Professional Development in Business (Management)
Order Description
Assignment, Portfolio
ENTRY 1: Introducing yourself (approx. 300 words)
Hints entry 1: Bachelor Degree of Business Management (Business Development)
After completion of this degree, I would like to get job in business as (Business development manager)
There are three parts to this entry
1. Elevator Pitch (100 words)
Provide a one paragraph introduction which describes you in terms of your professional experience, skills and aspirations. Imagine that you might use this description to describe yourself at a networking event. Refer to Hints below ‘elevator pitch’.
Hints:
• professional experience (what you done, who work for/organisation, industry/sectors, location) may make this parts related to business management roles such junior administrators, customers services etc, and I’ll edit it later
• Skills (Administration skills, I.e. software, customer services, financial literacy, time management, analytical problems solving, conflict management creative)
• Aspirations: Job, role career path way, and why you want to the job….
• What
• Why?
• How
inspired the elevator person for what you wanted to be in the future and what you can for the person you talk to.
2. Career Inspirations
Provide one paragraph on who has or continues to inspire you. They do not need to be a business person but may inspire you in terms of their view on life or business. Explain why they are an inspiration.
Hints: In Business Management areas (make it up)
3. Career Aspirations
Describe your career aspirations in your chosen field. Refer to (Business development managers) about the type of organisation and/or field you are hoping to work in. Have your aspirations changed during the course? Please explain.
ENTRY 2: Self-analysis against industry standards (approx. 500 words)
1. Analyse your current level of development against standards for professional practice (Industry standard relevant to you).
• Clearly identify the industry standards that relate to your future profession. Remember, more than one set of standards might apply to your future profession. E.g. Business Development manager, HR manager working in the business industry field needs to meet or comply with standards relating to the business profession as well as management standards. It is a good idea to be quite specific here.
2. Refer to the five ‘stages of development’ adapted from Walker et al 2009 and a simple SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to demonstrate how you currently meet (or don’t meet) the relevant industry standards.
• Please provide examples from your experience to support your claims for certain levels of development.
Hints for Entry 2:
(SWOT for individual against industry standards)
Example of industry standards
• Job (Business Development managers in public sector)
• Qualification – Business management
• Location – Australia
• Condition for the job
• What you did in the past (customer services, sale and marketing etc) Make it up around that areas.
• Hint: Write one short paragraph for each INDUSTRY standard.
• Analyse SWOT in paragraph:
ENTRY 3: Networking
This entry consists of two parts:
Part 1: LinkedIn
• Set up a Professional Networking Profile, using LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) or a similar professional networking tool. It is important to note Facebook, Google + and Myspace are not acceptable – it must be a professional networking site, not a social networking site.
The following minimum profile fields must be completed:
• Photo – note, this should be a professional representation of you, not a photo taken at a party, at the beach etc. If for any reason, you do not feel comfortable uploading a photo of yourself, please speak to your tutor.
• Summary – a summary of ‘who you are’ professionally, and your career goal for the next two years (i.e. when you graduate, what kind of a role will you be looking for)
• Work Experience – including Employer’s name, employment dates and your responsibilities
• Education – including your current course of education, and prior studies (including High School and the years of completion)
• Honours and Awards – any awards you have received, such as the Dean’s Merit List, School Captain in High School, Sporting Team Captain etc. including relevant details such as the date & name of the award (GIFT AND WARDS) COMMUNITY AWARDS AND RECONGINATION
• You may choose to complete additional fields as applicable to you.
As this is your professional profile, and you will be using it to contact potential employers and professional contacts, you will need to ensure your profile is well written, structured and edited, and uses professional language with correct grammar and spelling. A strong emphasis is placed on correct use of language and grammar which is reflected in marks allocation.
Once your profile is complete, take a screen shot of your profile (including your photo) and include as an appendix in this portfolio. Assignments submitted without this screen shot will be penalised by 5 marks.
Part 2: Curriculum Vitae/Resume
Using the information in your LinkedIn profile, format a Curriculum Vitae as a word document of no more than two pages, following the advice provided by Career Services.
The following minimum profile fields must be completed:
• Photo – note, this should be a professional representation of you, not a photo taken at a party, at the beach etc. (Please do this in spite of advice given in Career Advice lecture in order to show you understand what an appropriate professional photographic representation actually is).
• Summary – a summary of ‘who you are’ professionally, and your career goal for the next two years (i.e. when you graduate, what kind of a role will you be looking for)
• Work Experience – including Employer’s name, employment dates and your responsibilities
• Education – including your current course of education, and prior studies (including High School)
• Honours and Awards – any awards you have received, such as the Dean’s Merit List, School Captain in High School, Sporting Team Captain etc. including relevant details such as the date & name of the award
• You may choose to complete additional fields as applicable to you.
As this is your professional profile, and you will be using it to contact potential employers and professional contacts, you will need to ensure your profile is well written, structured and edited, and uses professional language. A strong emphasis is placed on correct use of language and grammar which is reflected in marks allocation.
Please note, the Linked in profile and CV may be duplicates; although, please remember to use appropriate formatting for the different documents.
Hints: I will do this parts: (Do not worry about it)
ENTRY 4: Career Management Plan (Business development manager action plan)
This entry consists of two parts:
Part 1: Career Action Plan (approx. 750 words) Refer to advisement jobs and their profits). Position descriptions (Business development manager)
Find a position (Business development manager) which you believe you will be qualified for and well suited to five years after graduation. This could be the same position you used for the information interview or something different. Following the introduction parts as (Business development manager) write an Action Plan which details the steps you will take to ensure that you would be the successful candidate for this position five years after you graduate. Scan the advertisement and job description for this position and attach it to the documentation already completed. You may need to contact someone in the organisation to request a position description, or check the organisation’s website.
Hints: (Consider any organisation advertised the jobs, there is no specific organisation. Refer to business development manager or similar positions)
Part 2: Responses to Selection Criteria (approx. 750-1000 words)
When applying for positions throughout your career, you will commonly be asked to address certain ‘selection criteria’ as part of submitting your application, along with a cover letter and curriculum vitae (CV). There are many common selection criteria that can be asked, either as part of your written application, or during an interview process.
For Part 3 of this assessment, you are required to address all four selection criteria below as they relate to the skills, knowledge and experience that you have now, as a current University student (i.e. don’t write your responses as if you are applying for the position you found in your action plan, write them as if you are applying for a position now. This position could be any position suitable to your current qualifications and experience.)
Please address the following criteria:
• Highly developed written communication skills, including the ability to draft clear and concise documentation;
• Demonstrated organisational ability and initiative, including experience in prioritising and meeting deadlines, often with competing demands;
• Strong interpersonal skills and a demonstrated ability to successfully communicate with a diverse range of people at all levels of an organisation;
• Demonstrated experience in working collaboratively in a team based environment.
Note: The above selection criteria have been sourced from real position descriptions for entry level positions within a corporate environment.
The response to each selection criteria should be around 250 words in length, and use the STAR model to address your suitability in each criteria. The STAR model follows the following format:
1. Situation – Outline a specific circumstance where you developed the particular experience or
used the required skills or qualities. Set the context of the situation.
2. Task – What was your role? What did you have to do?
3. Actions – What did you do and how did you do it?
4. Results – What did you achieve? What were the results of what you did?
The above model should be written using an appropriate (paragraph) format and should succinctly describe a particular situation that provides clear and concise evidence to demonstrate where you have used the particular skill or knowledge in real life, with a tangible, reportable outcome. Note that the experience you draw from to address the criteria can include experiences at university, in part-time/full time work, community roles such as in a church group, volunteer positions or in sporting teams. Your response should be very carefully edited to ensure no grammatical or spelling errors – with increasingly high numbers of applicants for positions, employers will disregard an application immediately if errors such as spelling are present, no matter how good the content!
The STAR model will be covered in the career management topic in the course, and you can also find more information at the following websites (and many others):
https://jobaccess.gov.au/content/how-write-selection-criteria
https://www.bom.gov.au/careers/guide2SC.shtml (this provides good advice for how to address the criteria, and steps to take to assist with the STAR model)
References: Harvard’s style, not older than 5 years, must be peer review or academic journal (require 10-15).
Note: “Please read Assignment instruction and feedback sheet very careful” Thanks.