Advancing Career Development

Advancing Career Development Order Description Assignment Information This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes 1-4 and accounts for 100% of the overall module mark. This assignment requires you to prepare a portfolio of total length no more than 2,000 words demonstrating your activities on the module and the learning you have acquired in accordance with the four learning outcomes. The intended learning outcomes are that on completion of this module the student should be able to: • Participate in a professional networking environment and appreciate the benefits of such an environment for employers and potential employees. • Enhance graduate 'employability' skills of personal development, such as: CV writing, interview skills, meeting management, effective e-mailing. • Perform an analysis of the graduate labour market and discuss possible job opportunities in their preferred industry(ies). • Analyse the advantages/disadvantages of working in different kinds of employment -(Public Sector/Private Sector/Voluntary Sector and large /medium-sized/small organisations). Assignment Information This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes 1-4 and accounts for 100% of the overall module mark. This assignment requires you to prepare a portfolio of total length no more than 2,000 words demonstrating your activities on the module and the learning you have acquired in accordance with the four learning outcomes. The intended learning outcomes are that on completion of this module the student should be able to: • Participate in a professional networking environment and appreciate the benefits of such an environment for employers and potential employees. • Enhance graduate 'employability' skills of personal development, such as: CV writing, interview skills, meeting management, effective e-mailing. • Perform an analysis of the graduate labour market and discuss possible job opportunities in their preferred industry(ies). • Analyse the advantages/disadvantages of working in different kinds of employment -(Public Sector/Private Sector/Voluntary Sector and large /medium-sized/small organisations). The portfolio must consist of the following five artefacts: 1. An Introduction This should cover your career aspirations, any previous work experience you have had and any special employability attributes that you possess. i.e. identifying any key skills or knowledge that you have that would attract an employer in the graduate market place. (200 words) 2. An analytical record of the lectures on the module given by industry speakers. The analytical record for each lecture should include: Date of Lecture and the employer involved. 349SAM Assignment Brief Page 2 of 6 The key messages that you took away from the lecture and the potential for any future job hunting activities it inspired. (800 words) 3. A screenshot(s) of your professional networking page Plus a discussion explaining how you personally have used the network in your graduate job hunting and its potential to help you in the future. (300 words) 4. An analysis of your employment strengths and weaknesses that you might describe during a graduate job interview (500 words) 5. An action plan stating how you intend to engage with the department’s Employability Personal Tutor in this final year. This should include: actions, dates and potential outcomes. (200 words) Failure to submit all five artefacts will result in a fail mark. Criteria for Assessment This table details the weightings of the five criteria by which your work will be assessed. Criteria Proportion of overall module mark 1. All five artefacts (introduction, accounts of lectures, networking screenshot, strengths and weaknesses analysis and action plan) are included in the portfolio. This is a pre-requisite; not including all five artefacts will result in a fail mark. 2. The introduction, commentary and discussions within the portfolio demonstrate insight and self-knowledge and there is evidence that the student’s employability skills are developing with an awareness of the current graduate jobs market. Knowledge of various graduate jobs market requirements is evident. It is clear that a range of resources and sources of information have been accessed and considered, giving a mature understanding of the labour market and the job hunting task. 35% 3. Personal development can be observed in the work through the acquisition and application of new selfknowledge obtained through self-assessment of key employment skills and a proactive approach to modern graduate job hunting. Tools such as MyPotential Type Dynamic Indicator have been used and the personal reports have been interpreted and discussed in the portfolio. 25% 4. The work demonstrates a professional approach to employability, with attention to detail, impact, accuracy and good presentation style. Graphics and illustrations have been used within the portfolio in an appropriate and effective manner. The whole portfolio represents an example of good communication similar to the requirements of a job application. Engagement with an online networking environment is professional and 25% 349SAM Assignment Brief Page 3 of 6 effective. 5. The whole portfolio is well presented and would suitably impress a potential employer. The English grammar and punctuation etc. are all correct in every respect. The word count has been adhered to and the portfolio is well laid out. Citations and references, if used, have been correctly formed using the Coventry University Harvard Referencing Guide. 15% Total 100% Please refer to the Marking Scheme below for information on how work is assessed and graded. How to submit your assessment The essay must be submitted via Turnitin by 23.55 on 18 December 2015. No paper copies are required. You can access the Turnitin link through the module web. • Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin. Should you submit work on time but fail the assignment, you will be offered a resit opportunity but the resit mark will be capped at 40%. • All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason (see below) will be given a mark of zero. Please note that a non-submission is not the same as a failed submission; a failed submission counts as an attempt whereas an absent mark does not necessarily allow you to resit the coursework. • Short deferrals (extensions) of up to three calendar weeks can only be given for genuine "force majeure" and medical reasons, not for bad planning of your time. Please note that theft, loss, or failure to keep a back-up file, are not valid reasons. The short deferral must be applied for on or before the submission date. You can apply for a short deferral by submitting an Examination/ Coursework Deferral Application Form. Application Forms along with the supporting evidence should go to the relevant Student Support Office. For a longer delay in submission a student may apply for a long deferral. • Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment. • Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking websites. GUIDELINES AND BACKGROUND TO THIS ASSIGNMENT Word Count Limit Your word count includes in text citations but not the final references or appendices. If you are more than 10% over or under the word count limit you may lose marks as a 10% penalty applies. The contents of your References and Appendices are not normally given a specific mark (though they may contribute to your overall mark, as detailed in the assessment criteria). We therefore recommend that you only use Appendices for supporting material and not for the substantive part of your work. Plagiarism As part of your study you will be involved in carrying out research and using this when writing up your coursework. It is important that you correctly acknowledge someone else’s writing, thoughts or ideas and that you do not attempt to pass this off as your own work. Doing so is known as plagiarism. It is not acceptable to copy from another source without acknowledging that it is someone else’s writing or thinking. This includes using paraphrasing as well as direct quotations. You are expected to correctly cite and reference the works of others. The Centre for Academic Writing provides documents to help you get this right. If you are unsure, please visit www.coventry.ac.uk/caw. 349SAM Assignment Brief Page 4 of 6 Turnitin includes a plagiarism detection system and assessors are experienced enough to recognise plagiarism when it occurs. Copying another student’s work, using previous work of your own or copying large sections from a book or the internet are examples of plagiarism and carry serious consequences. Please familiarise yourself with the CU Harvard Reference Style (on Moodle) and use it correctly to avoid a case of plagiarism or cheating being brought. Again, if you are unsure, please contact the Centre for Academic Writing or a member of the course team. Return of Marked Work You can expect to have marked work returned to you two working weeks after the submission date. Marks and feedback will be provided online. As always, marks will have been internally moderated only, and will therefore be provisional; your mark will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has completed his / her review. Marking and Assessment Scheme Mark range Guidelines 70 – 100% In order to secure a mark in this range, a candidate must submit an outstanding answer that could hardly be bettered. In addition to the criteria identified below for a mark between 70-85%, an answer scoring a mark of 85-100% would show an excellent level of understanding and critical/analytic skills and originality. For example, such an answer would include new insights into career development which are not drawn from the literature but from the student's own critical thinking, and which add something to the existing literature. An essay in this range will demonstrate a strong understanding of theories, concepts and issues relating to career development. There will be evidence of wide-ranging reading from a variety of valid sources (as described and presented in the marking criteria for 60- 69%). The assignment must be written in a clear, well-structured way with a coherent and seamless flow and show evidence of independent, critical thought. It must show extensive relevant reading on the subject and intelligent use of the material to present a well-balanced and well-argued assignment. For example, the student will have considered a range of relevant issues and be able to assess the strength and weaknesses of various approaches/arguments and put forward a confident and articulate view of their own. 60 – 69% An essay in this mark range will demonstrate a good understanding of the requirements of the assignment and of theories, concepts and issues relating to career development. An assignment in this percentage range will include a balanced discussion of issues central to the question, how these are addressed by different authors or sources and some critical thinking into their relative merits or shortcomings. 349SAM Assignment Brief Page 5 of 6 Mark range Guidelines The answer will be contain few errors and little, if any, irrelevant material. It will show evidence of reading from a variety of sources (i.e. more than 3 or 4) but not so many sources that the discussion loses focus and becomes unclear or irrelevant. All sources should be of some academic merit (e.g. books, journals, reports, media publications). Unreferenced material from non-credible internet sources MUST be avoided. All sources must be included and properly referenced in the references. The assignment will be well-organised and clearly written/presented overall. 50 – 59% The answer will demonstrate some reasonable understanding of relevant theories, concepts and issues relating to career development but also some minor errors of fact or understanding. The assignment will not be based on an extensive range of sources (for example few references are included), or much evidence that they have been read closely or well-understood. For example, the assignment will retell sources rather than analyse them. The assignment may be quite general in part. Some errors may be present and some irrelevant material may be included. The essay may not be particularly well-structured, and/or clearly presented and contain some spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. A few sentences may be unclear. 40 - 49% A mark within this percentage range will be given to an essay which: - shows some limited basic understanding of the subject but is incomplete. For example, if it answers one part of a question but not the rest. - makes only very general statements - includes some factual errors or misunderstandings e.g. confusion between different companies or misuse of certain key terms. - shows limited use of material with limited reading/research on the topic and includes only a very small number of references, not all of which are included in the references - includes spelling mistakes, is poorly structured with no clear argument and grammar mistakes making it difficult to understand. - includes some irrelevant material. 35 – 39% A mark within this percentage range will be given to an assignment which: - includes only a limited amount of relevant material. - shows little evidence of reading/research on the topic. For example, the essay includes only very few references, and relies only on material or case studies used during the course. 349SAM Assignment Brief Page 6 of 6 Mark range Guidelines - shows only a very basic understanding of the subject. - is poorly presented with bad grammar, some spelling mistakes and an incomplete reference list. - has a poor structure and does not flow e.g. if there is no conclusion or new facts are introduced in the conclusion rather than introduction or main discussion. - contains some fundamental errors. 20 – 34% 0 - 19% A poor fail on this assignment means the assignment submitted: - is poor and suggests that the student has spent very little time on it e.g. if the answer is considerably under the word requirement and/or presented in note form rather than as a fully written up essay. - bears little relation to the assignment topic. - shows a poor understanding of theories, concepts and issues relating to career development and to the learning outcomes detailed in this document. - contains some or many fundamental errors and misunderstandings of the academic or other material used. For example many of the facts cited are incorrect. - uses literature or other material which is largely irrelevant or has no academic value - is poorly structured and poorly presented. For example, sentences may be hard to understand and contain many spelling or grammatical mistakes. - contains no references. Work within this mark range shows a complete failure to meet the requirements of the assignment. A mark in this range will be given for an essay which: - is below 500 words in length. - bears no link to the question chosen and shows very little or no knowledge or understanding of any of the theories, concepts and issues relating to career development. The answer may be fundamentally wrong or trivial. - contains no references and/or evidence of relevant reading. - shows little understanding of the requirements of the assignment and only a vague knowledge of the subject area. - includes numerous fundamental errors in the understanding or presentation of the material discussed. There is a general lack of facts/evidence and what is provided is mostly incorrect and/or irrelevant. - is poorly structured and poorly presented. Spelling and grammar are poor. Many sentences are incomprehensible. - the examiners do not feel could be described as a serious attempt by any reasonable standards.