21856 Career and Portfolio Planning
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Subject level:
Postgraduate
Result type: Grade and marksThere are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
This subject enables students to critically reflect on the theoretical and conceptual learning developed during their postgraduate program and apply this to their career development planning and transition in the context of professional practice. It provides the summative theoretical and practical frameworks for students to integrate their credentialed and uncredentialed learning through the design and development of a detailed, cohesive career portfolio consisting of an annotated CV, career pitch and career plan. The emphasis is on the further development of the student’s professional identity and professional voice that positions them optimally for career choices in their sector.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| 1. | assess current capabilities and employability relevant to your course and career goals, integrating professional and personal learning outcomes derived from your previous experience |
|---|---|
| 2. | consider your current capabilities and how these might influence the design of a career portfolio, using appropriate, validating evidence |
| 3. | reflect on and effectively articulate action guiding principles as relates to your own career goals and chosen professional field |
| 4. | assess possible career paths and the knowledge, skills and experience required to achieve career goals |
| 5. | evaluate a range of career-building strategies and career support systems appropriate to career goals, including mentoring and coaching |
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
This subject enables you to critically reflect on the theoretical and conceptual learning developed during your postgraduate program and to apply this to your career development planning. This is achieved through a range of activities including the development of a comprehensive career portfolio and career pitch. Assessments and in-class activities based on theoretical and practical frameworks focus both on the students’ personal and professional development including professional identity formation and the development of agency to enact personal and social responsibility.
Overall, this subject contributes to the following graduate attributes:
- Intellectual rigour and innovative problem solving
- Communication and collaboration
- Social responsibility and cultural awareness
- Professional and technical competence
Teaching and learning strategies
You will learn through a combination of strategies and where appropriate, are expected to conduct your own research in order to complete set assessment tasks. You are encouraged to be active rather than passive learners. The subject is organised into five modules, each of which includes the following teaching and learning strategies built into the learning management system.
It is expected that students will complete the following to prepare for active participation in class activities:
- View introductory videos / prescribed readings and reflections
In-class activities include a combination of
- Lectures (including guest speakers)
- Large and small group discussion and practical exercises
- Student presentations (individual or group projects)
- Workshops on specific practical skills
- Role-play
- Immersive and experiential learning activities
- Surveys
- Group mentoring and coaching
After class, students will be expected to:
- Review the module learning
- Maintain a personal reflection on module topics
Students will receive feedback during the class-based activities that will provide guidance for self-directed learning activities.
Content (topics)
- Self- assessment including identifying values, career interests, strengths.
- Developing professional identity through critical reflection of professional and personal attributes, and the enactment of personal and social responsibility.
- Applying theoretical and conceptual learning developed during postgraduate program to career development planning and transition
- Use of theoretical and practical frameworks to integrate credentialed and uncredentialed learning into an annotated CV with validating evidence and life-career plan
- Development of professional voice through peer-coaching, video reflections and career pitch
- Career building strategies including role-play and immersive work-based experiences, developing career networks, coaching and mentoring
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Portfolio of Self (Individual)
| Objective(s): | This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1 and 2 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 40% |
| Length: | Requires a maximum word length of 1500 words |
| Criteria: |
|
Assessment task 2: Detailed career plan and pitch (Individual)
| Intent: | Part A: Career Development Plan (30%) Part B: Career Pitch (30%) |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This addresses subject learning objective(s): 2, 3, 4 and 5 |
| Weight: | 60% |
| Criteria: | Part A:
|
Minimum requirements
Students must achieve at least 50% of the subject’s total marks.
References
- Bailey, C., & Madden, A. (2016). What makes work meaningful-or meaningless? MIT Sloan management review, 57(4).
- Brewer, A. M. (2018). Career Communities and the Power of Networking. In Encountering, Experiencing and Shaping Careers: Thinking About Careers in the 21st Century (pp. 167-182). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
- Cavoulacos, A. (2017). The new rules of work: The modern playbook for navigating your career. New York: Crown Business.
- Coles, C. (2002). Developing professional judgment. Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 22(1), 3-10.
- Dik, B. J., Alayan, A. J., & Reed, K. A. (2019). Purpose, Meaning, and Career Pathways. In J. W. Hedge & G. W. Carter (Eds.), Career Pathways: From School to Retirement (pp. 191). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
- Goller, M., & Paloniemi, S. (2017). Agency at work, learning and professional development: An introduction. In Agency at Work (pp. 1-14). Springer, Cham.
- HBR. (2017, July 27). Build your portfolio career. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/podcast/2017/07/build-your-portfolio-career
- Heemstra, J. (2019). How to combat impostor syndrome. Office Hours. C&EN. Retrieved from https://cen.acs.org/magazine/all-issue.html
- Keeney, R. L. (1996). Thinking about values. In Value-focused thinking. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
- Konstant, M. (2018). What is an agile career? Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-career-agility-marti-konstant/
- Law, B. (1999). Career-learning space: new-DOTS thinking for careers education. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 27(1), 35-54.
- McDonald, K., & Hite, L. (2016). Career theory and concepts. In Career development: A human resource development perspective (pp. 15-35). New York: Routledge.
- Molinksy, A. (2017). Free yourself from what you “should” be doing. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/01/free-yourself-from-what-you-should-be-doing
- Todd, B. (2016). 80,000 Hours: Find a fulfilling career that does good. Oxford, UK: Centre for Effective Altruism.
- Trede, F. (2012). Role of work-integrated learning in developing professionalism and professional identity. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 13(3), 159.
- Trede, F., & McEwen, C. (2012). Developing a critical professional identity: Engaging self in practice. In Practice-based education (pp. 27-40): Brill Sense.
- Trede, F., & McEwen, C. (2016). Scoping the deliberate professional. In Educating the Deliberate Professional (pp. 3-14). Cham: Springer.