Preparing a Report on Employability for Graduates

Task Requirements

This assignment involves preparing a report to demonstrate an awareness of the knowledge, skills and experience required by a recent graduate to enter a chosen area of graduate employment. The report will be 1500 words and will be submitted in week 27.

This assignment has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your achievement of the following module learning outcomes:

LO 2 Define and contextualise employability for graduates in relation to their own career;
LO 3 Gather and analyse relevant career and labour market information

Prepare a report demonstrating an awareness of the knowledge, skills and experience required by a recent graduate to enter a chosen area of graduate employment. The research required to prepare the report will support you in your future career planning and decisions. This report will provide the basis of the information for your self-reflection and career action plan report

1. You are required to identity an area of graduate employment that you would consider for when you leave university. This could be EITHER a profession (for example marketing/Finance/Accounting/HR) OR an industry you are interested in (for example retail, sports & leisure, public sector, not-for-profit, travel and tourism.) Your research should be either in an area you aspire to work within or maybe an area that you want to understand more about.

2. Your research in your chosen profession/industry should include likely future trends in graduate recruitment, and should equip you with the knowledge to write a summary of the key skills, knowledge and experience expected from graduate applicants.

3. You are encouraged to use both primary and secondary research for this assignment. Primary research might include attending events run by the careers team, and/or events run by the professional bodies, or else through personal contacts. It might also include information from the guest lecturers for the module. You could consider talking to managers at work, if you have a part-time role, or else friends and family to enhance your understanding. Include in the appendix a log detailing who you contacted for primary research.

4. Having identified the profession/industry, you are then required to identify one current job being advertised that you would be interested in applying for in the future. This will form the basis of the second assignment. The advert should appear as an appendix, which you should refer to as necessary within your report. It is important that this is a graduate level job, and not one for an individual with many years’ experience.

The Task – What You Are Being Asked To Do

You are required to submit a written report of 1500 words. It is suggested that you use the headings shown in this briefing or you may use your own headings; what is important is that you clearly cover all areas outlined below.

Introduction : - Provide a brief paragraph outlining the aims of the report and what profession/industry your assignment will cover. As this is your reflection, this section can be in the 1st person.

Analysis and Application- This section of the report should be as a factual reflection of the findings from the profession/industry you have chosen to research. You need to consider both primary and secondary research for this section.

This section should be written in the 3rd person and should include the key information regarding this profession/industry in terms of:

1. General trends which will impact on your chosen profession/industry. What changes are happening in your chosen profession/industry which might impact on the jobs you apply for and the skills and knowledge you will need. Consider the impact of globalisation and technology for example. This section will be based on your secondary research but might also include comments or views from anyone you interview for your primary research.

2. The skills / knowledge and experience required – Using information from secondary research, relevant professional bodies, and relevant job advertisements, provide a summary based on your research of the key skills / knowledge and experience expected from an applicant at this stage in their career. Again, this might be supported by your primary research. You should aim for at least 5 personal skills and 2 areas of knowledge and expertise.

Evaluation - For this section you need to identify an appropriate vacancy from your chosen profession/industry. You should include the advertisement in full (not a website link ) in the appendices. Within the report, explain why this job role is of interest to you. How does it relates to your potential choice of industry/profession? Why do you prefer this job opportunity to others you considered? Is this a new/emerging job role within your profession/industry and therefore likely to be future proofed? This can be written in the 1st person.

You must reference all information used in the report, both primary and secondary, using the Harvard Referencing Guide. See attached grid for assessment criteria.

Please reference your work according to the Harvard style as defined in Cite Them Right Online (http://www.citethemrightonline.com). This information is also available in book form: Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2019) Cite them right: the essential reference guide. 11th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Copies are available via the university library.

The Report – What You Are Being Asked To Submit

How your work will be assessed

Your work will be assessed on the extent to which it demonstrates your achievement of the stated learning outcomes for this assignment (see above) and against other key criteria, as defined in the University’s institutional grading descriptors. If it is appropriate to the format of your assignment and your subject area, a proportion of your marks will also depend upon your use of academic referencing conventions.
This assignment will be marked according to the grading descriptors for Level 4

This assignment should be submitted electronically. Please use the relevant Turnitin submission point in the Submit your work area in your Blackboard module shell.

1. Please ensure that your work has been saved in an appropriate file format. Turnitin will only accept the following file types: Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint, PostScript, PDF, HTML, RTF, OpenOffice (ODT), Hangul (HWP), Google Docs, or plain text. Your file must also contain at least 20 words of text, consist of fewer than 400 pages and be less than 40MB in size.

2. You can submit your work as many times as you like before the submission date. If you do submit your work more than once, your earlier submission will be replaced by the most recent version.

3. Once you have submitted your work, you will receive a digital receipt as proof of submission, which will be sent to your forwarded e-mail address (provided you have set this up). Please keep this receipt for future reference, along with the original electronic copy of your assignment

4. You are reminded of the University’s regulations on academic misconduct, which can be viewed on the University website: https://bucks.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/9546/Academic-Misconduct-Policy.pdf. In submitting your assignment, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood these regulations

Submission date and time

This assignment should be submitted before 14:00 UK time on Friday 25th March 2022

Work that is submitted up to 10 working days beyond the submission date will be accepted as a late submission. Late submissions will be marked and the actual mark recorded, but will be capped at the pass mark (typically 40%), provided that the work is of a passing standard. Work submitted after this period will not be marked and will be treated as a non-submission.

Feedback and marks for this assignment will be available 3 weeks later Before you submit

Please use the checklist below to make sure you are ‘fit to submit’ your work

We recommend you use this checklist as soon as you get this assignment brief to help you plan your work
Fit to Submit: Assignment Checklist

This brief assignment checklist is designed to help you avoid some of the most common mistakes students make in their coursework.

Have You Read The Assignment Brief?

In it you will find details of the assessment task, word count, the assessment criteria your work is marked against, and the learning outcomes – the basis for the assessment strategy in each module.

Students often lose marks by forgetting some of the more straightforward elements of their assignments. We recommend that you “tick off” each of the points below as you prepare your work for submission. If you need any help, ask your tutor and / or visit https://bucks.ac.uk/students/academicadvice/assessment-and-examination

Have you read and understood the assessment criteria?

Have you met the learning outcomes? You will lose marks and your work may even be failed if you have not.

Have you demonstrated you can think and write critically in the completed work? This means you have supported your arguments/explanations appropriately e.g. using relevant academic sources and you have offered discussion points which extends your own or others’ viewpoints to make reasoned conclusions/judgements.

1. Have you maintained an academic tone throughout your work? Is your work formal, focused, developed and clear?

2. Have you checked that the referencing in your assignment is in line with your programme requirements?

3. Have you proof-read your work and used spellcheck software to check your spelling and grammar?

4. Have you checked the presentation of your work is as specified by your tutor, for example, are font size, colour, style, line spacing and margins as the tutor specified?

5. Have you kept to the word count (or equivalent)? If you are not sure, check with your tutor.

Assessment Grid for MG410 CW1 Career Research Report

		80-100 (A+) Pass	70-79 (A) Pass	60-69 (B) Pass	50-59 (C) Pass	40-49 (D) Pass	35-39 E – Marginal fail	0-34 (F) – Fail
Criteria	Weighting	Outstanding	Excellent	Very Good	Good	Satisfactory	Below required standard	Not successful
Knowledge and Understanding Primary research Secondary research	10 10	Exceptional use of primary research for this assignment (>4 primary research sources). This might include attending university events, networking, joining professional bodies, discussions with current employer. Evidence provided in log included in appendix. Exceptionally extensive range of secondary research citations which are suitable for use in HE and from a diverse base of sources.	Use of primary research was highly accomplished for this assignment (>4 primary research sources). This might include attending university events, networking, joining professional bodies, discussions with current employer. Evidence provided in log included in appendix. Extensive range of secondary research citations which are suitable for use in HE and from a diverse base of sources.	There was a sophisticated demonstration regarding the range of primary sources used for this assignment, (>3 primary research sources) as evidenced in the log included in the appendix. Wider secondary research shows a range of sources being used and applied, and are suitable for use in HE and from a diverse base of sources.	There was a sound demonstration regarding the range of primary sources used for this assignment, as evidenced in the log provided in the appendix Wider reading is largely limited to core texts but has clearly enhanced the work and not all are suitable for use in HE and or from a limited range of sources.	Sufficient demonstration of primary research conducted for this assignment Wider reading is relevant but largely limited to core texts and only partially integrated and not all are suitable for use in HE and/or from a limited range of sources.	Insufficient demonstration of primary research conducted for this assignment There is limited evidence of wider reading and / or wider reading lacks relevance.	There is little or no demonstration of primary research conducted for this assignment There is little or no evidence of wider reading
Application and practice	50	Both trends and skills are thoroughly researched in an exceptionally accomplished manner and presented, demonstrating understanding of the job market, the opportunities available, and the skills and knowledge required in an exceptionally accomplished manner.	Both trends and skills are thoroughly researched in a highly accomplished manner and presented, demonstrating highly accomplished levels of understanding of the job market, the opportunities available, and the skills and knowledge required.	Both trends and skills are well researched and presented in a capable and effective manner demonstrating a refined understanding of the job market the opportunities available, and the skills and knowledge required.	Some trends and skills are well researched and presented, to demonstrate a consistent and informed understanding of the job market, the opportunities available, and the skills and knowledge required.	Some trends and skills are researched and presented, to demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the job market, the opportunities available, and the skills and knowledge required	Trends and skills are researched and presented at an insufficient level, demonstrating an insufficient understanding of the job market, the opportunities available, and the skills and knowledge required	Limited or no ability of researching and presenting trends and skills, demonstrating limited or no understanding of the job market, the opportunities available, and the skills and knowledge required
Analysis and Criticality	20	Work demonstrates exceptionally accomplished development of analysis of the primary and secondary research. Development of conclusions (through evaluation of the job market and in particular, the specific job advertisement) are drawn in an exceptionally accomplished manner. Job ad is relevant and appropriate.	Work demonstrates highly accomplished development of analysis of the primary and secondary research. Draws highly accomplished development of conclusions (through evaluation of the job market and in particular, the specific job advertisement chosen). Job ad is relevant and appropriate.	Work demonstrates well-developed analysis to describe, synthesise and critique the primary and secondary research Conclusions drawn are well-developed and sophisticated (through evaluation of the job market and the specific job advertisement chosen) Job ad is relevant and appropriate.	Work demonstrates well-developed analysis to consistently describe, and comment upon the primary and secondary research Conclusions drawn are well-developed and sound (through evaluation of the job market and the specific job advertisement chosen) . Job advert chosen is not totally relevant for a graduate opportunity	Work demonstrates sufficient analysis to describe, and comment upon the primary and secondary research Conclusions drawn are sufficient (through evaluation of the job market and the specific job advertisement chosen) . Job advert chosen is inappropriate; either too senior or not relating to the chosen career path.	Work demonstrates an insufficient ability to analyse and some ability to describe, and comment upon the primary and secondary research Conclusions drawn are insufficient regarding the evaluation of the job market and the specific job advertisement chosen Job advert chosen is inappropriate; either too senior or not relating to the chosen career path.	Work demonstrates limited or no ability to analyse and little or no demonstration of an ability to describe, and comment upon the primary and secondary research Inappropriate or no conclusions drawn with gaps in work presented and limited or no ability to develop lines of argument. Job advert not chosen or is not appropriate to a graduate level role.
Transferable Skills (Assignment parameters) This should include evidence of: · Accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar · Completing all of the assignment tasks · Appropriate language use · Appropriate report writing conventions · Accurate Harvard referencing	10	Demonstrates an exceptional ability to communicate ideas and information accurately and reliably in written academic English	Demonstrates a highly accomplished ability to communicate ideas and information accurately and reliably in written academic English	Demonstrates a highly proficient ability to communicate ideas and information accurately and reliably in written academic English	Demonstrates a consistent and confident ability to communicate ideas and information accurately and reliably in written academic English	Demonstrates a sufficient ability to communicate ideas and information accurately and reliably in written academic English	Demonstrates an insufficient ability to communicate ideas and information accurately and reliably in written academic English	Demonstrates limited or no ability to communicate ideas and information accurately and reliably in written academic English