MG410 Career Viewpoint CW1 Assignment Sample

Introduction - MG410 Career Viewpoint CW1 Assignment

Career viewpoint refers to the individual’s understanding of their own future goals regarding their career. This helps in providing the knowledge in the future area of profession that the person wants to opt for (Summit et al, 2022). It helps in identifying the skills, capabilities and requirements for fulfilling the career role chosen by the person. This also involves the opportunities and experience that the individual has in the career. It is significant in the development of a clear vision which helps make the decisions on education path, learning and training. From the career viewpoint, the analysis of the labour market is done that help in forming the proper understanding of the working area. The current academic status refers to the present academic performance in the course. The desired industry to work in is the retail sector which is one of the growing sectors to work in.

The retail industry is increasing due to the growing demand of consumers. My career aspiration is to work as an HR or people manager in the retail firm d Morrison. This has been chosen due to the strong interest in supporting the people at work and fostering a positive work culture in the work setting. The role of the HR manager is the career path that meets the value to help the people in the organisation. The growth opportunities provided in the industry can help to fulfil the chosen professional role in the future. This report will discuss the industry analysis by providing its overview and discussing the desired profession. It will also discuss the key employers, general industry trends that may impact the role in the future and various opportunities and challenges it may present. Further, this will cover the short-term and long-term career goals in the chosen profession and also rationalise how the chosen job role meets the personal values. Finally, this will conduct an assessment of the skills and qualifications for the chosen job role.

MAIN BODY

Industry Analysis

Overview of the industry and desired profession

The UK retail sector has an important part in contributing to the country’s economy and national income. It has currently employed over 2.7 million people in this industry and has a share of over 4.5% of the UK's total economic output (UK Parliament, 2025). It is highly involved in providing online services for the sale of goods and has various supermarket chains. There are a large number of businesses operating in this sector that add to the growth of the sector. The types of business working involve the small, medium and large sellers of the goods. Customers prefer to buy goods on an online basis which is highly demandable and leading the retail ventures to evolve. This includes the various job roles involving the HR managers that manage the staff-related work in the companies.

Key employers and current general trends

The key employers in the UK retail sector are Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA, M&S, Morrison, Aldi and Lidl, etc. These companies hold the top position in the sector by covering the largest market share. These are the leading chains of supermarkets that are focused on providing high-quality goods at better prices in the market (Cassell et al, 2022). These are highly preferred by the people as these meet the demand of the people and serve as per the expectations. The current general trends in the sector that may impact the role of the HR manager in the future are given below:

• Technology and data analytics: the use of the technology and data analytics is increasing in the retail sector which can impact the role in negative manner if the knowledge is not gained on this properly.
• Diversity and inclusion: Due to firms being global, the firms in the industry are looking for HR managers who can work on bringing different cultures, people and opinions together in the organisation.

Challenges and opportunities

The challenges in the retail sector are inflation and changing consumer’s behaviour (Narang and Tiwari, 2024). Due to inflation the people are preferring to buy less and consumer changing behaviour leading to the awareness of the sustainability by the company. However, the opportunities this sector brings is that shifting to the online mode to cover the larger audience and high sales scope for the firm.

The desired Job role

The desired job role is the HR manager which works on managing the employees in the organisation. The work involves recruitment and hiring, career planning, training and development, compensation and benefits, payroll, grievance handling, etc. (E-careers, 2024). The short-term goals (1-3 years) is emphasised achieving the relevant knowledge and skills in the field which are given below:

• Gaining practical HR knowledge through apprenticeship that will help in equipping with the skills needed to perform the job in the future.
• Industry networking is helpful in connecting with the people that are already employed in this role in the sector (Kulik and Perry, 2023). This will also follow preparing for the interviews and making the CV strong.

The long-term goals (5-10 years) focus on advancing the career in future and continuous development which are given below:

• Developing the position by staying up-to-date with the trends and making changes based on that.
• Mastering each area of HR including technology, data analytics, training and development through the course and continuous learning.

The HR manager role aligns with the personal interest and value to support others through the advocacy, motivation and engagement. This also involves the communication and networking skills that is required to handle the people.

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Skills, qualifications and experience assessment

There are several skills required for the role of the HR manager which are given below:

• Communication: there is need to have effective communication both written and verbal to communicate with the employees, forming the policies, training and transferring essential information (Suseno et al, 2023).
• Leadership: the leadership skills are required to guide, lead, motivate and support the team in the working.
• Problem solving: The HR manager has to come across various employees’ problems which is needed to be handles by the manager in an effective manner through problem solving.
• Decision making: There are several decisions made by the HR managers such as selection of the particular candidate, T&D of the staffs, performance improvement needs, etc. (Zhukovska et al, 2021).
• Conflict resolution: Due to the number of people with different beliefs working in the organisation, there are chances of conflicts in the organisation. This needs to be resolved by the HR manager and foster a positive work culture.

There the requirements for certain qualifications and experience for the role of HR manager are as follows:

• Education: there is a requirement for a bachelor's degree in a related area such as HR, Business or psychology. For an advanced career, there is a need for a Master’s degree in this field.
• Certifications: The CIPD certificate is the recognised certification for HR professionals in the UK. It involves a Level 3 Foundation Certificate in People Practice, a Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management, etc.
• Industry knowledge: It is essential to have knowledge of the laws for the employment, recruitment processes, technology used, etc. (Bogdány et al, 2023).

Current skill set and qualifications

The skills set present are communication, leadership and decision-making. The qualification is the degree in the HR field that can help in forming the base for the job role. Communication is based on the ability to actively listen and smooth transfer of information. Leadership is the skill present that is beneficial in leading the team and influencing them to move in the desired direction. Decision-making is effective in choosing the most relevant options out of the various given alternatives (McCartney et al, 2021). However, there is a gap in the skills that are needed for a successful career as an HR manager which are problem-solving and conflict resolution. There is also a need to know the recent trends and technology used in this role and certifications.

CONCLUSION

From the above report, it can be concluded that the career viewpoint helps in gaining essential knowledge on one’s future profession. The chosen career path is the HR manager in the retail sector. This sector employs a high number of people and presents growth to the job in this industry. The HR manager role needs to have a skill-set such as communication, leadership, decision-making, conflict resolution and problem-solving. There is also a need to have practical industry knowledge and experience, qualifications such as bachelor’s and master’s degrees in HR or related fields. This role brings advantage in meeting the value of work and supporting the people in the working.

The career will be improved by doing the certification course for HR professionals and gaining practical knowledge through apprenticeship. Planning for continuous development involves staying up-to-date with the trends in technology and data analytics used in the HR manager role through the learning course. It is important in mastering and advancement of the area of the profession in the future. This is effective in the attainment of the knowledge and skills that are required for a successful career as an HR manager in the future.

REFERENCES

Books and Journals

• Bogdány, E., Cserhati, G. and Raffay-Danyi, Á., 2023. A proposed methodology for mapping and ranking competencies that HRM graduates need. The International Journal of Management Education, 21(2), p.100789.
• Cassell, C., Watson, K., Ford, J. and Kele, J., 2022. Understanding inclusion in the retail industry: incorporating the majority perspective. Personnel Review, 51(1), pp.230-250.
• Kulik, C.T. and Perry, E.L., 2023. Human resources for the non-HR manager. Routledge.
• McCartney, S., Murphy, C. and Mccarthy, J., 2021. 21st century HR: a competency model for the emerging role of HR Analysts. Personnel Review, 50(6), pp.1495-1513.
• Narang, R. and Tiwari, S., 2024. Role of Modern Technology in Unorganized Retail Sector. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, pp.1-28.
• Summit, H.B.C.U., Platform, N.L., Outlook, J., Polls, N.Q., Briefs, N.A.C.E., Tool, C.A. and Market, J., 2022. Career advising from the primary role academic adviser’s viewpoint: A review of the Literature. NACE Journal.
• Suseno, Y., Chang, C., Hudik, M. and Fang, E.S., 2023. Beliefs, anxiety and change readiness for artificial intelligence adoption among human resource managers: the moderating role of high-performance work systems. In Artificial Intelligence and International HRM (pp. 144-171). Routledge.
• Zhukovska, V., Piatnytska, G., Raksha, N., Lukashova, L. and Salimon, O., 2021. HR-manager: Prospects for Employment in the Labor Markets. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 111, p. 01011). EDP Sciences.