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ICE - Development Opportunities
Now that you have completed your self-assessment you should look through your strengths and weaknesses and use the Personal Development Plan, which you can access using the link below, along with the information provided on this page, to set and prioritise your objectives.
Download a blank Personal Development Plan [Word, 18 KB]
Download an example Personal Development Plan [Word, 31 KB]
Before setting your objectives, find out what personal development opportunities are available to you.
The links below tell you what opportunities exist for personal development. To help you the pages are divided according to skill type so that you can find which opportunities exist for which skills.
Several of the opportunities appear on more than one page as these experiences often develop more than one skill at a time. For example, you can improve your communication skills whilst working in a team.
Commercial awareness has been included as a skill (although strictly speaking it isn't) because it is important to employers. Development opportunities for general job seeking skills such as writing CVs or interview techniques have also been given.
The information contained in these pages is not exhaustive; it is more of a starting point. If you have anything to add, please email careers@imperial.ac.uk
- Communication skills
- Presentation skills
- Commercial awareness
- Planning & organisational skills
- Teamworking skills
- General job-seeking skills
Remember that your objectives ought to follow the SMART criteria. This means that they should be:
- specific
- measurable
- achievable
- relevant
- timed
Example objectives
"I will give a presentation before the end of the term.""I will ensure that I practice my report writing by producing a short report every week."
It is up to you to ensure that the targets set in your Personal Development Plan are relevant and achievable:
- Don't forget you should put your greatest energy into developing the areas that are most important to you and your career and which will have the most impact on your abilities.
- It is okay for your objectives to start small and grow incrementally - Personal Development Planning should be a long-term and iterative process throughout your time at College and beyond.
Once you have set your objectives, it is up to you to do what is needed to ensure that you achieve these. Stage 4 of this website will help you keep a record of what you have done.
Link to Stage 4 (Course & Work Assessment pages)