Career Development Plan

Name: Dominic Clark

Date: 23rd February 2015

This career development plan template can be used as a tool to guide your thought process and map your progress over a chosen
period. It is intended to be used in conjunction with the Career Navigation at UBC website, which provides you with links to
resources, tools and websites within UBC that may be helpful in planning your career.
Completion of this plan will follow a4 step process. Each step will address specific career related questions:
1. What skills do you already possess? (Where are you now?)
2. What do you want for your career? (Where do you want to go?)
3. How might you get there? (What steps do you need to take to get there?)
4. Who can help? (What resources might I use?)

You can complete it at your leisure, print and save a copy for your personal use.

Please use a separate sheet of paper if you need more space to add information.

1. Where are you now?

This process starts with taking a good look at where you are currently at. What are your skills, talents and interests? What are
your values do you like to lead, work with people or alone with data or text? Do you like working face to face with people or
prefer independent work? Do you like to work inside or outside? Do you like working to deadlines? Which teams do you like
working on, quiet or loud, small or large?
Answering the questions below will assist you in determining your starting point. There are several tools & resources that can
assist you with this. Please refer to the navigating your career at UBC website
Question

Notes.

Where am I now in regards to my career?

Currently, I have set clear goals of what I need in order to obtain my desired
career. I have completed research from different resources (text and human
resources) to find out exactly what I might need to do in order to get the
career that I aspire to obtain.
Firstly, I am currently taking all possible opportunities to play a major part in
getting to the next step. I am taking numerous workplace work experience
opportunities to try and get a feel of the environment, whilst increasing my
knowledge in the field and developing new skills. Also, I have taken part in
numerous events in and out of the relative field to get an idea of work ethic
and to understand the importance of good organisation.
I have completed all of my research and ideas of the next chapter of my life,
my further education. I wish to pursue a degree in my chosen field, hospitality
and further my knowledge and skills in the subject. This should enable me to
edge closer to my career aspirations.
I have identified exactly where I want to be after university and in
approximately ten years from now.

What is my view of current situation?

I believe that I have set out exactly what my plan is and my goals are very well
as I am at the point where I am more or less ready for taking the next step and
know exactly where I would like to be.

What have been my experiences to date?

I have had multiple work experiences and in-school experiences to get me an

idea of what the career is and the skills that come with it. They are listed
below:
Concierge Intern, Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong.
Brief placement working at the concierge desk at the Landmark Mandarin
Oriental. Duties involved communicating with guests in a polite manner,
handling arrivals and departures, but more importantly, dealing with any
problems that came about with a guests experience in Hong Kong. Worked
with a team of concierge and bell members, meaning that teamwork and
communication was a major skill that was used.
Kitchen Placement, Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong.
Brief placement in the kitchen at Amber, a two michelin starred restaurant by
Richard Ekkebus located in the Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hong Kong.
Duties included assisting in the cold and pastry kitchen of the operation and
working alongside the professionals.
Head Of Event, SIS MasterChef.
Planning, organising and overseeing the entire event. There is an immense
amount of hard work, dedication, and commitment involved in this role - the
amount of workload is often underestimated. This role requires being able to
make rational decisions, being assertively productive, and diplomatic when
handling delicate issues (eg. talking with VIP guests). This role involves liaising
with the CAS supervisor, Feeding HK representative, and any other possible
Senior positions. On top of that, attention to detail is absolutely vital in this
role as one small overlook can snowball into a major catastrophe. This is a CAS
project that requires teamwork therefore this role requires being able to
harmoniously cooperate and communicate as a group.

What do I enjoy most?

The largest interest I have in this industry, is the management and interaction with
people. I enjoy organising and all of the aspects that come with it as well as looking after
people. Working for the day to day operations of the establishments in the field interests
me greatly and is the career which I aspire to have.

What skills come to me naturally?

The skills that I believe come to me naturally are:

Planning.
I believe that I have a strong ability when it comes to planning as I think that I
am proficient at coming up with potential ideas and collating them in a plan.
This is also useful so that I am ready, should a problem or issue arise.
Organisation and Multi-Tasking.
I am aware that I have a natural skill in organisation as I am very motivated to
organise well and to make sure that I have put in the highest possible effort
into that task. Also, I believe that I am able to multi-task and juggle multiple
tasks at any given time.

What do I think my strengths/assets are?

(Skills, knowledge, talents, interests)?

I have the following qualities that will be of a strength for me to help achieve
my aspirations:
Decisiveness
I have the quality of being to make decisions quickly and effectively, in the event that
an issue pops up. I know that I can come up with decisions that work and may be the
most effective way of dealing with a certain issue.
Adaptability
I think that I possess the ability to adjusts operations to the task of which I am
performing. Being able to change how a task is performed is important to me because
if a team is given a new bit of information, I believe that it is important to make a
quick change to meet this demand.
Compassion
I have the ability to care for others and take the thoughts of others into consideration.
This is needed to build relationships.

I have the following knowledge to help me with my career aspirations:

- Basic, but developing business knowledge.

- Basic, but developing industry knowledge.
- Effective organisational techniques.
I have the following interests in my desired field of work:

- Hotel/Hospitality Management.
- Planning.
- Event Planning/Management.
- Food and Beverage.
- Working With People.
- Team Leadership.

What are some things people ask me to

help with?

Currently, people ask me for help in the following areas:

Understanding Content - People come to me to ask me for help when they
dont understand the content in a specific assignment or task.
Tasks - People come to me when they do not understand the task at hand.
They ask me what they must do and how they should go about doing it.

What do I do well?

I do well in what I am interested in, which in my current case at school is my

chosen subjects. I also do well in organising and planning as they are skills that
I really do enjoy carrying out and take pride in. I do well in keeping things to a
relatively high quality as if I do a task, I want it done well. I do well when
working in teams and I believe that I do a good job when I adopt a leadership
position within those teams.

What appeals to me?

What appeals to me is working in a team with other motivated individuals who

would like to get the task done to a good quality as I would. Working in teams
is my preferred way of working, but it has to be with the right people. Taking
my time to make things look visually appealing is also an interest that I have.

What are my values? (work/life)

My work/life values are as followed:

Enthusiasm
Ambition
Balance
Assertivness
Cooperation
Discipline
Efficiency
Empathy
Professionalism
Preparation
Teamwork
Strategic
Quality

Do I like to lead, work with people as a

team or work alone?

As an individual, I really enjoy working with other in a team to create a whole

group effort of many different skills, qualities and tales. In addition to that, I
really like to lead a team, I enjoy pointing people in the direction of tasks,
allocating roles and just taking leadership over the operation. I enjoy this
because of my interest in organising as well as planning for the teams
operation.

Do I like working face to face with

customers or back office work?

I do not have a preference between these two options, I like both of these for
different reasons. I enjoy working face to face with customer because I can
see how they interact and how much they are enjoying the service in a first
hand perspective. In the industry I wish to enter, Hospitality, there is much
interaction with guests making this an interest for me as a whole. I enjoy
meeting new people and seeing the service/product go in to play. On the
contrary, I like the office side of work for the organisation aspect. The
hospitality industry lets you work in both environments under the same job,
making it an ideal choice for me.

How do I feel when I think about my ideal

job (excited, motivated, fear)?

When I think about my ideal job, it gets me motivated to go and do more.

Almost every time it comes to mind, I immediately go an find out more,
conduct further research to give me a better idea of how I can get there. Also,
when I think about it, it motivates me to go and look for opportunities to
better prepare me for what is needed for my ideal career.

Is there anything getting in my way of

achieving what I want?

There should not be a reason why I cannot get there. If I put in the time, the
effort and keep my motivation high, I should be able to reach my life goal. My
grades at school need to stay as they are and make sure that the level of work
ethic and effort stays the same, or even improves, in my further education.

2. Where do you want to go?

What you'll do next is:

Consider your career goals

Explore your career options.

Develop concise written statements related to your goals and add them to the table below.

Knowing where you want to go makes the next steps in determining your future career move much easier.
There are several tools & resources that can assist you with this. Please refer to the navigating your career at UBC website
Question

Notes

What does my ideal job look like?

My idea job is not a job working for someone else. I do not wish to end my
career working under an existing company as an employee. I wish to be able to
work for myself and set up something that I can call my own, which I have
built and developed myself. I wish for this to be in the Hospitality industry and
where I have a whole team of individuals who are motivated to work with me.
I do not wish to spend years and years climbing the corporate latter, I would
just like to obtain the required knowledge and apply that to what I wish to do.

If I could do any job in the world what

might it be and why?

If I could choose any job in the world, I would like to be operating and
managing my own hospitality brand. This is because I really enjoy the field of
hospitality, enjoy business and dream of becoming an entrepreneur.

Question

Notes

What are my goals (short/long term)?

Short Term Goals

- Obtain various experience opportunities to get a glance of the industry.
- Take leadership opportunities in school and out of school.
- Build a portfolio of experiences.
- Research both the business and hospitality aspects and further my
knowledge.
- Attain good grades in school and maintain my work ethic.
Long Term Goals
- Get accepted to my chosen university.
- Finish secondary school with my aspirational grades and ones Im happy
with.
- Initially, get hired for a large hospitality brand in a managerial position.
- Set up my own hospitality enterprise.

What energizes me?

What energises me is different forms of motivation, whether that is thinking

about my future, incentives (such as university offers), simply looking at the
industry or achieving some of my aims and objectives to keep me going.

Where do I want to be (in 1 yr, in 5 yrs)

In a year from today, I wish to be at a point where I know that I will be able to
go to my desired university, with my desired course. Also, I would like to have
the same level of grades that I have now, at the point where I will almost
finish my secondary eduction. I would also like to be a part of many
opportunities that will help me in my future.
In 5 years, I would like to have finished my bachelors degree in International
Hospitality Management and be looking for job opportunities and postgraduate top up opportunities looking more at the entrepreneurial aspect.

Question

Notes

Are there any specific challenges I want to There are specific challenges that I want to face in able to better prepare me
face?
for my future. These are as followed:

Interviews
Speeches
Dealing with problems
Working with difficult team members
Working with challenging scenarios

Why is this important to me?

This is important to me as they are all factors of what I will have to face later
in my life, when I have to do this in a more real-life situation. Having the
knowledge and skills of how to do this now, will allow me to be a better
candidate in the future and make succession easier.

What do I want to see/get/do more of?

For my chosen career I would like to see more of:

- The industry.
- The business world.
For my chosen career I would like to do more/get more:
- Experience.
- Leadership opportunities.
- Teamwork opportunities.
- Knowledge on the industry/business.

What do I want to see/get/do less of?

For my chosen career I would like to do less:

- Distractions to attain my goal.
- Procrastination.

What is my preferred balance between

work and my personal life?

In the future, I wish to balance my work and personal life balance at a ratio of
65% work to 35% personal life. I wish to be working for myself, therefore if
successful, I can be flexible with this.

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Question

Notes

Who else does this affect?

This will affect all of the friends and family around me at that point in my life.
This will also have an effect on the individuals that I work with in the sense
that I need to give up enough time for work.

What normally gets in the way of achieving

my goals?

There is not much that gets in the ways of my goals, but some factors make it
harder to achieve these goals. The biggest factor is the distractions I have that
take my time up that I could be better spending on achieving my goals.

What kind of work environment suits me

best?

Like I mentioned above, my perfect work environment is one where I could be

doing all of the required planning, organising and managing whilst being in the
field with face-to-face interaction with customers.

Do I feel I have a calling in life?

Yes, I feel that I need to put in all the effort I can in order to achieve my goal.

3. How might I get there?

By answering questions 1 & 2, you should now have a clearer idea of what you want & where you want to go. The next step is
figuring out how you might get there. What do you need to do? Below are some questions you may consider in deciding what
resources may be useful.
There are several tools & resources that can assist you with this. Please refer to the navigating your career at UBC website
Question

Notes

How can I prepare myself and my

environment to achieve my goals?

To prepare myself for my goals, I must initially obtain good grades at school to
place me on my desired university

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Question

Notes

What resources and tools/resources do I

need?

I will need to have the the internet and online communities to find me
experiences to better prepare me for my future. It will also allow me to do
extensive research on the industry before I start.

What steps do I need to take to get from

where I am now to where I want to be?

I will need to take the following steps:

- Attain good grades for my BTECs and AS level examinations.
- Apply for universities that offers my desired course.
- Choose a university that will best suit me and that will be most beneficial to
my future.
- Get experiences in the industry.
- Build a huge contact base of individuals in the field.
- Apply for jobs to get experience after university.
- Use on-the-job experience and apply them to my prospective plans.

What new skills, knowledge do I need to

possess?

I need to possess the following skills for my chosen goals:

- Ability to solve problems in the environment.
-

What new skills do I want to learn?

What existing skills do I need to develop?

I need to develop the following:

- Organisation.
- Planning.
- Adaptability.
- Public speaking.
- Presentation.
I wish to attain these skills at a more professional level to match the demands
of the industry.

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Question

Notes

How can I commit to achieving my goals?

I can commit to achieving my goals by making sure that I meet my objectives

to reach these goals by looking at each of them individually and completing
them in a steady process to ensure that they are done efficiently.

What barriers do I need to remove to make

this happen?

I need to become more involved with people and make further contacts. I
need to become more comfortable with making new acquaintances.

How will I know I have been successful?

I will know that I have been successful when I have opened my first hospitality
establishment/enterprise of any scale or size.

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4. Who can help (resources)?

Knowing who can assist you and what resources you need to achieve your career goals can greatly assist you in staying focused on
your goals. The navigating your career at UBC website contains a list of excellent resources that can help you.
Question

Notes

What new relationships might I build help me I would like to build relationships with individuals working in the hospitality
attain my career goals?
industry. I could obtain these relationships by undertaking numerous
placements in order to gain contacts as well as to show them what I have to
offer in addition. This will be useful for when I will be looking for university
placements, possible part time jobs and a career in the future.
Who do I know who can support me attain my
career goals?

I have numerous contacts in the hotel industry including my dad who works
in human resources. I also know many other key executives in the field that
can help me to gain attention from recruiters in the industry.

Who have I lost touch with who might be able

to support me in my career goals?

Moving around the world in a hotel environment, I have met many people
working in the industry, many of which I have lost full contact with and will
not be able to use them as resources in the future.

What role can my friends and family take in

encouraging me to stay focused?

My friends can keep me motivated to attain my goal whilst my parents and

family ensure that I do well in my academic studies and obtaining all of the
necessary experience.

What role can my unit head/manager play in

supporting my career aspirations?

N/A

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What communities of practice currently exist

that I can tap into?

There are many online communities available where groups of hoteliers

share their experience and industry knowledge to those looking to enter
into the industry. I can use this to build by foundation of knowledge for my
chosen career path.

Setting Goals
Now that you have a clearer picture of where you are now and where you want to go , it is now time to set some goals for yourself
and create your Career Development Plan goal summary.
When deciding on your career development goals it is imperative that you set yourself up for success. Using the SMART goal
setting process is a good way to achieve this.

SMART

Specific (so you know exactly what you are trying to achieve)
Measurable (so you know when you have achieved it!)
Action-oriented (so you can DO something about it!)
Realistic (so it IS achievable) and
Time-Bound (has a deadline)

Focusing on the Outcome:

1.
2.
3.

What is it that you REALLY want to achieve?

What is the SPECIFIC OUTCOME that you are looking for?
How will you know you have achieved it?

Please click on the following link for a SMART goal setting template
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Personal Career Plan Goal Summary

Once you have your goals in a SMART format add them to the Personal Career Plan Goal Summary below:

Goal

Specific knowledge, How will I achieve

skills required
the goal?

What resources do I
need (people,
material etc)

Attain good,
consistent grades of
a distinction level
on my BTEC level
three coursework in
Business and Public
services in all units
for the rest of the
course up to April/
May 2016.

The Skills that I

need to achieve
this goal is to have
high level of
organisation, high
level of motivation,
to be hardworking
and to be time
conscious.

Human Resources
April/May 2016 Teachers - Ensuring End Of BTEC level
that I understand all three course.
the content that I
need to know for
each of the units.

I will achieve this

goal by keeping to
the same high
standard of work
and effort. I will
also need to keep
my organisation
level high to ensure
that all of my
deadlines are met.

Textbooks/Online
These will help me
to find all of the
required
information to
complete my work
to the correct
standard.

By when (timeline)

Success criteria
how will I know I
have been
successful?
I will know that I
have been
successful when I
can see my
grades at the end
of the course
being of at least
a DD overall.

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Receive at least
three more work
experience
placements and inthe-workplace
experience in
hospitality and
business
establishments
before my BTEC
course finishes in
April/May 2016.

The skills required

to achieve this goal
is to further my
communication
skills to achieve
connecting with
individuals in
industry in both
hospitality and
business.

I will achieve this

goal by continuing
to take all
opportunities to
meet people as
well as practicing
my techniques of
writing emails
formally to ask for
opportunities.

Human Resources
April/May 2016 School - Attending End Of BTEC level
talks that may be three course.
offered at school
either in hospitality
or business. Family Using my
connections to
attempt to get into
contact with new
people.

I will know that I

have been
successful when I
have managed to
complete at least
three valuable
experiences in
industry.

Online
Linkedin - Using my
Linkedin profile to
connect with
individuals in the
industry.

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Get accepted to
one of my top three
university choices
which are the
University of
Surrey, Durham
University, Or
Oxford Brookes
university by
October this year.

The skills required

for this is to
improve my selfrepresentation in
the form of written
text for a personal
statement. This is
so I can display my
passion of the
specific course
areas.
I need to look into
each of these
courses to ensure
that I have all the
pre-requisites.

I will achieve this

goal by frequently
updating my
linkedin profile to
practice writing
about myself. I will
send personal
statements for
work experience
opportunities to
also practice for
this.

Human Resources
I will use my
numerous contacts
at each of these
universities to help
me acquire further
information of all
these courses and
work out exactly
what they demand
for in one of their
students.

I will do extensive
research on all of
my universities and
the respective
courses and
actually visit them
to get a better
understanding of
what I need and
want.

Online
I will use the
websites of each of
the universities to
attain information
of pre-requisites.
Also I will use the
linkedin university
database to find
more about the
current student
profile.

October 2015.

I will know that I

have been
successful when I
receive my
acceptance to
one of the
specified
universities.

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Start off my
bachelors degree in
International
Hospitality
Management or
International
Business
Management with
grades of at least
80% allowing me to
take a further
course in the field.
This has to be done
by November 2016.

There are many

skills required to do
well with my
chosen course, so I
have decided to
outline the major
ones.
Discipline is a very
important skill
needed to do well
at university as
keeping on top of
work is crucial.

I will achieve this

Human Resources
November 2016.
goal by
My future professors
implementing a
when having to seek
very strong and
them for any
solid personal
questions or
planner to ensure I
clarifications.
am always on top of
things. Also, I will
Planning Softwares
ensure that I
To keep me on top
understand
of work and tasks
everything as seek
that need to be
assistance where
done to do well.
needed.

I will know that I

have been
successful when I
achieve the most
recent grades of
percentage 80%
or higher as of
November 2016.

Time-management
skills are also very
important as
splitting time
between school,
work, part-time
jobs and leisure
activities needs to
be mapped out
efficiently.

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Finish my bachelors
degree in
International
Hospitality
Management or
International
Business with an
overall of at least
80% and relative
work experience.
This is to be done
by June 2019.

There are many

skills required to do
well with my
chosen course, so I
have decided to
outline the major
ones.
Discipline is a very
important skill
needed to do well
at university as
keeping on top of
work is crucial.

I will achieve this

Human Resources
June 2019 - End of
goal by
My future professors Bachelors Degree
implementing a
when having to seek Course.
very strong and
them for any
solid personal
questions or
planner to ensure I
clarifications.
am always on top of
things. Also, I will
Planning Softwares
ensure that I
To keep me on top
understand
of work and tasks
everything as seek
that need to be
assistance where
done to do well.
needed.

I will know that I

have been
successful when I
achieve the most
recent grades of
percentage 80%
or higher on my
final grade card
and allowing the
honours degree.

Time-management
skills are also very
important as
splitting time
between school,
work, part-time
jobs and leisure
activities needs to
be mapped out
efficiently.

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