SOCW 2097 Developing your Personal Brand Assignment Remit 2025-2026 | UCB

SOCW (2097) Developing your Personal Brand 2025/26 ASSIGNMENT REMIT

ASSIGNMENT TASK:

Please enter the assignment task(s) here. 

As an undergraduate it is essential that you develop your professional identity in readiness employment post graduation.

You are required to create a professional portfolio comprising of a series of tasks that will enable you to develop professionally and as a student. You will be creating a personal statement, professional CV, skills audit and a personal development plan. 

Please use the portfolio template provided which will provide you with further information on what is needed to complete the portfolio.

Within your portfolio, you must include: -

1. Personal Statement (400 words)
2. Industry sector analysis (500 words) 
3. Skills Audit     
4. Personal SWOT Analysis (400 words) 
5. Professional CV and LinkedIn Profile
6. Personal Development Plan             
7. Reflective Writing (450 words) 
8. Personal Development Plan

MARKING CRITERIA:

• Below are the marking criteria that align with both the task(s) set and the quality of your document.  Clear weightings/marks will be noted for each criterion.  
• The overall mark awarded for this assignment will explicitly show how the mark was calculated based on your performance against each criterion.
• Personal Statement 15 marks
• Industry sector analysis 15 marks  
• Skills Audit 10 marks
• Personal SWOT Analysis 15 marks  
• Professional CV and LinkedIn Profile 10 marks
• Personal Development Plan 10 marks 
• Reflective Writing 15 marks
• Personal Development Plan 10 marks 
• Academic Skills, structure of report, citations, and references 10 marks

TASK AND DOCUMENT FORMAT GUIDANCE:

• Focus on attention to detail, quality of work and overall academic standards.  
• Specific Guidance for this assignment (include guidance on each task and the format of the document):

For additional guidance on this assignment, please access the assignment vodcast available on Canvas.

Personal Statement (400 words)

• You will discuss your top attributes and strengths. 
• Explain the reason for choosing to study your subject at University College Birmingham 
• Explain the skills you have and why they are important. 
• Describe your career aspirations and motivations. 

This can be written in the first person. As this is a personal statement, references are not required. 

Industry Sector Analysis (500 words)

Part a) 

Identify a specific position/job role you would like to work as. This role will inform your entire assignment so make sure this is one you are interested in.

Part b) 

• Wite a 500-word industry analysis about the industry sector you intend to graduate into. This is to be written to academic standard and presented in the university’s specified standard.

Use the following questions to shape and inform your analysis. 

-What is the current size, structure, major trends and driving forces shaping the industry?
-Who are the ‘key players’ and what is the competitive landscape?
-What is the availability of jobs? 
-What roles are in demand in this sector?  What skills are needed? 
-What are the barriers for you entering this sector? 
-What are the opportunities for a professional working in this sector? Note, identify earning potential (Include latest wages/ salary information) and progression opportunities. 

This must be written in the third person and must include references. 

Skills Audit 

• Complete at least one skills assessment as directed by lecturer. 
• Complete the skills audit in the portfolio, rating the skills from 1 to 5. 
• Identify two additional skills, that are required for your chosen role and rate your confidence from 1 to 5. 
• Support your skills audit scores & judgements with examples/evidence.  Ensure examples are appropriately numbered and included within your appendices. 
• Provide a brief outline indicating why these skills are relevant to your chosen job role. Ensure you link these to academic references. 

This can be written in the first person, and you can cite references. Appendices are required.

Personal SWOT analysis (400 words)

• Using your research to date, conduct a personal SWOT Analysis using the provided SWOT TEMPLATE.
• Write a 400-word summary of your SWOT analysis, outlining your current suitability for your chosen role. Be sure to consider your key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

This can be written in the first person, and you can cite references. 

CV and LinkedIn Profile

• Create and upload a CV (Image/ screenshot). Your CV must include contact details, personal statement, education achievements, employment history and skills as a minimum.  
• Create and upload screenshot(s) to your LinkedIn profile showing: 
  oHomepage (Personal Image, background image, name and title)
  oAbout Section – Summary which is written to reflect the industry/sector you intend to work in (identified in Task 2) 
  oAt least 20 connections 

Personal Development Plan 

Using the information from the portfolio so far construct a SMART 12-month personal development plan. This plan should be linked to areas of development you highlighted in your SWOT Analysis and Skills audit. In particular, you should consider how you can:  

• Develop and/or enhance your key attributes, skills, and competencies
• Overcome/mitigate any weaknesses you have identified

You must research and provide examples/evidence of the resources you will need to access/use in order to achieve your goal. Ensure examples are appropriately numbered and included within your appendices. 

This can be written in the first person, but you must keep to academic standards and present in the university’s specified standard as much as possible.

Reflective Writing: Ethical Considerations (450 words) 

Using Driscoll’s model of reflection, critically reflect on the ethical considerations of using an AI tool of your choice (e.g., Microsoft Co-Pilot) to assess and improve your CV in relation to a relevant job advert/job description. 

You must use an AI tool that is freely available. 

Part 1 – AI must be used.

• Ask an AI tool to refer to the job description/job advert you have identified that is relevant to your career goals or area of study.
• Upload your CV to the AI tool for feedback on how well it matches the chosen job description. Ask AI to amend your CV and make suggestions for improvement. *Remember to remove your personal contact details before uploading your CV to AI. 
• Part 2 – AI must NOT be used.
   
  Review the AI-generated feedback carefully. Take notes on the suggestions, analysis, or gaps highlighted.
• Reflect a 450-word reflection on the ethical considerations of using an AI tool for this task, using Driscoll’s Model of Reflection.

This can be written in the first person, and you can cite references 

Academic Skills, structure of report, citations and references 

There will be a template provided which you must use. This will give instructions on how to complete supplementing frameworks and evidence within the portfolio. 

• Focus on attention to detail, quality of work and overall academic standards. 
• For additional guidance on this assignment, please access the assignment vodcast available on Canvas.
• Always fully reference your secondary sources.
• Minimum of 10 credible academic references. Please use UCB’s referencing style.
• Include in text citations and a final list of references.
• Fully utilise the portfolio template provided and all its sections such as the Appendices.
• AI usage to write your content is not permitted.
• Use UK English
• For additional guidance on this assignment, please access the assignment vodcast available on Canvas.

E-SUBMISSION GUIDANCE:

This assignment will require you to submit your work by uploading a document in Word or PDF format to Canvas. Please follow this online guide on document submissions and contact the DICE team at dice@ucb.ac.uk if you need any further support.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Learning Outcomes are what the student needs to demonstrate after completing a module. An assessment is a way in which students can demonstrate their achievement of these Learning Outcomes. Learning Outcomes are NOT the same as the assignment task.
• The Learning Outcomes assessed by this assignment are: 
• Appraise the range of suitable careers that achieve an effective person/job fit
• Demonstrate taking ownership of own learning and development
• Develop a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate improved personal effectiveness

ACADEMIC SKILLS OUTCOMES:

• The Academic Skills Outcomes to be developed by completing this assignment can be found here.
• For Apprenticeship programmes, identify the applicable Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours the assignment seeks to test.

GENERAL ASSIGNMENT GUIDANCE: