PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Lecturer: Rose Marie Edwards

 PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT
 MODULE DESCRIPTION

 Provide students with an opportunity to explore their

skills, interests, values and motivation.

 Students will explore various careers and the relationship

between the labour market and career choices.

 Students will also be exposed to various strategies that

PERSONAL
will help them to balance their career and personal life.
DEVELOPMENT
 The module is designed to provide students with the
necessary knowledge to assist with their personal
development beyond college, and to afford them the
opportunity to start thinking and making decisions about
their career and future after graduation.
 MODULE LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this module students should be able to:
1. Assess their interests, skills and values
2. Recognize the relationship between self-assessment and
career choice
3. Understand how to set goals
4. Evaluate their goals in terms of their career objectives
PERSONAL 5. Understand the various theories and stages of career
DEVELOPMENT development
6. Develop a career plan outlining the steps required to achieve
a chosen career path
7. Understand the importance of networking strategies for
professional development
8. Demonstrate the skills required to create and format a
resume with accompanying cover letter
9. Know the behavioural expectations and other requirements
for the interview process
 MODULE LEARNING OUTCOMES
So far this module we have covered:
1. Assess their interests, skills and values
2. Recognize the relationship between self-assessment and
career choice
3. Understand how to set goals
4. Evaluate their goals in terms of their career objectives
PERSONAL 5. Understand the various theories and stages of career
DEVELOPMENT development
6. Develop a career plan outlining the steps required to achieve
a chosen career path
7. Understand the importance of networking strategies for
professional development
8. Demonstrate the skills required to create and format a
resume with accompanying cover letter
9. Know the behavioural expectations and other requirements
for the interview process
 Unit 5
Career Portfolio & Job Interview

PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT
 UNIT LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this unit, students should be
PERSONAL able to:
DEVELOPMENT
1. Complete a job application form

2. Demonstrate the appropriate behaviours for

the interview

3. Identify what is important to interviewers

Unit 5
Career Portfolio
& Job Interview
 Unit Content
PERSONAL • Completing the application form
DEVELOPMENT
• Interview process

• Preparing for the interview

• Interview protocol – do’s & don’ts

• Interview questions

Unit 5 • What interviewers look for

Career Portfolio
& Job Interview • Rating criteria during interview
 What is A Job Interview?
1. A job interview is a structured conversation facilitated
PERSONAL by a recruiter (individual or panel). The recruiter asks
DEVELOPMENT questions to get to know the interviewee’ s functional
and behvioural competencies, professional history and
qualifications

2. An interview is a formal meeting to gather information.

Both parties (and especially the interviewee) are to
remain behaviourally professional for the duration.

Unit 5 3. Overtures of friendliness are to be interpreted solely

as courtesy to help the interviewee to be comfortable/
Career Portfolio
reduce excessive nervousness and is not to be
& Job Interview interpreted as friendship or encouragement to become
too relaxed. It is always better to err on the side of
professionalism.
 Types of Job Interviews?
 Group Interviews – Multiple candidates interviewed
PERSONAL at the same time (Sometimes by panels of
DEVELOPMENT
interviewers and sometimes as part of assessment
centres)

 Panel Interviews – Facilitated by multiple

interviewers

 Video & Remote Interviews – Digitally hosted

interviews, perhaps as part a process, which requires
a face-to-face at some point. Very common
Unit 5
Career Portfolio nowadays.
& Job Interview
 Phone Interviews – Digitally hosted interviews,
perhaps as part a process, which requires a face-to-
face at some point. Very common nowadays.
 Types of Job Interviews?
 Behavioural Interviews – Testing for behavioural
PERSONAL competencies (usually asks you how you handled
DEVELOPMENT behavioural experiences in the past – “tell me about
a time when…”)

 Case/Scenario Interviews – A scenario is presented

to observe response (often used for Assessment
Centres – case studies, etc.)

 Stress Interviews – Stress inducing questions,

scenarios and environments are used to elicit a stress
response (e.g., How do you feel about the manager
Unit 5 who fired you…?). Can be blended with a Case
Career Portfolio Interview.
& Job Interview
 Competency Based Interviews – questions designed
to test your “soft skills” levels (e.g., teamwork,
communication, etc.)
 Completing the Application Form
1. READ ALL instructions CAREFULLY and follow the
PERSONAL recruiter’s instructions
DEVELOPMENT
2. Complete the form neatly and check for spelling,
grammar, syntax and accuracy
3. Send your application and resume to the right
person- research this if necessary
4. Be clear and concise and use strong verbs and
positive tones.
5. Convert your resume to pdf before emailing and
keep a plain-text copy of your resume for Web-
Unit 5 based submissions
Career Portfolio
& Job Interview 6. Always include a cover letter - Your cover letter
can be in the body of the email itself.
7. Alert References and get permission to provide
their contact details
 Completing the Application Form
PERSONAL Remember…
DEVELOPMENT 1. Recognise you are marketing your brand from the
start. Be professional…

2. Ask for help…

3. Use resources provided – internet, lectures,

coaching, advice, etc…

4. Do NOT “mix” business and pleasure…

Unit 5
Career Portfolio 5. Complete and retain multiple versions of your
& Job Interview Résumé…
 The Interview Process
PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT “Meet &
Introductions Greet”

Build Rapport Set the

stage

Question & Behavioural

Answer & Functional
Unit 5
Career Portfolio
& Job Interview Wrap-up

Clarify Next
Steps & Thanks
 Preparing for the Interview
PERSONAL
• Prepare – Mentally, emotionally, physically
DEVELOPMENT (department & comportment)
P

• Review – Research the company and types of

questions likely to be asked
R

• Evaluate –Your readiness based and your

E review and tweak accordingly

Unit 5
Career Portfolio • Perfect – Practice makes…improvement!
& Job Interview P
 Interview Protocol – Do’s & Don’ts
➢ Do’s – Practice appropriate etiquette
PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT
✓ Be on time

✓ Be courteous

✓ Be alert

✓ Be patient
Unit 5
Career Portfolio ✓ Be proactive
& Job Interview
✓ Be responsive and stay “in the
moment”
 Interview Protocol – Do’s & Don’ts

PERSONAL ➢ Don’ts – Do Not…

DEVELOPMENT ✓ Be late or distracted

✓ Be sulky or unapproachable

✓ Be dress inappropriately

✓ Be fidgeting, talking on the phone

Unit 5 ✓ Slouch - demonstrate poor body language

Career Portfolio
& Job Interview ✓ Ramble on…

✓ Speak negatively – especially about your

current employer
 Interview Questions
✓ Rapport Building Questions - “Did you have any problems
PERSONAL locating our offices Miss Brown”?
DEVELOPMENT
✓ Qualification Questions
o Credentials - “What year did you start college”?
o Experience - “What were some challenges you faced on
the XYZ project”?

✓ Hypothetical Questions - “What would you do…”?

✓ Opinion Questions - “What are your thoughts on the…”?

✓ Competency Questions
Unit 5 o Behavioural - “How do you handle challenging customer
Career Portfolio situations”?
& Job Interview o Functional - “What are the steps in troubleshooting
a…”?

✓ “Nonsense” Question - “If you could meet anyone on

earth, who would it be and why”?
 Interview Questions
PERSONAL ➢ Use a process to answer questions
DEVELOPMENT

S • Situation – What happened

T • Task – What was YOUR role?

Unit 5
A • Action – What actions did YOU take?

Career Portfolio
& Job Interview R • Result – What was the outcome

AlWAYS answer questions honestly!

 Interview Questions
❑ Interview Questions are Rated using a Standard Rubric
PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT

Unit 5
Career Portfolio
& Job Interview
 Interview Questions
❑ What Interviewers Look For…
PERSONAL ▪ Everything on your Résumé /CV and your answers to
DEVELOPMENT interview questions should target the potential
employer’s needs.

▪ Employers are looking for:

✓ The right qualifications
✓ The right experience
✓ The right values and attitudes – integrity,
commitment, flexibility, etc.
Unit 5
✓ Behavioural competencies
Career Portfolio
& Job Interview ✓ Functional competencies
✓ Teachable individuals
✓ Loyalty
Interview Questions - Rubric

In Class Exercise
 Career Portfolio
What is a Career Portfolio?
PERSONAL ✓ According to fairygodboss.com “A career portfolio is a
DEVELOPMENT collection of your work experience, achievements and
qualifications for a type of position or specific role. It goes
beyond your resume or cover letter to provide a
comprehensive view of your qualifications. While some
people create career portfolios for a specific application,
others have portfolios that can apply to several positions.”

✓ Career portfolios used to be most used by people

working in the creative arts, etc. – Models, artists,
performers, etc.
Unit 5
✓ Nowadays, professionals and persons from all career
Career Portfolio
paths are using career portfolios to demonstrate their
& Job Interview suitability for jobs.
 Career Portfolio
What goes into Your Career Portfolio?
PERSONAL ❑ Your philosophy of yourself and the field you hope to
DEVELOPMENT enter:
✓ Self profile
✓ Mission & Vison Statements, etc.
❑ Summary of:
✓ Personality, strengths, interests, values
✓ Skills inventory,
✓ Work samples
✓ Activities, achievements and awards
❑ Résumé /CV
❑ Cover Letter
Unit 5 ❑ References
Career Portfolio ❑ Certificates
& Job Interview ❑ Career Action Plan:
✓ your career goals
✓ where you hope to be 5 years after graduation;
steps
 Unit Content
In this unit we discussed:
PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT • Completing the application form

• Interview process

• Preparing for the interview

• Interview protocol – do’s & don’ts

• Interview questions
Unit 5 • What interviewers look for
Career Portfolio
& Job Interview • Rating criteria during interview
 Career Development
PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT

Unit 5
Career Portfolio
& Job Interview