Students

MQBS2010 – Enhancing Employability Skills

2024 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Lecturer
Jennifer Ruskin
jennifer.ruskin@mq.edu.au
636, 4 Eastern Rd
Monday 1:30-2:30pm
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to BCom or BBus or BComBEd(Sec) and 50cp at 1000 level or above
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit provides opportunities to develop your professional identity and map next steps in your career. You will reflect on what you have learned so far about the practice of your discipline(s). Based on (1) your own preliminary career planning, (2) self-assessment of your values, attributes and skills and (3) an understanding of valuable skills in the future of work, you will identify, explore and practice skills, such as self-awareness, communication and having an inclusive mindset, to enhance your employability.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Self-assess values, skills and attributes relevant to career planning.
  • ULO2: Develop communication, relationship management and leadership skills in a team environment.
  • ULO3: Critique opportunities associated with an inclusive mindset and global citizenship.

General Assessment Information

The task descriptions listed here are summaries. To complete the assessments, you will need to review the full instructions on iLearn.

Late Assessment Submission Penalty (written assessments)  

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern.   

For any late submissions of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration. 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Unit participation 30% No Part 1: week 3; Part 2: weekly submissions weeks 1-13
Job application portfolio 40% No Week 7
Professional Project 30% No Week 12

Unit participation

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Part 1: week 3; Part 2: weekly submissions weeks 1-13
Weighting: 30%

 

Participation and engagement online, in lectures and in workshops is compulsory and critical to support learning and employability development. Marks are based on engagement in activities, outputs and reflections.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Self-assess values, skills and attributes relevant to career planning.
  • Develop communication, relationship management and leadership skills in a team environment.
  • Critique opportunities associated with an inclusive mindset and global citizenship.

Job application portfolio

Assessment Type 1: Portfolio
Indicative Time on Task 2: 35 hours
Due: Week 7
Weighting: 40%

 

Reflecting on discipline knowledge and other relevant experience, students will develop materials to include in a job application portfolio.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Self-assess values, skills and attributes relevant to career planning.
  • Develop communication, relationship management and leadership skills in a team environment.

Professional Project

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: Week 12
Weighting: 30%

 

Student teams complete a project or simulation with industry engagement to provide background and context for activities. Student teams reflect on their learning to generate an output.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Self-assess values, skills and attributes relevant to career planning.
  • Develop communication, relationship management and leadership skills in a team environment.
  • Critique opportunities associated with an inclusive mindset and global citizenship.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Interactive lectures and workshops

Each week, your learning will begin with a 1-hour interactive lecture introducing the week's topic. This will be followed by your weekly 2-hour workshop, in which you'll engage in practical activities to apply what you learned in the lecture. Learning in this unit depends on active engagement in the classroom. You are expected to participate in every lecture and workshop unless you have a serious and unavoidable disruption to studies.

Class participation and marks

Not attending and participating will have a negative impact on all assessment marks. You must be present, engaged and submit to the weekly forum at the end of the workshop to qualify for participation marks. Further, you'll develop elements of the job application portfolio and professional project during class.

 

Unit Schedule

WEEK TOPIC TASK
1 Introduction  
2 Future of work  
3 How to shine in an assessment centre Participation part 1 due
4 Achieving your goals  
5 Showcasing your personal brand  
6 Networking event and interview with confidence   
7 Building your professional network Job application portfolio due
8 Value of diversity in teams  
   -- MID-SESSION BREAK --  
9 Work simulation part 1  
10 Work simulation part 2  
11 Work simulation part 3  
12 Developing awareness of global citizenship Professional project due
13 Communicating for success Participation part 2 due

 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2024.05 of the Handbook