Assignment number and title 1 The Portfolio

Assignment type                            CW-ePort NON WBO

Weighting of assignment          100 %

Size or length of assessment   1500 words, plus CV, cover letter and references

Unit learning outcomes

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Demonstrate the following knowledge and understanding:
                  Employment opportunities related to your subject area and interests and the skills, knowledge, experience and attributes that are required to work in these contexts
               2. Demonstrate the following skills and abilities
                  To be self-reflective about your personal skills, attributes and abilities and how these compare with what is required for your future employment

What am I required to do in this assignment?

The essay is reflective but the delivery must be academic and professional – avoid the temptation to reduce ‘reflection’ to a conversation.

A portfolio which contains:

• Introduction –
• Your graduate destination – What? Why? etc. Seek guidance to ensure it is a graduate level role. If you are looking at post graduate vocational training – such as teacher training, social work – then you need to look for the ‘qualified role’ and look at the steps to the qualified role. If you want to be a Social worker – what client group? If you want to be a nurse? Which area of nursing?
• Role analysis – history, trends, etc. NOT a history of the job role but an awareness of the current issues facing professionals in the role – for example police and child trafficking, Education and special needs etc
• A current job description and person specification of your ideal job – Appendix 1 DO NOT UPLOAD A LINK AS THE JOB MAY HAVE GIONE BY THE TIME OF SUBMISSION)
• Reflection – what you already have – skills and experience and what you will need to get in order to meet the person specification. Having identified any gaps in our skills / experience create a PDP (below)
• Personal Development Plan – this must be in a grid format, with 5 objectives, each objective must be SMART. The PDP is your plan to achieve the objectives required in the job description you have used.
• CV and covering letter as if you were seeking employment – these must be academic and professional and create a LinkedIn account that must be included on your CV
• References – min 10 (but only 3 are websites)

What do I need to do to pass? (Threshold Expectations from UIF)

Demonstrate the following knowledge and understanding:

• Employment opportunities related to your subject area and interests and the skills, knowledge, experience and attributes that are required to work in these contexts including, recruitment and selection processes.

Demonstrate the following skills and abilities

• Articulate a personal development plan to strengthen and evidence your capabilities and professional development goals and demonstrate what you have to offer employers in your chosen sector through the development of your CV and online professional brand

How do I produce high quality work that merits a good grade?

THIS SECTION IS COMPLETED BY THE STUDENT IN CLASS WHEN THE ASSESSMENT IS DISCUSSED

How does this assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions?

Each week the unit will cover content that will help you to plan for your assignment. The unit content is delivered over 6 weeks. You are then expected to research for an employment role related to your degree (i.e manager, supervisor teacher ) which asks you to assess your suitability for a graduate role that you identify.
The unit content is designed to enable you to develop the elements of the portfolio in an incremental way, starting with the CV and cover letter. You are encouraged to use the services of the Careers and Employability Service to have your CV checked and you are actively encouraged to make contact with them at the start of the unit.

THIS CAN BE DISCUSSED WITH THE STUDENTS IN MORE DETAIL WHEN THE UNIT CONTENT IS BEING OUTLINED IN THE INTRODUCTORY SESSION