ICM404: Career Success in the Future World of Work

Module code: ICM404

Module provider: ICMA Centre; Henley Business School

Credits: 20

Level: Postgraduate Masters

When you'll be taught: Semester 1 / 2

Module convenor: Professor George Alexandridis, email: g.alexandridis@icmacentre.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s): Module available only to MSc Finance, MSc Investment Management and MSc Management students (Open)

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 28 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module is designed to help you achieve your career aspirations by realising your full potential and building employability skills for the future of work. The module is designed by the careers and professional development team and Henley academics with input from the Henley World of Work Institute and is broadly divided in two core pillars.  

The first pillar will take you through a discovery process focused on building a comprehensive career strategy. This process is based: i) understanding yourself and your strengths through behavioural strengths assessment, ii) mapping the job market, the key career paths in your field and ingredients of career success, ii) mastering job roles and building employer maps and iv) building effective self-selling and networking strategies.  

The second pillar is aimed at helping you hone key employability skills, focused on effective communication. You will appreciate the power of language and become a more confident speaker and presenter, mastering narrative building, and applying this in the context of a simulated job interview. 

As part of the module you will be exposed to the theories and evidence on most recent career development and apply these to develop a critical view of your own skills, to the job market and to where your skills and the job market opportunities intersect. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

• Gain an in-depth understanding of your personality and strengths and how to utilise them towards your career success. 
• Articulate the different career paths and job markets in your area of interest, build a comprehensive target employers’ map, structure your job search and networking effectively and build a reflective early career strategy.  
• Demonstrate fluent communication, presentation and narrative building skills and practice confident speaking in public. 
• Apply models and theories supporting career and personal development. 

Module content

Part 1: Developing an effective career strategy 

• Taking control of you your career development and building confidence 
• Enhance your productivity through effective time management 
• Understanding yourself: strengths assessment, reflection and actions 
• A deeper discovery of the job market and key career paths in your field  
• Define what career success means for you based on your paths of interest: the importance of skills and personality  
• Building your target employers map 
• Understanding and searching for job roles 
• Building a self-selling strategy: the art of personal branding and self-promotion 
• Networking with impact on social media and events 

Part 2: Developing your skills for the future of work 

• Introduction to employability skills for the future of work: how businesses hire and retain 
• Effective communication: understand the power of language. 
• Confident speaking: overcome your fears. 
• Mastering narrative building and storytelling. 
• Presenting with confidence, passion and purpose. 
• Building a narrative for a job interview.  

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module is delivered via a combination of Masterclasses, break-out workshops and guest speaker events. 

Study hours

At least 30 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

50% weighted average mark 

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Group work feedback on seminars 

1-1 Coaching sessions with careers team  

Reassessment

Additional costs