEDGE model, in order to evaluate my personal
employability prospects and development of responsible leadership potential. The
report found myself to have developed a wide range of skills at a good level of
competency through both degree subjects and extracurricular activities. I have
actively identified gaps in my abilities from October 2018 to then develop
competencies around these gaps by April 2019. Examples of these abilities are
analytical/problem solving alongside critical thinking, and emotional intelligence and
sustainability/ethics. When assessing concepts of self-efficacy, self-confidence and
self-esteem in relation to graduate employability, my innate lack of belief in my
abilities to transfer competencies at an organisational level is found to be to my
detriment. With the help of a recommended action plan to engage in a short term
(6 month) internship in order to overcome these concerns, from here I will look to
be employed in a sustainability oriented company/work within the social
responsibility area of a company. This is in order to gain the skills to then run my
own sustainable enterprise after 1-5 years.
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L&E Individual Reflective Report – Jack Austin
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Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................. 6
Evaluation and Reflection ............................................................................... 7
Experience 1 ............................................................................................... 10
Social Secretary and Treasurer – Yr3 (Responsible leadership) ....................... 10
Experience 2 ............................................................................................... 12
Thinkubator Challenge (Analytical Problem Solving and Critical Thinking) ......... 12
Experience 3 ............................................................................................... 14
Residence Assistant (RA) Role (Emotional Intelligence and Communication /
Interpersonal Skills).................................................................................. 14
The Three Self’s that unlock employability ................................................... 16
Conclusions ................................................................................................ 18
Responsible Leadership ............................................................................. 18
Graduate employability ............................................................................. 19
Recommendations .................................................................................... 20
References ................................................................................................. 21
Appendices ................................................................................................. 26
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L&E Individual Reflective Report – Jack Austin
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Table of figures
Fig 1. The CareerEDGE Model (Pool and Sewell, 2007) ______________________ 7
Fig 2. Kolbs (1984) experimental Learning Cycle ___________________________ 8
Fig 3. CareerEDGE Model - The Key to Employability (Pool and Sewell, 2007) ____ 8
Fig 4. Social Secretary and Treasurer Role _______________________________ 10
Fig.5 Triple Bottom Line (Elkington, 1998; Wilson, 2015) ___________________ 11
Fig 7. The 10 skills you need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (WEF,
2015)____________________________________________________________ 13
Fig 8. Residence Assistant Role ________________________________________ 15
Fig 9. Applied CareerEDGE Model ______________________________________ 20
Fig 10. Outline of Action Plan After University Graduation ___________________ 21
Table of Appendices
Appendix 1: Gold Acceler8 Certificate ___________________________________ 26
Appendix 2: RA Role ________________________________________________ 26
Appendix 2a: RA Poster Design ________________________________________ 26
Appendix 2b: RA Award: Team of the Term ______________________________ 27
Appendix 3: Action Plan (PDP Plan) ____________________________________ 27
Appendix 3a: Action Plan 18/19 _______________________________________ 27
Appendix 3b: Action Plan April 2019 ____________________________________ 27
Appendix 3c: Action Plan specific learning points __________________________ 28
Appendix 4: Platform Magazine________________________________________ 29
Appendix 4a: Fundraising for Platform Magazine __________________________ 29
Appendix 4b: Platform Social Justice Edition _____________________________ 29
Appendix 4c: Poster for platform magazine collaboration with student parliament 30
Appendix 5: Gap analysis - Attribute Matrix (October 2018 – April 2019) _______ 30
Appendix 6: Degree subject results (at the time of writing) __________________ 31
Appendix 6a: CISMM Essay ___________________________________________ 31
Appendix 6b: ICE Essay _____________________________________________ 31
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Appendix 6c: RMM Report ____________________________________________ 32
Appendix 7: Choice of skills to apply to the CarreerEDGE Model ______________ 33
Appendix 8: CPD Hours ______________________________________________ 36
Appendix 8a: Complete Pro-Forma - Year 3 ______________________________ 36
Appendix 8b: CPD hours for all years at university _________________________ 36
Appendix 9: Personal Profile __________________________________________ 36
Appendix 9a: CV October 2018 ________________________________________ 36
Appendix 9b: CV April 2019 __________________________________________ 39
Appendix 9c: LinkedIn Profile _________________________________________ 41
Appendix 10: SIP Certificate __________________________________________ 41
Appendix 10a: SIP certificate – Level 5 _________________________________ 41
Appendix 10b: Blog Post for SIP final project _____________________________ 41
Appendix 11: Certificate of Equality and Diversity Essentials _________________ 41
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Introduction
This report will look to reflect on my personal development at Nottingham Trent
University. The content will draw on aspects of the experience through being part of
the committee at NTSU’s Platform Magazine, extracurricular activities like
Thinkubator challenge, and all activities contributing to achieving my gold Acceler8
certificate (see appendix 1). It will also draw on my finally volunteering as a
Resident Assistant for NTU’s Accommodation Services (NTU, 2019a) - (see
appendix 2).
Key themes and underlining threads that will run throughout the entirety of this
report are:
1. Graduate employability
2. Responsible leadership
In order to explore and evaluate these experiences with an appreciation of key
themes, this report will use The CareerEDGE Model (Pool and Sewell, 2007) to
identify and cover key skills needed as well as my degree itself (see fig 1). The next
phase, using Kolb’s (1984) reflection model (see fig 2), reflecting and evaluate
individual experiences. Finally, the report will show how the development of my
self-efficacy, self-confidence and self-esteem contributes to the hypothetical key to
employability (see fig 3), in accordance to my PDP plan (see appendix 3).
The aims and objectives of this project are to consolidate, reflect and develop all of
what I have learnt throughout the university and develop an action plan with
learning points.
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Evaluation and Reflection
This report will use the careerEDGE Model (Pool and Sewell, 2007) in order to bring
together skills, experiences and self-perceived employability (Qenani et al., 2014)
to give an all-encompassing value to the individual (myself) at the graduate level.
The model, however, can be criticised by being too simplistic, lacking business
management/marketing specific employability skills (Murray et al, 2016), and not
reflecting the increasing importance of interpersonal skills (Jackon and Chapman,
2012). Despite this, the model has shown to be effective in conjunction with my
broad personal plan to employment and reflection analysis for a wide scope of
graduate opportunities (Pool et al., 2014). Reflection and evaluation should,
however, be a constant process for continual improvements. For this, the report will
use Kolbs’ (1984) learning cycle. The learning cycle has however been criticised
heavily since its conceptualisation (Atkinson and Murrell, 1988). Most have been
through its application by students. Tosey and Gregory (2002) argue that the
application has been much simplified because of dialectical tensions between
concrete experience and abstract conceptualisations, thus is criticised to not give an
accurate representation of the way people learn. This report will therefore aim to
construct more truthfulness when reflecting.
Fig 1. The CareerEDGE Model (Pool and Sewell, 2007)
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Fig 2. Kolbs (1984) experimental Learning Cycle
Fig 3. CareerEDGE Model - The Key to Employability (Pool and Sewell, 2007)
Concrete Experience
(doing/having and experience)
Reflective Observation
(reviewing/reflecting on the experience)
Abstract Conceptualisation
(concluding/learning from the experience)
Active Experimentation
(planning/trying out what you have learnt)
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Link and
applicati
on to
CareerEDGE
Model
Link to
Attribute Matrix
skills
Link to the
developme
nt and
support of Personal
objectives
in PDP Plan
Identified
experience
which applies
to most
amount of
skills and
objectives
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Experience 1
Social Secretary and Treasurer – Year 3 (Responsible
leadership)
Fig 4. Social Secretary and Treasurer Role
Concrete Experience: One particular experience in this position was fundraising
event I organised to raise money for Jerry’s Street Kitchen, an organisation in
Nottingham that provides food for the homeless. I gave students a choice whether
to keep an item that was proposed to be free upon arrival or to donate what they
find, after an explanation of the typical needs of the homeless in winter and how
much it all costs. As a team we managed to raise £150 in cash for the organisation
(see appendix 4a).
Reflective Observation: On reflection, the concept was simple and creative, which
allowed us to easily attract and talk to those who approached us. When looking
back at this experience, engaging in a charitable act like this can be applied to
responsible leadership potential. With this, one of the aim’s was to improve my
sustainability credentials, as it is one of skills that business graduates often lack
post-graduation (Freeman et al., 2008). On further reflection, however, this
experience is limited to charitable giving that does not fully take into account the all
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the objectives of a business. When applying Elkington (1998)’s theory of the Triple
Bottom Line of integrating economic objectives like profit, social considerations like
staffing and environmental considerations like the organisational contribution of
greenhouse gasses were not taken into account (See fig. 5)
Successful responsible leadership is only effective at the level of the entire firm and
embedded in a firm’s culture (McPhee, 2014). This event, as well as the experience
of being Social Secretary/Treasurer, overall used key management and
collaboration skills to get staff to work together for a common goal (given
management position).
Fig.5 Triple Bottom Line (Elkington, 1998; Wilson, 2015)
Abstract Conceptualisation: This has given me an appreciation and understanding
to, in a marketing/business setting, be able to put forward a business case for an
integrated sustainable strategy (Pless and Maak, 2011) with an implementation that
goes beyond corporate social responsibility and looks to implement a culture of
shared values towards positive practices (Galpin and Bell, 2015).
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Active Experimentation: A month later, when we organised the event for a second
time, I make some changes by linking the promotion of the social justice edition of
the magazine that had features on the charity and homelessness problem in
Nottingham. This time, to promote the magazine content further, I collaborated
with the SU to provide sanitary donations at all three campuses as an extension of
the period poverty article. Alongside this, I also changed the donation process to
contactless card payment because a large proportion of 18-25 year olds carry little
cash on them (Desjardins, 2019). As a result of this experience, it lead me to
create a longer term objective to engage in sustainability-oriented
entrepreneurialism (Reynolds et al., 2018) with ethical principles at its identity
(Marion, 2019). It has also helped to gain experience in the field of sustainability
and perceive it as a job prospect, thus mixing sustainable leadership and graduate
employability (see appendix 3). Alongside this, awareness of the perspective of
sustainably through Sustainability in Practice (see appendix 10) provided a clear
link to my degree subject.
Experience 2
Thinkubator Challenge (Analytical Problem Solving and
Critical Thinking)
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Fig 6. Thinkubator challenge
Concrete experience: The Thinkubator challenge involved working as a team to
recommend actions for the local company BLT Logistics LTD, following a reduction
of drivers renewing their training licences. At the end I presented the findings to
the group, and there were also networking opportunities afterwards.
Reflective Observation: In this experience I believe myself to have been successful
in developing complex problem solving abilities, resolving all problems efficiently
and in a timely fashion without difficulty. I was also able to apply critical thinking,
which is the ability to think clearly and rationally and understanding the logical
connection between ideas. By executing these skills, I identified areas in BLT
Logistics LTD that needed improvement (see appendix 5b), despite them being
what business graduates have shown to lack (Freeman et al., 2008). This is
particularly true considering the uncertain and changing work environment through
the rise of AI and potential job replacement (WEF, 2015) – (See fig 7). Upon
further reflection on this experience I am disappointed with my ability to think
clearly/analytical and be comfortable when presenting. This has subsequently
highlighted shortcomings in abilities, but also gives an opportunity to reflect on my
role in a group and the effect of unplanned roles and responsibilities in constructing
an effective working environment through being part of a productive team
(Margerison and McCann, 1990, pp. 29-30).
Fig 7. The 10 skills you need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (WEF, 2015)
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Abstract conceptualisation: It has helped me to develop a different understanding
of my ability to present and to conclude, upon previous discussions, that my skills
are best suited in organising, developing and innovating over promoting and
presenting (Margerison and McCann, 1990, pp. 29-40). If I were to present, I am
now aware that in order to build confidence, longer time than the group had to
present in the Thinkubator is needed to prepare and practice. This therefore
develops on prior conceptualisation of presentation and problem solving from my
experience doing the PwC business challenge.
Active Experimentation: First of all I completed one of my PDP plans by doing this
activity (See appendix 3), completing objective 4. From this experience I have
applied careful thought and criticality to my degree subject (see appendix 6) to
achieve to my full potential.
Experience 3
Residence Assistant (RA) Role (Emotional Intelligence
and Communication / Interpersonal Skills)
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Fig 8. Residence Assistant Role
Concrete Experience: As an RA this year, I have handled multiple
emotional/student welfare issues that I have had to learn to react in an appropriate
way that is in line with my training, guiding and supporting students when needed.
Reflective Observation: My job as an RA has been an experience that applies to the
most skills from the CareerEDGE Model; Career Development, Work/Life
Experience, Generic Skills and Emotional Intelligence (appendix 7). Because
Emotional intelligence is shown to be vital for effective leadership (Bradberry and
Greaves, 2009), this will therefore be discussed in relation to the RA Role.
Emotional Intelligence can be defined as the ability to identify, assess, manage and
control the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups (Bradberry and Greaves,
2009).This skill is shown to be vital in building and developing interpersonal skills
between colleagues at work by identifying perspectives of others as if it was
yourself (Higgins, 2014). Of which, can be applied to my awareness and
understanding of equality and diversity matters (see appendix 11). I believe that
my collective experiences from being an RA has helped me to establish many skills,
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picking up on feelings and emotions of people that is beneath the words they use.
Though the experience is not in a ‘typical’ work setting, the skills developed of
compassion, understanding and listening all are interpersonal and can also be
equated to leadership potential. In addition, Goleman (2004) has shown that all
successful managers have this in common, and technical skills and IQ are more
required at entry level because leadership is predominantly about relationships,
rather that attributes which are learnt through work experience and the degree
subject (CMI, 2014).
Abstract Conceptualisation: Learning from this experience, these abilities can then
be applied to customers and staff in a workplace environment (Levitt, 1960), by
building a culture around morality, attitude and high performance (Peters and
Waterman, 1982 p.200-240). Leadership is all about providing the best service;
“service to others, service to customers, service to employees and service to
business partners” (CMI, 2014). This ideology provides a link to the shift towards
service dominant logic in all organisations (Vargo and Lusch, 2008, 2017)
Active Experimentation: I love to be able to support people, and after having
discovered that this is a key to management, I am keen to apply my experiences as
an RA as evidence in interviews. This would be in order to emphasise emotional
intelligence leadership potential and interpersonal skills that some research
indicates what graduates to lack (Helyer and Lee, 2014). Alongside this, my
reflection and evaluation throughout my course has provided value through
exchanges with students and lecturers alike (see appendix 6b).
The Three Selves’s that unlock employability
As a result of the experiences I have had, alongside the fact that I now understand
it through the lens of theory, I will apply what I have learnt about myself in terms
of this. With this, “Self-efficacy, self-confidence and self-esteem provide a crucial
link between knowledge, understanding, skills, experience and personal attributes
and employability” (Pool and Sewell, 2007). Reflecting on these aspects, Fig. 3
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pg. 17
shows how understanding yourself, your thoughts, emotions and behaviours is the
key to employability after graduation.
Self-efficacy is one’s beliefs in their own capabilities to organise and execute
courses of action that are required to manage situations (Bandura, 1995, p. 2). This
can be executed predominantly by mastery experiences that are work related
actions of learning a specific skill via work experience. I believe to have exposed
myself to a good depth of mastery experiences, particularly though my work with
Platform Magazine, and extra-curricular activities (see appendix 8), which was
encapsulated with the achievement of my Acceler8 gold certificate. The Acceler8
Gold award is the highest accreditation for all extra-curricular experiences, giving
examples of real mastery experiences to help me stand out from other applicants
(see appendix 1). Personal concerns about my capabilities, include the concern that
I did not go on a placement year, because research shows this to greatly improve
capabilities and employability (Drewery et al., 2016). In relation to this, sometimes
I am concerned that the capabilities I have developed are not up to the standard to
go straight into a skilled and specialised job. However, I believe through the
experiences I’ve been through, I am able to meet entry level job
requirements/internship placements that will consider learning opportunities such
as the ones I have had.
Self-confidence is how abilities are expressed to the outside world (Pool and Sewel,
2007). Because of the distance between my university work skill and real life self-
assurance, sometimes I am concerned about capable I actually am. This lack in
sureness also comes from not having secured a work placement year. Despite this,
I have shown an impressive results (see grades appendices) in conveying my
evaluations and perspectives on academic work. Academic work is, however,
worthless if I am unable to apply in a highly skilled and competitive environment.
Upon reflection, this makes me worry if I am the right person when applying for
graduate jobs. Of course, this is something that needs to be worked on through
other reflective practices after graduation, in order to achieve a level of
employment (Forsyth and Cowap, 2017. This, alongside doing PDP (see appendix
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L&E Individual Reflective Report – Jack Austin
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3), will demonstrate me taking a leap of faith to gain the experience in a setting
that I am unfamiliar of and under pressure to perform.
Self-esteem is a feeling of worthiness, but at the same time being realistic in the
evaluations of one self (Owens, 1993). Currently, I feel that my achievements in
university from my grades and positions (particularly with the student magazine)
put me in a good employability position. I believe Nottingham Trent to be a good
university, and it especially benefits the sector I wish to work in as employers
believe it to be a modern university that has excels in sustainability (NTU, 2019b;
NTU, 2019c). Because of the highly competitive environment, CIPD (2015) express
concerns of overqualified graduates, with 58% in non-graduate jobs and a
saturation of graduates in the job market (Elliott, 2016). With this, it makes me
wonder whether others are more worthy of high skilled jobs, even after having
successes such as helping Platform Magazine be nominated for Society of the Year
two years in a row. Therefore, this shows me carrying traits of Imposter syndrome
(TED, 2017).
Conclusions
Through applying the experimental learning approach (Kolb, 1984) and the
CareerEDGE model (pool and Sewell, 2007), this project has assessed my current
skills and identified skill gaps in respect to responsible leadership and graduate
employability.
Responsible Leadership
By drawing conclusions relating to the extent of my development of responsible
leadership skills, which in my gap analysis (see appendix 5) was identified as my
most improved attribute. This was developed in what CMI (2014) describes as a
'new leadership' model which involves a greater emphasis on developing and
supporting people while delivering benefits for people, organisations and the planet.
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This is as well as finding a new found drive to make a difference in any organisation
by implementing this philosophy with a vision which looks to positively influence
others through leadership (given leadership position) and working towards a common
cause. Additionally, the ability to motivate, support and coach others, that through
the experience of being an RA and developing emotional intelligence skills, has
helped to improve these skills.
Graduate employability
Fig. 9 shows an applied CareerEDGE model in accordance with discussions in this
report on skills, the three selves alongside attribute Matrix (appendix 5b) and applied
CPD hours that are linked with relevant skills (appendix 7 and appendix 8). Each
level of the CareerEDGE Model is then rated out of 10 with 10 being the highest level
of competence. This will help to establish where more learning is needed for
recommendations post university.
9/10 Good grades
throughout all of
university (appendix
6)
7/10 Good range
of skill developme
nt from rounded
CPD hours
8/10 Good
because of RA role and
other factors but always
improvements
8/10 Good range
of work related
experience but little in
real work
7/10 Wide range of
employability events and have plans
for the future
7/10
6/10
6.5/10
7.5/10
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Fig 9. Applied CareerEDGE Model
Overall, I believe the gaps in my employability to be self-confidence and self-
esteem. Throughout this report, it has been established that this is because of
unconscious fears of responsibilities/pressures to achieve good performance in a
highly competitive working environment that is different to what I am currently
comfortable with. With more experience and real world applications of skills,
alongside further reflective proactive on improvements however, this should break
down these established anxieties so I am able to thrive in work while developing
related skills further (Forsyth and Cowap, 2017; Heyler, 2015)
Appendix 9 of my personal profile shows the development of my CV/Resume and
my personal brand personality through the improvement of my LinkedIn profile. I
have changed how I convey key skills, knowledge, attributes through experiences
that have developed throughout university. This is made clear through comparing
my CV from October 2018 to April 2019 as an example of this year’s development.
Recommendations
Based on conclusions and reflections above, below is an outline of my proposed
action plan. Appendix 3b outlines the resources needed, success criteria and what I
have done to reach where I am now. Appendix 3c breaks down the points below
into specific learning points and suggestions after university.
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Fig 10. Outline of Action Plan After University Graduation
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L&E Individual Reflective Report – Jack Austin
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Pless, N.M. and Maak, T., 2011. Responsible Leadership: Pathways to the Future.
Journal of Business Ethics. 98, pp. 3-13.
Qenani, E., MacDougall, N. and Sexton, C., 2014. An empirical study of self-
perceived employability: Improving the prospects for student employment success
in an uncertain environment. Active Learning in Higher Education, 15(3), pp.199-
213.
Reynolds, O., Sheehan, M. and Hilliard, R., 2018. Exploring strategic agency in
sustainability-oriented entrepreneur legitimation. International Journal of
Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 24(2), pp.429-450.
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TED 2017. Imposter Syndrome | Mike Cannon-Brookes | TEDxSydney. [online]
YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNBmHXS3A6I
[Accessed 22 Apr. 2019].
Tosey, P. and Gregory, J., 2002. Dictionary of personal development. Whurr.
Vargo, S.L. and Lusch, R.F., 2008. Service-dominant logic: continuing the
evolution. Journal of the Academy of marketing Science, 36(1), pp.1-10.
Vargo, S.L. and Lusch, R.F., 2017. Service-dominant logic 2025. International
Journal of Research in Marketing, 34(1), pp.46-67.
WEF 2015. The 10 skills you need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
[online] World Economic Forum. Available at:
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-
the-fourth-industrial-revolution/ [Accessed 18 Apr. 2019].
Wilson, J.P., 2015. The triple bottom line: Undertaking an economic, social, and
environmental retail sustainability strategy. International Journal of Retail &
Distribution Management, 43(4/5), pp.432-447.
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Appendices
Appendix 1: Gold Acceler8 Certificate
Appendix 2: RA Role
Appendix 2a: RA Poster Design
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*Example of a poster I designed for one of the RA events organised.
Appendix 2b: RA Award: Team of the Term
Appendix 3: Action Plan (PDP Plan)
Appendix 3a: Action Plan 18/19
https://jackaustinportfolio.home.blog/2018/10/23/personal-development-plan-pdp-
year-2/
Appendix 3b: Action Plan April 2019
https://jackaustinportfoliohome.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/nbs-personal-
development-plan-pro-forma-18-19-jack-austin-n0676066-1.pdf
https://jackaustinportfolio.home.blog/2018/10/23/personal-development-plan-pdp-year-2/https://jackaustinportfolio.home.blog/2018/10/23/personal-development-plan-pdp-year-2/https://jackaustinportfoliohome.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/nbs-personal-development-plan-pro-forma-18-19-jack-austin-n0676066-1.pdfhttps://jackaustinportfoliohome.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/nbs-personal-development-plan-pro-forma-18-19-jack-austin-n0676066-1.pdf
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Appendix 3c: Action Plan with specific learning points
A few Examples of Sustainable business to apply to;
Unilever
Co-operative Group
Ecosia
Naked
Oatley
M&S
Patagonia
Internship (6 months)
•Build confidence and self efficacy in little pressure work environment with responsibilities.
•Work on the sustainability side of the organisation making or on social responsibility (depending on the internship title)
Longer Term Job (1-4 years)
•Enter a business working on either their corporate social responsibility or a part of a non for profit organisation that operates ethically oriented
•Opportunity to gain more experience in implementing sustainable strategy
•Stay an amount of time to improve this specialty and build up an expertise
Run my own ethical
Enterprise
•Apply skills from gained experience to find a gap in the market/ an opportunity to exploit
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Appendix 4: Platform Magazine
Appendix 4a: Fundraising for Platform Magazine
*Here is an example of responsible leadership and using my position as social
secretary and treasurer for a good cause.
Appendix 4b: Platform Social Justice Edition
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Social justice edition was great to be a part of. I was involved in editing the edition
and the printing process. Furthermore, I organised promotion like events and social
media and fundraising events.
Appendix 4c: Poster for platform magazine collaboration with student
parliament
Appendix 5: Gap analysis - Attribute Matrix (October 2018 – April 2019)
https://jackaustinportfoliohome.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/nbs-attribute-matrix-
18-19-jack-austin-n0676066-4.pdf
Upon improvements in skills, throughout the year, most of the gaps have been
reduced but in places they need further improvements like cultural diversity in a
global context. Large increases (indicated with *) include problem solving, critical
thinking and responsible leadership.
https://jackaustinportfoliohome.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/nbs-attribute-matrix-18-19-jack-austin-n0676066-4.pdfhttps://jackaustinportfoliohome.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/nbs-attribute-matrix-18-19-jack-austin-n0676066-4.pdf
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Appendix 6: Degree subject results (at the time of writing)
Appendix 6a: CISMM Essay
Appendix 6b: ICE Essay
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Appendix 6c: RMM Report
*There was a particular attention to sustainability and ethics. Also a high criteria in
the marking matrix for sustainability
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Appendix 7: Choice of skills to apply to the CarreerEDGE Model
In bold are the most meaningful experiences in each skill category. To choose he
most relevant experience, the experiences that were in the most categories and in
bold were considered for reflection. Alongside this are considerations for responsible
leadership, graduate employability.
Carreer
(Development
learning)
Experience
(Work and
Life)
Degree
Subject
knowledge,
understanding
and Skills
Generic Skills Emotional
Intelligence
Get
Experience &
Volunteering
Roadshow
How to get
Rejected in 7
easy steps
(Angus Farr)
Career
Management
Lecture
Residence
Assistance
(RA) Role
Get
Experience &
Volunteering
Roadshow
Thinkubator
Challenge
Residence
Assistance
(RA) Role
Platform
Magazine
Marketing
Team
Work
Experience
Grades for
Coursework
Ice (1)
Low 1st
CCISMM
High 1st
RMM
High 1st
L&E
Presentation
2:1
Thinkubator
Challenge
Thinkubator
Challenge
LLR workshop
on
Referencing
Critical
Thinking and
Time
management
Seminars
Residence
Assistance
(RA) Role
Platform
Magazine
Equality,
Diversity and
Respect at
NTU
Platform
consent
workshop
Discussion
Residence
Assistance
(RA) Role
Platform
Magazine
Social Sec and
Treasurer
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Platform
Magazine
Marketing
Team (and
head of
marketing
yr2)
Networking
Event/ Tea
Ceremony/
meditation
Work
Experience at
Kidzania
London
The Business
Students
Guide to
Sustainable
Management
Employability
Presentation
Application
masterclass
Part Time
freelance job –
TopTask
at Kidzania
London
Employability
Presentation
Part Time
freelance job –
TopTask
Platform
Magazine
Social Sec
and
Treasurer
Freedom of
the press
debate
LLR workshop
on
Referencing
Critical
Thinking and
Time
management
Seminars
Residence
Assistance
(RA) Role
Platform
Magazine
Marketing
Team
Work
Experience at
Kidzania
London
The Business
Students
Guide to
Sustainable
Management
Employability
Presentation
Marketing
Team
The Business
Students
Guide to
Sustainable
Management
Employability
Presentation
Application
masterclass
Part Time
freelance job –
TopTask
Linked in for
NBS Students
Freedom of
the press
debate
Equality and
Diversity
Training via
Employability
page
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Linked in for
NBS Students
Language Café
at the Global
lounge
University
Training –
Equality and
diversity
global citizen
Platform
Magazine
Social Sec and
Treasurer
Success with
the Hive
Group
Creativity
session with
the Hive
Part Time
freelance job –
TopTask
Group
creativity
session with
the hive
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Appendix 8: CPD Hours
Appendix 8a: Complete Pro-Forma - Year 3
https://jackaustinportfoliohome.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/nbs-cpd-pro-forma-
18-19-jack-austin-n0676066-1.pdf
Appendix 8b: CPD hours for all years at university
https://jackaustinportfolio.home.blog/category/cdp/
*This link shows the full three years of CPD, showcasing 200+ hours of
extracurricular activities
Appendix 9: Personal Profile
Appendix 9a: CV October 2018
https://jackaustinportfoliohome.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/nbs-cpd-pro-forma-18-19-jack-austin-n0676066-1.pdfhttps://jackaustinportfoliohome.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/nbs-cpd-pro-forma-18-19-jack-austin-n0676066-1.pdfhttps://jackaustinportfolio.home.blog/category/cdp/
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Appendix 9b: CV April 2019
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*In my Acceler8 Gold interview the marker in industry said that my CV was the
best he had seen from a student in terms of both content and layout.
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Appendix 9c: LinkedIn Profile
www.linkedin.com/in/jackharryaustin
Appendix 10: SIP Certificate
Appendix 10a: SIP certificate – Level 5
Appendix 10b: Blog Post for SIP final project
https://jackaustinportfolio.home.blog/2019/04/19/sustainability-in-practice-sip-
blog/
Appendix 11: Certificate of Equality and Diversity Essentials
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jackharryaustinhttps://jackaustinportfolio.home.blog/2019/04/19/sustainability-in-practice-sip-blog/https://jackaustinportfolio.home.blog/2019/04/19/sustainability-in-practice-sip-blog/
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IntroductionEvaluation and ReflectionExperience 1Social Secretary and Treasurer – Year 3 (Responsible leadership)
Experience 2Thinkubator Challenge (Analytical Problem Solving and Critical Thinking)
Experience 3Residence Assistant (RA) Role (Emotional Intelligence and Communication / Interpersonal Skills)The Three Selves’s that unlock employability
ConclusionsResponsible LeadershipGraduate employabilityRecommendations
ReferencesAppendices