Personality self-assessment and career choice

When completing the self-assessment column in the corresponding personality test table, focus on explaining what your score in each trait or type mean according to the literature. Thus, you need to include references in the table, either within the table or as a note immediately below it.

Please bear in mind that your self-assessment should not be long, as you are not expected provide a comprehensive explanation of the theories here. As a suggestion, try to write no more than 80 words for each trait/type. If you want to add more information, do so in the Appendix.

? Holland’s test table

Although you are requested to provide your score in all vocational types, in the self-assessment column you are expected to discuss the three most salient types only. Again, as you need to refer to the literature to explain your scores, please include references, either within the table or as a note immediately below it.

? Commentary on person-job fit

At this stage, you should know a bit more about your personality (after completing the Big-5 or MBTI/Jung’s typology) as well as your most suitable types of job (after completing your profile on the website Prospects.ac.uk and the Holland’s test).

Next, you are requested to choose a real job position that fits with your personality and most suitable types of job. The real job position can be an internship/placement, a graduate scheme programme or other relevant professional positions that fit with your preferences, aspirations but also level of experience and skills. That is, the job position should be one that you could realistically apply for at the moment, as you will need to write a cover letter for it. If you have too much difficulty in finding a real and suitable job position, you may want to use a generic job position provided in the Prospects’ website. In all cases, you are requested to include in the Appendix a copy of the job position chosen.

Finally, you are expected to discuss your choice of job position referring to its fit with your personality and vocational profile. Does the Big-5 or MBTI/Jung’s typology test truly reflect you? Do you agree with the suggested suitable types of job resulting from the Holland’s test and the Prospects’ website profile? Elaborate on your answers to this question with examples from your own experience. Finally, elaborate on why and how the job position chosen fits with your personality and vocational preferences (e.g. does it explore/allow you to use your strengths?)
? Cover letter

This letter should refer to the job position chosen and be addressed towards the company’s HR services and/or any other relevant person that appears as the contact for the applications in the specific job position you will refer to. If you will write a cover letter for a generic type of job suggested in the Prospects’ website, please address the letter to the HR services of Prospects.

Although this letter should resemble a real cover letter in format, please eliminate your name or other personal details for preserving your anonymity during marking.

Examples of cover letter have been provided by your lecturer/tutor during class.

Note on words count: The total words count in this patch for both the ‘commentary on person-job fit’ and ‘cover letter’ is 1,000 words. Initially in the module guide, the word count expectation was of 500 words to each section, however, as most students feel unable to write 500 words in their ‘cover letter’, we allow you to write less in the ‘cover letter’ but request you to write more in the ‘commentary on person-job fit’ (please see the guidance for word count in the patchwork proforma).

Note on CV: You may want to use your CV for supporting your writing in this patch, but this is not mandatory. If you include your CV, please remove your name or other personal details for preserving your anonymity during marking.
Patch 2: Learning diary
1. Learning diary table

• What happens if you failed to attend the required seminars to complete the diary?

You will lose marks, unless your absence happened for a valid reason (e.g. illness, job commitment).

To recover part of your marks, you can include the following compensatory activities instead (unless your tutor has already recommended otherwise):

Required seminar and activities Compensatory
Week 3 – Seminar A on Approach to Management (2): Groupwork on a learning activity Talk about a learning activity carried out by another group which you really enjoyed. Identify the names of the group members, the topic and the week in which their activity was carried out.
Week 4 – Seminar B on Career Management (1): Exercise on the website prospects.ac.uk Write a review about an article of your choice that relates to career management (media or academic article). Please reference appropriately.
Week 6 – Seminar B on Learning (1): Class activity on learning from a Behaviourist approach Discuss any other activity which shows your learning from a Behaviourist approach.
Week 11 – Seminar A on Patchwork Assignment Workshop: Peer feedback Discuss any other seminar activity in which your learnt something from colleagues. Specify the activity and discuss your learning making clear reference to the importance of learning in a social context.
Week 11 – Seminar A on Patchwork Assignment Workshop: Tutor feedback Carry out and a self-assessment on your patchwork assignment, taking into consideration the marking criteria outlined in the module guide. Discuss your learning from this exercise.
• Sample of entries for the learning diary table

What was the activity? What have I learned? How will I apply this learning?
Week 1 Part B I found the material on generational differences interesting. In my part-time employment with Tesco in Ely there is a wide range of ages and to some extent I can recognise the general categories but they do not apply to everyone. For example, there is one member of staff who falls within the Baby Boomer Generation but his work ethic is very poor indeed – he is definitely not a workaholic. From this I have learned that people do not always fit within the stereotype. On the other hand my seminar group found it very easy to complete the Tolbize (2008) table for our Generation Y, so perhaps the categories do work for the majority, but not all. I will use the categories as a base for what I might expect from workers in that age group but I will continue to deal with people as I find them and be aware that there are exceptions.
Article review (Grant, 2014) Being an introvert myself, this article provided me with more self-awareness and confidence on my strengths in situations in which leadership is required. It was also interesting to find additional references that show scientific evidence about personality. As an introvert trying to make my way into managerial positions, I intend to concentrate on my strengths as an introvert, such as the ability to listen and support and validate others’ initiative.
Group presentation When preparing a presentation on structure & architecture, I learnt much more about the topic than I did during the lecture. I learnt from my own research but also from my colleagues, especially Jane, who is a first class student and doesn’t mind sharing what she knows with others. I will spend more time “doing” my own research when having to study for exams or preparing for coursework. For that, I will explore different strategies to manage my time and energy as I know how difficult is for me to concentrate.
Job interview During a job interview, I was asked whether I had questions about the job and the company in general, which I didn’t. I felt frustrated because only at that moment I realised my questions were somehow part of the interview and may have come across as low interest or lack of proactivity/initiative. I intend to get better prepared for interviews, not only researching about the company but also reviewing relevant interview tips in careers websites such as Prospects or Jobs.
Driving lesson After a few lessons I came to the realisation that I made fewer mistakes when I was in a bad mood. In other words, my concentration improved when I experienced negative emotions. In fact I can now see how this happened on other learning situations as well, such as when I had a pressing deadline at work. Whenever having to do exams or job interviews, I will not avoid experiencing negative emotions (e.g. stress); instead I will think of it as a strategy to keep myself focused.
Gym session I started a fitness programme with a new trainer, which I chose because he has the body I aimed at achieving and is known to be very motivational. Whenever I need an extra bit of motivation to change something in my routine, I will search for someone that can help me as a role model.

References:

Grant, A., 2014. 5 myths about introverts and extraverts at work. [The Huffington Post online]. Available at < http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-grant/5-myths-about-introverts_b_4814390.html> [Accessed 4 March 2014]

Tolbize, A., 2008. Generational differences in the workplace. [online]. University of Minesota: Research and Training Center on Community Living. Available at < http://rtc.umn.edu/docs/2_18_Gen_diff_workplace.pdf> [Accessed 4 March 2014]

• Further tips for the learning diary table

? 5 entries are free and can cover anything you would like to refer to when reflecting on how you learn; see examples on driving lesson and gym session.
? You don’t have to write extensively about what you learnt (when the learning involved academic knowledge, we don’t expect you to explain the theory you learnt about).
? You don’t have to include references to literature unless you decide to cite literature in your table, as you can see in the examples above. Even in entries in which you make some reference to academic knowledge (e.g. gym session entry), it may not be needed to include reference/citation.

2. Reflection on learning

Here you are expected to reflect on how you learn using learning theory and referring to the learning activities you described in the learning diary table. Thus, you need to show knowledge and application of learning theory. As this is a reflective exercise, we expect you to write mostly in first person. Below we propose some questions that may help you structure your reflection:
? Do you learn more from a cognitive or a behaviourist approach? How do better? What are the examples on your diary to support your arguments?
? What is your learning style? How the examples on your diary support your argument?
? How would you describe your learning curve at university?
Patch 3: Case study report

• Introduction

? Provide some background information on the company, with originality (don’t just copy generic information on the company’s website); this background information could be just focused on the topics you chose to analyse, for example.
? State the objectives of your report, introducing and justifying the topics you will analyse.
• Analysis

You are asked to analyse Valve on two topics to choose from the list below:

? Organisational structure and architecture
? Organisational culture
? Leadership and power
? Motivation
? Teamwork

The quality of your analysis will depend on the following:

? Evidence of knowledge of theory
? Evidence of application of theory
? Range of and reference to literature
? Range of and reference research on the company
? Written expression

• Conclusions

? Summarise the key points from your analysis.
? Explore the links between the two topics analysed.
? Discuss how the aspects analysed contribute to the effective people management and success of Valve.

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