So what personal and professional attributes & transferable skills do I aim to develop throughout my placement?

Prior to undergoing my placement I carried out two psychometric tests in order to gain a better perception of my current strengths and weaknesses, and identifying areas for development. In the following paragraphs I have outlined two personal aims that I want to develop during my time on placement, which comprise of, sports marketing knowledge and understanding, and also developing my team working skills. These skills are not considered my weaknesses, however areas which I feel I need to strengthen to increase my employability potential in a sports marketing role. I have also mentioned my main personal transferable skills for development during my placement, and in addition to this I have mentioned some short bullet points of personal skills that I feel I need to develop during placement, and these were identified from my psychometric test results, which will be further analysed in my upcoming posts. 

Throughout my placement experience I want to develop the following:

• Develop my understanding of sports marketing – I aim to develop my understanding of sports marketing, and the different forms of marketing which can be applied to my placements company aims and objectives. I will be focusing mainly on marketing communications (digital marketing), such as media (press) and social media (Facebook, twitter and partnership website). With the help and feedback from my partnership team mates and the members of the public which attend the events and follow the partnership’s social media sites, I can see where my strengths and weaknesses lie in marketing communications and can aim to develop my skills in marketing over my placement. Overall, I hope to develop my understanding of ‘marketing communication’s greatly which will help gain a professional job in the future in marketing communications.
• Develop my understanding of working in a team based business which involves all working together to achieve team goals – I aim to develop my overall ability of being able to work in a team effectively. Throughout my placement I will need to regularly communicate with various members of the ‘South Ribble school sports partnership’ team, to plan and review primary school sporting events. Also, with the regular team meetings of reviewing company goals, I can easily monitor how effective the team is doing and are the main goals being met. Learning how teams work effectively together will stand me in good stead for the future when progressing into a job where team cohesion is critical.

In addition to developing my knowledge and understanding of sport marketing, and also developing my team working skills, I also want to further strengthen my key transferable skills which are highlighted below .

Transferable Skills I aim to develop during my time on University placement:

• Creative and innovative. I believe that it's very important for a digital sports marketer to ensure that ideas and concepts proposed are innovate and exciting. Therefore I hope to develop my creativity through exciting and effective social media engagement strategies and stylish website display and print publications.
• Time management and well organised - Prior to undergoing my placement I consider these two attributes to be two of my best selling points, however, this placement will test my mentality to continuously manage my time effectively between my placement commitments and other academic modules and assignment. Therefore this is a key skill I hope to further develop so I'm ready for a full time career in a fast paced sporting environment.
• Good communication and confidence. I want to ensure that throughout my placement I develop my communication when talking to different groups of people, for example, students, teachers, the press and via social media. Therefore both my communication and confidence will be developed through various social situations.
• Assess and evaluate my work - (Critical Self-reflection through academic models and theories).
• Deal with obstacles and unforeseen circumstances.
• Reliable & dependable
• Enthusiastic and motivated
• Develop my understanding of new technologies

Areas for development during my time on placement: Psychometric Test Results:

• Decision Making (looking at different possibilities and listening and developing peoples thoughts to make the best decisions)
• Patience (assessing my options more,giving myself more time, and not rushing into my first thought of practice) This will help my reflective thinking and critical analysis throughout my placement.

The professional and personal attributes highlighted above will be further mentioned in my upcoming posts and also critically appraised, along with various examples throughout my placement blog.