Global Career Management - Theory and Practice
| Module title | Global Career Management - Theory and Practice |
|---|---|
| Module code | BEMM170 |
| Academic year | 2025/6 |
| Credits | 15 |
| Module staff | Dr Mihaela Bishop (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 8 | 8 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 65 |
|---|
Module description
The Global Career Management module is designed completely around you and your career. This innovative module will enable you to develop the research, critical and reflective thinking skills associated with rigorous academic endeavour and apply them to the management of your own personal project - your career.
This module augments the academic and applied knowledge you will gain throughout your academic studies on your master's programme and will enable you to successfully apply that learning using SMART goal setting towards your chosen career path.
You will learn about career management frameworks, global career resources and become a reflective thinker. This module is designed to start early in the programme with an immersive careers camp during induction week, to ensure you focus early on your career goals, putting a plan in place to make the most of your master’s experience at the University of Exeter. The module will be delivered across term 1 and term 2 through a combination of lectures, small group workshops, individual research, group discussion, and one-to-one coaching sessions.
The entire module is focused on improving your employability skills, ensuring you are well-prepared to identify, apply for and secure the employment of your choosing. On this module, you will engage with potential employers, alumni and other industry experts, building your commercial awareness and gaining insights.
Additional Information:
Internationalisation – This module looks at career opportunities from around the globe. The students will gain access to a variety of case studies of professionals and organisations whose approach to career management is truly global.
External Engagement – The module is designed to facilitate students engaging externally with potential employers and providers of internships. In addition, various components of the programme are facilitated by external experts in team building, leadership and career coaching.
Employability – This entire module is designed to improve students’ employability skills and opportunities. By the end of the module students will be far better equipped to secure the employment of their choosing.
Ethics and Corporate Responsibility – The module will introduce issues around ethics and corporate responsibility with regards to job search and the types of employers you may wish to consider making applications to in the course of your future careers.
Research in Teaching – This module introduces the notion of reflective learning across the entire Master's programme. You will be encouraged to reflect on the key learning and employability skills you will have developed as a result of completing the MSc Management programme.
Module aims - intentions of the module
The aim of this module is to help you develop your own individual career plan in different global contexts, through learning about career management structures, personal development, decision-making and reflective practice. Through the module, you will have access to trained career coaching professionals, , and be able to avail of valuable one-to-one coaching to help you explore your own strengths, preferences and values, identifying competencies and areas for improvement in relation to your career aspirations and the role you wish to play in society. By the end of the module, you will have a better understanding of yourself and some concrete personal development and career management tools which you can then apply to future job search and selection tasks.
You will work independently, but at times collaboratively to create a personal career development portfolio , including a career plan, CV and LinkedIn and associated documents, representing your value to potential employers.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Understand and articulate verbally and in writing, your personal competencies and attributes (skills, abilities, knowledge, career motivations), and the value these offer to a potential employer
- 2. Analyse and understand your selection of career options, with specific reference to the processes involved in successfully identifying and applying for postgraduate employment in different global contexts
- 3. Develop and enhance techniques for gathering evidence to support self-promotion during job applications and interviews
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 4. Demonstrate clear, critical and analytical reasoning to support the development of your learning portfolio, careers resource, career plan and associated documents
- 5. Use reflective practice to explore, identify, evaluate and critique your learning about yourself, your past work and voluntary experience and the impact they may have on your career development and progression
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 6. Work independently, organising and maintaining your own programme of study to meet employer/recruiter and academic deadlines
- 7. Apply research skills to practical career-related issues and work application
- 8. Understand and use reflective practice to explore and identify learning needs for own future development
Syllabus plan
The module will start with an immersive Careers Camp during induction week. Teaching will continue through term 1 and term 2. The module is designed to be adapted frequently to reflect the ever-changing nature of the recruitment landscape. Indicative content of the module includes:
-
Career management frameworks, taking stock and setting SMART goals.
-
Strengths Profiling – identifying your realised and unrealised strengths, learned behaviours and weaknesses in order to develop your future potential.
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Personality Profiling – understanding who you are and its impact on your career choices.
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Research techniques for identifying appropriate career opportunities.
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Networking effectively in person and online (LinkedIn).
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Self-reflection as part of your professional development.
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Embracing difference - Working in a diverse global workplace.
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Action planning & decision-making to achieve your goals.
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Job search and application strategies based on targeted research, CV and cover letter writing. preparation for psychometric testing, interviews, and assessment centres.
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Gaining insights and building resilience through empowering alumni speakers.
Throughout your MSc Management year, you will be able to avail of one-to-one coaching sessions with your dedicated Careers Coach and Programme Director to help you navigate the recruitment process and develop personal career clarity.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | 13 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning & teaching activities | 20 | whole cohort lectures small group workshops 12 hrs of contact across the Career Camp in week 0 One-to-one sessions available from module lead and/or careers coach |
| Guided independent study | 130 | Research using industry sources and tools including LinkedIn, psychometric testing and sector specific platforms to inform analysis of their chosen career plan. Academic reading into the theory of career management models. |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal career plan | Approx 2-3 pages draft career development plan | 1-14 | Feedback given in seminar session |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career management portfolio | 100 | 3,500 words | 1-14 | Written |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Career management portfolio | Career management portfolio (100%) 3,500 words | 1-14 | Relevant re-assessment period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you have been deferred for any assessment you will be expected to submit the relevant assessment. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be expected to submit the relevant assessment. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 50%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
- Moon, J. (2004) A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning: Theory and Practice. London, Routledge Falmer.
- Bridges W (2004) Transitions: making sense of life’s changes 2 nd edition, Da Capo Press Life Long
- Clark, T, Osterwalder, A & Pigneur, Y (2012) Business Model YOU: A One-Page Method for Reinventing Your Career. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken New Jersey
- Gladwell, M. (2009) Outliers: The Story of Success
- Ibarra H (2004) Working Identity – unconventional strategies for reinventing your career, Harvard Business Press Covey S R (2004) The 8th Habit from effectiveness to greatness, Simon and Schuster
- Lees, John (2015) How to Get a Job You Love. McGraw Hill Education. London
- Levitt S D and Dubner S J (2014) Think Like a Freak – how to think smarter about almost everything! Allen Lane Peters S (2012) The Chimp Paradox – the mind management programme for confidence, success and happiness, Random House Group
- McKeown M (2012) The Strategy Book, Pearson
- Papadopoulos L (2014) Whose life is it anyway? – living through your twenties on your own terms, Piatkus, Little Brown
- Pedlar M, Burgoyne J, Boydell T ( 2007) A Manager’s Guide to Self-development (fifth edition) McGraw Hill Pedlar M, Burgoyne J, Boydell T ( 2004) A Manager’s Guide to Leadership, Mc Graw Hall
- Ryle B ( 2008) Ground of your own choosing – winning strategies for finding and creating work, Shank Painter Publishing, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
- Schon, D. (1994) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Ashgate Publishing Limited; New edition
- Williams K, Woolliams M and Spiro J (2012) Reflective Writing Pocket Study Skills. Palgrave Macmillan
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
- http://www.highfliers.co.uk/ High Fliers annual survey results of research into the graduate recruitment market
- https://mycareerzone.exeter.ac.uk
- Handshake
- Several resources from the University Careers Zone on interview techniques, designing CVs and completing applications
- http://www.prospects.ac.uk Information on career roles, sectors, employers and an online assessment to identify your career options
- http://www.windmillsonline.co.uk/interactive/main_sections.html - a resource for gaining a holistic view of your career & life aspirations
- ELE – College to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages
| Credit value | 15 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 7.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | Module is only available to students on the MSc Management programme |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 7 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 10/08/2015 |
| Last revision date | 03/02/2025 |
