Why complete this assessment task?
This unit seeks to develop your self-awareness: your career values, interests and skills, describe what motivates you and what you are good at. You should consider these carefully when deciding on your career goals and applying for jobs, as by understanding yourself you are able to match yourself to fields, roles and organisations that will suit you. Self-awareness also helps you to identify skills that you may not yet have and then work towards developing them in order to become competitive for the job you want.
The reflection aspect of this task requires you to think more deeply about your individual situation and apply what you have learnt about the determinants of health to your situation. Reflection is a valuable skill and is critical within the health discipline; this is something you will master by the end of your degree.
This assessment task is the first part of the career development sequence which is embedded in each year of your degree. You should retain this assignment and add it to your career portfolio as you build on this ready for graduation. No matter where your career interests lie, this assessment will ensure you are considering your individual attributes.
There are 3 main parts to this assessment.
1: Complete the self-awareness audits
1.1 You need to complete the interests, values and skills audits. Please use the template we have provided to complete these audits. You can download this and simply fill in the boxes!
2: Identifying skills
2.1 Examine the Position Descriptions (PD) provided with the AT3 resources and use ONE that is most relevant to you; it may not be exactly what you want to do but it may be in a relevant field or organisation. Alternatively you may like to find your own PD and job of interest using the Opportunity Awareness section of the Career Decisions module and in Employment Opportunities in DeakinTALENT or go straight to a site such as Seek.
2.2.Identify the skills this job requires.
2.3 Select 4 of these skills and describe an experience or activity that you have done for each one that will enable you to demonstrate you have the skill. Make sure to clearly distinguish between discipline and non-discipline skills. Discipline (technical) skills are those related specifically to your area of study and are often technical or requiring particular knowledge relevant to the field. Non-discipline (transferable) skills do not depend on the area of study or a particular body of knowledge. They are often called soft skills and relate to your personal and interpersonal abilities. (200 words or 50 words for each skills).
Below are some examples taken from two position descriptions - Health Promotion Officer and Exercise Physiologist:
Orange = technical skills
Green = transferable skills.
3: Complete the action plan
Developing your self-awareness is the first step to finding the job and career that will meet your needs. The next step is to explore the job options and opportunities that are available to you after you complete your degree. You should look at these options broadly, that is, based on the skills you are developing you will be well placed to apply for a variety of roles in various settings. Refer to the Opportunity Awareness section of the Career Decisions resource to help you find fields and jobs of interest.
It is important that you develop an understanding of where you would like to go and how to get there. This will require you to identify the skills valued in the job and organisation of your choice. One way to gain insights into the skills you need is to examine some Position Descriptions. These will list the knowledge, skills and attributes you will have to demonstrate in order to be competitive.
The best way to demonstrate what you have to offer is to provide specific examples of what you have done that has developed the relevant skills.
The following tasks are designed to help you target the right skills and to plan the actions you should take to gain the best experience so you can demonstrate you have the skills.
3.1 Refer to the Position Description you chose and identify any gaps in your skills and experiences that mean you are not as competitive as you need to be to get this job.
3.2 Prepare an Action Plan (this could be in a table - see below and (template we have provided) that outlines how 4 skills from the Position Description - 2 technical and 2 non-technical (and referring specifically to work you have done in this unit as well as other studies to date) can be developed during the course of your degree; propose strategies for developing each of these skills and knowledge. These may include academic studies, selecting a relevant course major, work experience opportunities, volunteering, etc. Refer to the Career guru and "improving workplace skills" Be specific and provide details of where and when you will do these activities. As part of your entries, also research subjects offered in your Deakin degree and note down which subjects you might choose later in your degree to attain the skill.
You are not expected to write more than 75 words per entry, totalling about 300 words for the four skills.
4: Complete the reflection
This part will need to be written up as a report (500 words). You should have a cover page for this document and a reference list (see details on this below when academic writing and referencing are discussed, cover page and referencing not included in the word count).
Based on your audits and your action plan, complete the following questions:
- What? What are your results telling you? describe the results E.g. what interest group do you fall into? What are your career values, that is, the things you must get from a job to be satisfied, and your current skills? Describe your results.
- So what? What does it all mean, what have you learned about yourself that affects your choices of jobs and careers? Do you think the audits are accurate about you? Can you explain your results, why do you think they are like this? How has doing these audits helped you clarify fields, roles or organisations that appeal to you and will suit you best?
- Now what? What career would you like to pursue after completing your degree? What is the plan? (Your outline here should link to your action plan).
5: Complete reflection - applying the determinants of health
- Reflect on your current professional status (not health status) and why you might be in this situation based on the determinants of health theory you are now familiar with.
- Based on your comments above, reflect on your current status and consider the role that one determinant may have played getting you here. Refer to any determinant listed in any of the texts we have covered including the 'Understanding Health' textbook, The Canadian Facts or The Solid Factsor Beyond Bandaids.
- Your determinants should be from the categories social, environmental or biological. Do not refer to behavioural determinants as these are not a focus in this unit. Be sure to refer to the literature covered in class when you refer to the determinants. Be sure to clearly define your determinant.
For example: I believe my confidence stems from "social support" (World Health Organisation 2003). My family has always been a big support for mine and built my confidence over the years. This confidence supports my career path as I feel able to communicate effectively and feel positive about my skills and knowledge to sell myself when applying for job opportunities.
6: Check your assignment meets formatting and referencing requirements
Formatting requirements
Guidelines for presentation:
- MSWord document format (.docx). or pdf NO other format will be accepted.
- 1.5 line spacing, 2.5 cm margins
- Easy to read font size 11 or 12
- Your student ID number and name in the header.
- Page numbers consecutively in the footer
Your cover page must include:
- Your name and student number
- Unit name and code
- Lecturer's name
- The total word count (not including the in-text references or reference list)
- The reference style you have selected (Harvard or APA).