Employability Skills Assignment 2 Individual Written Report

Assignment 2: Individual written report (2,000 words)

This individual assessment is based on report-based skills required for your future ideal job.

You need to undertake detailed research for a job/sector you are interested in working in, and to identify two ‘soft’ skills that the role requires to investigate and analyse in more detail. It is recommended that you explore the skills we have covered within the module, e.g., communication, teamwork, negotiation, however, it has not been possible to cover all graduate skills, so you can focus on a skill not covered in the module, e.g., resilience.

It is written in a report format using titles, relevant headings, sub-sections, contents page and executive summary. You DO NOT need to include a separate introduction and conclusion as there should only be one in a report.

The two skills identified should be the ones you reported as being your weakest or are most frequently mentioned by employers. You need to provide evidence from the personal analysis that we have done so far in seminars to reinforce this point.

The report should include the following sections and with the marks portioned accordingly:

1. Critically discuss two soft skills essential for a graduate career/role you are interested in (40 marks, 700 words)

• You must include and apply academic and practitioner research (recommended 3rd person)

2. Reflect on your performance in these skills (30 marks, 700 words)

• Activities/quizzes taken in seminars will offer evidence, as will examples from uni work, part-time work and/or clubs and societies

Appendices (30 marks total)

You will need to include several Appendices to provide evidence of your analysis of your performance in your key soft skills. The appendices must include:

• A fully completed Traffic Light Skills Audit(5 marks, 100 words equivalent)
• Two completed comparisons of the Career Pulse assessment(5 marks, 100 words equivalent)
• Results of two quizzes/tests/self-assessments completed in seminars(10 marks, 150 words equivalent). Specifically related to the soft skills you are writing about, e.g., if you are discussing time management, the results of your performance on the time management in-tray exercise should be included.
• A Personal Development Plan (PDP) analysing how you plan to develop your employability skills over the next 12 months(10 marks, 150 words equivalent)

Using the self-assessment tools/quizzes, etc., provides evidence to allow you to critically reflect on your skills, but you can also include examples from previous experiences.

The objective of this assessment is not to say how excellent you are at all these skills, but to evaluate your skills and identify what you can do to improve.

Given the stage of your studies and career, it would be highly unlikely that you would be able to demonstrate ‘excellent’ performance in all graduate skills.