7BUS2136-0901-2025 Executive Career Development CW1b: Career Research Report Assessment Brief

Assessment Brief

Module Title:	Executive Career Development	Module Code:	7BUS2136-0901-2025
Assignment Format & Maximum Word count	CW1b: Career Research Report (Word Count for Report: 2000 +/- 10%)	Assignment weighting	40%
Coursework Submission:	Time: 23:59 Date: 3 November 2025 Method: Canvas	Coursework return Date returned to students:	1 December 2025
Assessment eligible for an extension on submission date (subject to UPRs)	YES	Retrievable Assessment	YES

7BUS2136-0901 Assessment Criteria

Learning Outcomes: Knowledge and Understanding assessed in this assignment:

Develop a deep and systematic understanding of the skills required to achieve and perform within a professional context, including the career pathways to achieve career goals.
Identify and evaluate gaps in knowledge, skills, and competence, linking to insights, regarding one’s
personal and professional development agenda, based on sound data and experience.

Learning Outcomes: Skills and Attributes assessed in this assignment:

Be able to synthesize the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for a management career in a chosen field.
Be able to work collaboratively and with initiative, developing interpersonal and professional skills of critical self-awareness and self-management, to explore and evaluate the relationships between theory and practice.
Be able to master effective, clear communication; networking, listening, oral and written communication.

Transformational Opportunities:

E.g. Use LinkedIn Learning to improve skills

Conduct research that will inform decisions about future career options using the UH Career Centre and other relevant job sites.
Practise using job search, professional and HE websites to identify appropriate opportunities.

Feedback /Marking criteria for this Assignment

Performance will be assessed using HBS Grading Criteria (Rubric).
Feedback for improvement will be given in writing via your Canvas module site within 4 weeks of submission.
Lateness Penalty: For each day or part day up to five days after the published deadline, coursework relating to modules submitted late will have the numeric grade reduced by 10 grade points until or unless the numeric grade reaches the minimum pass mark (UG 40/PG 50). Where the numeric grade awarded for the assessment is less than the minimum pass mark no lateness penalty will be applied. If the coursework is submitted more than 5 days after the published deadline, it will not be marked and a grade of zero will be awarded. Please note: Referred coursework submitted after the published deadline will be awarded a grade of zero (0).
Extensions: Students do not have an automatic right to an extension. If you require an extension, this must be requested in advance of the submission deadline. Please give your reason(s) for needing an extension. Not all Assessments are eligible for an extension. Please check above.
Retrievable Assessment: Students who fail a retrievable assignment have the opportunity to act on the feedback in a timely manner and to resubmit the same assignment within a specified deadline set by the Module Leader. Marks for resubmitted work will be capped at 40% for UG and 50% for PG. Students who resubmit work and go on to Fail the module will still be able to do the referred coursework (capped at 40% UG or 50% PG).

Detailed Brief for Individual / Team Assignment

Assignment Title: CW 1b Career Research Report

Description of the assignment, task, content, and structure:

CW 1b) An individual 2000-word professional report (± 10%), informed by individual career research using live job advertisements on your awareness of the job/position that you want to pursue after graduating with an MBA degree, and your readiness to step into or progress towards your future career in your relevant field.

Detailed Instructions:

CW 1b: An individual 2000-word professional report (± 10%), informed by individual career research, analysing the job/position that you want to pursue after graduating with an MBA degree, and your readiness to step into or progress towards your future career in this field.

Note: Where this brief refers to your chosen field, this relates to the MBA specialisation you have chosen. If you have chosen the General MBA route, you may want to focus more on a particular role than a field.

To complete this report, you will need to follow the outlined steps:

Use the Sector Specific Career Resources section on the module site for your particular field/pathway. You may also use the UH Career and Employment directory of job search sites to search for relevant jobs or resources local to where you expect to make your career. Please avoid using agency advertisements which do not include enough details of the person specification to help you analyse and evaluate your match to the job.
If you need help in identifying which job level or job role will be right for you, go to the Prospects website at www.prospects.ac.uk. Click on the ‘Jobs and work experience’ heading and then click on ‘Jobs profiles’ to explore the resources relevant to the field/pathway you want to be employed in. Identify the position in the field relevant to you and read the Prospects profile noting key information such as required qualifications. You may also find it useful to ask questions in the MBA masterclasses and the relevant lectures from the Careers and Employment service.
Identify two jobs with very clear essential and desirable requirements and bring these to discuss in your tutorial sessions in Weeks 2 to 4. Please do NOT use academic journal articles discussing job roles in general. You are being asked to look at (and reference) real current job advertisements and accompanying job descriptions and person specifications.

You should now be ready to start your career research report which should be in the following format of headings and approximate word length:

1)Introduction

This is a short introductory paragraph of approximately 200 – 300 words in which you should introduce yourself. Tell us who you are, where you are from, what your first degree is, and what working experience you already have. Then tell us what your MBA specialisation field is, why you chosen this field and what your longer-term career plan is (your ideal job as well as what industry you want to work in) and why. Close with telling us what job (graduate or otherwise) you want to apply for immediately after your graduation, and why you have decided on applying for this job.

Job analysis and readiness to enter the workplace

This section can only be written after you have searched on job websites for specific jobs you are interested in applying for. You should cover each of the two jobs by addressing the following

2)Title of job and employer

Give information about the job, such as the job title, where it is based, what type of employment it is and the salary offered (if given), as stated on the recruitment advertisement. Make sure you reference the job advertisement correctly.
Explain why you have chosen this job role and how it relates to your longer-term career aspirations and to the other job role you have identified.
In a table list the essential knowledge, experience, skills, and behaviours from the job advertisement that you must meet to be shortlisted for this job. Use the information from the job advert and/or person specification and/or job description to identify and discuss. (Do not describe the duties of these positions).
Repeat for the desirable requirements.
You can use a table format to discuss this. See example layout below.

3) Critical analysis and evaluation of readiness for this job

This is the most important section of your report, scoring the most marks. In this section you need to evaluate your readiness to apply for this job, by comparing whether you meet the essential knowledge, experience, skills, and behaviours to apply for this job. Make sure you provide an honest analysis and evaluation of whether you are ready to take up this role when you graduate with an MBA degree. You may also add whether you meet any of the desirable requirements, but make sure you address the essential requirements first. You should expect to write around 800 words in total in this section.

4)Repeat section 2) for your second job.

5)Repeat section 3) for your second job.

6)Conclusion

This paragraph should be a summary of what you have learnt from your research and how this will help you make decisions about your career. Tell us if this has made you realise that you have gaps to fill in knowledge, skills or experience before you can gain employment, or if this has helped you realise that you are well prepared and have everything you need to launch your career. This should be around 100 words in total.

7)References: (Use the Harvard referencing style on Cite them Right Online)

Make sure that you reference the website(s) where you have found your two job advertisements.

Example for citing/referencing web pages with organisations as authors (Harvard):

In-text citation:

I have identified two particular roles that interest me, the first is a Project Officer with the University of Manchester in the Science and Engineering Faculty (University of Manchester, 2024) and …

Reference list:

University of Manchester (2025). Project Officer. Available at: https://www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetail?JobId=29495 (Accessed: 2 October 2025)
8)Appendix – Please paste a copy of each job advertisement as an Appendix using the Windows Snipping Tool or a print screen copy. IMPORTANT: Please make sure that the requirements for each job (essential and desirable) are clearly visible.

Use of Generative AI

Your Module Leader will indicate which category applies.

Category 1 – Authorised use of AI

You are permitted to use genAI tools to create content for your work and to proofread your work. Alternatively, you may use a proofreader or non-genAI proofreading service.

Category 2 – Proofreading only permitted

You are permitted to use genAI tools (or a proofreader or proofreading service) to proofread your work, but you are not permitted to use AI tools to create content. This applies even if the assessment includes marks for English and grammar.

Category 3 – AI use not permitted

You are not permitted to use genAI tools for content creation or proofreading. This category applies where all or most marks are awarded for language proficiency (including spelling, punctuation, and grammar).

Students must comply with the category selected for this assessment. Improper or undeclared use of AI tools may be considered academic misconduct. For further guidance, please visit: https://ask.herts.ac.uk/ai-tools

7BUS2136-0901 HBS Grading Criteria

The HBS Grading Criteria (rubric – see below) will evidence how marks are awarded for individual parts of the assignment.