Sheffield Graduate and Personal Development Planning (PDP)
Sheffield Graduate attributes
Whilst you are studying at the University of Sheffield you have opportunities to gain a broad range of knowledge and skills – the “Sheffield Graduate Attributes”.
These attributes will enable you to get the most out of your studies – and this site is designed to support you in developing them. They are also reusable in work and other contexts. For this reason it is common to refer to them as ‘transferable skills’. Furthermore, activities that you undertake alongside your degree, for example paid or voluntary work, participating in or leading student groups/societies, and working as a course or faculty student representative, also enable you to acquire these graduate skills.
Looking ahead, it is worth noting that potential employers value these attributes and will be keen to hear about the breadth of experience and knowledge you have gained during your time at University. For now, as a student here at Sheffield you have lots of opportunities to get involved with all sorts of new activities which will help you to develop new skills and attributes.
For more information about this, please consult the Sheffield Graduate web site. You might also want to look at the Sheffield Graduate Award, a scheme run by the Careers Service to formally recognise the development of these skills, and offer an extra dimension to your qualifications when you graduate.
Personal Development Planning (PDP)
As you work on acquiring the Sheffield Graduate attributes, Personal Development Planning is a process of formally reflecting on your learing that will help you to:
- reflect on your achievements to date
- understand what else you want or need to be able to do
- identify how to go about achieving your goals
It is really important for you to be proactive in this process yourself and there are documents available to help you online: your department may well have specific documents to help and you could use these to structure meetings with your personal tutor, for example. Remember that it’s about your development and what you want to achieve in your current academic studies and beyond.
Being able to reflect on your experiences, to identify gaps in your knowledge or skills, and then to use this information to set development goals will serve you well now and in the future. This practice provides a means of making the most of your abilities, in particular by enabling you to identify and make the most of opportunities that come your way - whatever your programme of study or career path.