When the Time to Grow Into a Professional Comes: Trying Out as a Volunteer in a Charity Shop. Experience and Lessons Learned

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Table of Contents

Introduction: Welcome to the Charity Shop
Getting Down to the Basics: The Valuable Experience
Evaluating the Results: What Has Been Learned
Conclusion: There Is Still a Long Way to Go
Recommendations: What Could Be Improved
Reference List

In the given paper, the outcomes of my practice as a volunteer for a charity shop called North London Hospice are discussed. After my work as a volunteer has been done, the necessity to take a look back and evaluate the lessons learned appears. Hence, the given paper summarizes the learning outcomes and suggests the possible ways of my further development as a professional. In the given report, such methods as sampling and qualitative analysis have been used to produce accurate and objective data.

In the course of the analysis, it turned out that my skills as a manager have grown, as well as communication skills. An important experience in how theory is put into practice, the work in the charity shop has allowed for more options concerning my professional growth. Speaking of the charity shop and its policy, I could recommend that it should introduce the model of transactional leadership for more efficiency.

When the Time to Grow into a Professional Comes: Trying out as a Volunteer in a Charity Shop. Experience and Lessons Learned

Introduction: Welcome to the Charity Shop

Specializing in Management, I was supposed to undergo a practical course in a specific organization. I chose a charity shop called the North London Hospice. Working there for relatively short time, I learned much about the job of a manager, which has shaped my idea of a retail manager’s functions a lot.

History and background, intentions and hopes

It the help of the SMART framework, the experience at the North London Hospice is going to be assessed. The SEEC framework is going to be used for evaluation.

Aim and the key objectives: what management means

The goal of the given paper is to evaluate the acquired experience and to draw conclusions concerning its significance. In addition, the given report considers the alternative solutions for some of the considered problems and draws the outline for further training.

Methodology: creating the theoretical foil

To evaluate the acquired experience, the method of qualitative analysis is applied in the given paper (Guest & MacQueen, 2008). Analyzing experience, achievements and failures at the North London Hospice, I will be able to define the course of my further professional growth.

Getting Down to the Basics: The Valuable Experience

Retail industry and its many faces

Though the North London Hospice is doubtlessly a charity organization, which is based on completely voluntary work, it also has to face the economical and financial complexities that most organizations do. Therefore, the specifics of retail industry are no longer a closed book for me.

Such retail skills as the ability to understand the market and to access it easily are crucial for me as a professional. In addition, I have mastered the specifics of till system and its application. I have also learned what knowledge and skills the process of stock preparation requires, which will, doubtlessly, help me in my future work.

Job satisfaction as the key ingredient of a perfect work

However, soon after I started working in the North London Hospice I realized that money, no matter how preach that might sound, is not the only issue that matters in the choice of a job. It is clear to me now that job satisfaction is also a crucial aspect of being an employee, and that without the given component, becoming a successful professional is impossible.

Personal development: feeling a dignified and skilled professional

Another important aspect of being a part of a company, even a charity shop, is the sense of dignity that it gives. After the experience ends, one can feel that his/her professional skills have improved and that (s)he has finally seen the practical application of the management theories. Though the given experience was relatively short, I can still say with certainty that it helped me polish the skills that I had already had by that point, as well as acquire new ones.

Lone-term benefits: the acquired skills as the opportunity to develop

Needless to say, the experience in the North London Hospice also helped me grow as a professional. As it has been mentioned above, I have learned much about the specifics of the retail business. Understanding the processes behind the retail industry and, which is even more important, knowing how to make these processes run smooth will definitely help me become even more competent in my job.

Evaluating the Results: What Has Been Learned

Professional skills: everything an expert needs

In a broader sense, the retail industry information mentioned above also helped me understand the specifics of a job of a retail manager from the prospect of a theory of knowledge. Coming in handfuls every day, new information has to be processed and used in the production process. Therefore, the work in the charity shop also taught me to make efficient use of the available information by learning to unite information with the context (Syed, 2011, p. 104)

Problem-solving: when it is necessary to think fast and efficiently

Another important skill was the ability to solve problems. After working as a retail manager, I realized that there is a unique solution to any problem.

Communication skills: when having a talk is essential

Another important information concerned the importance of communication skills. Though the problems have to be voiced, they need to be addressed in a tactful manner.

Working together: the real meaning of “team spirit”

I also learned how important it is that the employees should cooperate and share knowledge with each other. Though the given experience is extremely important for me, it does not actually break any new grounds in terms of learning theories in general and the theory of knowledge in particular. According to what Darroch said, the correlations between knowledge sharing and overall performance are always positive (Darroch, 2003, 51).

Conclusion: There Is Still a Long Way to Go

Of course, the given experience was rather short and relatively scarce compared to my future professional career. However, this experience has shaped me as a professional. It was the best way to learn the specifics of retail industry and evaluate the difference between theory and practice. The SEEC D2–7 framework is going to be used to draw the future development plan. Being at the SEEC D6 stage, I will have to work my way up to SEEC D7.

Recommendations: What Could Be Improved

In a retrospective, I realize that the North London Hospice could have been run in a much better way. For example, the emphasis on the visual merchandizing could have been much stronger. Thus, more people would have been attracted and, therefore, the shop would have received much more revenues.

In addition, the analysis of the target market could have been done in a much more accurate way. Since the customers often took their children with them, it would have been a good idea to offer candies, small toys, etc. as well. Anyway, the experience at the North London Hospice was priceless and provided the reason for my further professional development.

Reference List

Darroch, J, 2003, ‘Developing a measure of knowledge management behaviors and practices,’ Jpournal of Knowledge Management, vol. 7 no. 5, 41–54.

Guest, G & MacQueen, K M, 2008, Handbook for term-based qualitative research, Altamira Press, Lanham, MD.

Syed, A U, 2011, ‘A theory of knowledge management,’ Journal of Contemporary research in Management, vol. 6 no. 1, pp. 103–119.

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