module specification

This work-based module provides students with opportunities to develop and enhance skills for employment.  Emphasis will be placed on student’s individual learning and development; opportunities will be provided for students to engage in mentor sessions with tutors to discuss, appraise and plan their personal and professional development.  Students will also be provided with opportunities to apply employability skills through recruitment and selection activities.

This module aims to enable students to:
- Undertake a work-based placement
- Apply prior knowledge and relate specific knowledge and skills to real-life situations in a work environment
- Develop new capabilities and skills relating to employment
- Engage in personal and professional development planning
- Engage in recruitment processes

Some of the key areas include:
- Preparation for placement
- Self-development principles and practice
- Self-awareness and management
- Goal setting and personal development planning
- Trends in employment sectors and employers needs
- Approaches to employers and consideration of organisational cultures
- Selection methods
- Developing networks and resources
- Career development
- Critical reflection and analysis
- Reflective practice and writing
- Interview skills
- Mentoring and coaching

Placement / work-based learning forms a core element of this module.  Seminar sessions provide opportunities for students to discuss their practical experiences, helping them to constantly make links between their practical and their theoretical understanding, as they further develop their professional skills and knowledge.  Opportunities are provided for individual mentor sessions with tutors to discuss, appraise and plan student’s personal and professional development.

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Apply their prior learning in an appropriate work environment and relate specific knowledge and skills to real-life work situations (portfolio)
2. Undertake work based activities which develop new capabilities and skills (portfolio)
3. Reflect constructively on their professional learning and set targets for the future development of their knowledge and skills (portfolio)
4. Demonstrate employability skills in relation to employers’ needs and emerging employment trends (presentation) 
5. Apply employability skills through recruitment and selection activities (presentation)

Students will demonstrate that they have met the learning outcomes through:
1. A 10 minute ‘interview question’ presentation  [LO1 and 5]
2. The submission of a personal development portfolio (equivalent to 3000 words) [LO 2, 3 and 4]

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