School of Management
AF1407 Personal Portfolio Assignment
2018-2019
 
 
Assignment 2
 
Applicable learning outcomes:
 

• describe and summarise academic and professional literature, including an explanation of the relevance to the accounting and finance professional;
• reflect on skills and abilities relevant to applying for, or working as, an accounting or finance professional;
• identify gaps in personal skills and abilities, or gaps in examples given, and develop plans to address those gaps; and
• communicate with an academic or business audience in a clear and effective manner

Weight:	70%
Word Count:	1,500 words. All words count except the title, the bibliography, evidences and any appendices.

 
There are 6 pages in this document. Please make sure that you have read everything on the 6 pages before you begin your assignment.
Rationale for the assignment
The objective of this assignment is for you to reflect on how the AF1407 course has assisted you in planning and preparing for your future career as an accounting/finance or other professional.  The portfolio assignment is a collection of evidence and a reflection on this collection using the knowledge you have gained from this taking this course.  You are advised to use well-referenced figures and tables, and appropriate formatting, to enhance your delivery.
The assignment seeks to test how you link what you learn to practice, your ability to plan and make the best use of resources available to you at University and elsewhere, your ability to read, understand and interpret a range of academic, professional accounting finance/business literature and news and effectively demonstrate these in a well written and systematically structured reflective essay.
What is a reflective portfolio assignment?
Please read the material at the following link to get a full idea of what a reflective portfolio is:

• https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/libraryservices/library/skills/asc/documents/public/Short-Guide-Reflective-Writing.pdf

 
Assignment Question:
Using the knowledge you have gained from this course and the evidences you have collected (see below), outline your academic and 4-year career development plan, what has influenced this career choice and the theories and critical aspects of employability that have influenced your planning and discuss the steps you have taken so far toward achieving these goals.  Your assignment must have an introduction, body and conclusion.
 
How should you approach the assignment?
In order to complete your assignment, you should consider and reflect on the following:

• What are my goals for the next 4 years?
  • Career/post university goals
• Which skills do I required for my goals to be achieved (think about the 4 skills groups required for an accounting and finance professional: technical skills, business skills, people skills and leadership skills)?
  • What are my skills gaps?
  • What steps have I taken so far towards developing these skills?
  • Which steps must I take going forward in order to garner these skills
  • How can CeDAS, the library and other departments at RHUL help you with developing these skills?
• Which career and critical employability theories should I consider when planning my goals and how to achieve them?
  • How do your values influence your plans?
  • What is your learning style and how has your identification of your learning style affected how your study?
  • Which kinds of corporate cultures will suit you given your values?
  • How does the ICAEW chart on the drivers of the accounting and finance professional influence your goal planning? (Lecture 2, slide 12)
  • What is your learning metaphor (Lecture 2, slide 19)
  • Krumboltz's Planned Happenstance theory, trait-and-factor career theory etc. (to be covered in lecture 10)
  • How do projections on the expectations for accounting and finance professionals in the near future (example Lecture 2, slides 13 & 14) affect your goal setting?
• Academic priorities
  • What are your academic priorities for the next 3-4 years?
  • Which skills do you hope to develop from your academic work?
  • How do you plan to make the most of your academic experience?
• Which extra-curricular/summer job/internship/graduate job preparation actions have you taken so far?
  • Which RHUL careers or CIMA/ICAEW/professional accounting and finance events have you attended?
  • Which RHUL careers or CIMA/ICAEW/professional accounting and finance events do you plan to attend?
  • Which RHUL passport points have you collected and which extras do you plan to collect?
  • What are your extra-curricular activities and which skills would you develop through these activities?

How many references/sources should I use for my 1500 word assignment?
There is no limit on the number of references required for this assignment. You are free to use as many sources as necessary to get your points across.  You are however advised to ensure that you have used at least three academic journal articles and as many other articles, blogs or professional/careers websites as references. Please DO NOT use unprofessional websites to support your work.
In addition to the academic and trade journals referred to, you should include an Appendix that lists and numbers each piece of your evidence.  You should refer to your evidence in your 1500 word assignment by number e.g. Item 1. 
 
Evidence List
For the purpose of this assignment you have to collect evidence. The evidence will NOT be included in the word count. You must provide evidence of how you have developed your career plan over the course of the module. At a minimum, your sources of evidence should include the following:

	Evidence (can submit in black and white, rather than colour if desired)
	Completed values grid (from workshop 1)
	Evidence of completion of the RHUL Passport challenge dubbed “Make the most of the careers fair: the 2018 commercial awareness challenge”.
	Evidence of completion of two additional RHUL Passport challenges of your choice, e.g. Microsoft Word challenge, Bloomberg market concept challenge etc.
	A short description of your learning metaphor (refer to lecture 2 slides)
	Evidence of feedback from your video interview practice session available from RHUL Careers (please make sure you replace your name with your candidate number)
	A copy of your CV highlighting the changes you have made after taking this module and seeking advice from RHUL careers (highlight in bold what has changed on your CV) (please make sure you replace your name with your candidate number)
	A cover letter to an accounting or finance internship or graduate role in any industry and country of your choice. Alternatively, you may refer to the British Airways job advert from Workshop 2 and write a cover letter for that role.  If you do not use the British Airways job then please include the job advertisement to which your cover letter relates. (See       https://moodle.royalholloway.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3259&section=10 for tips on how to write your cover letter. You may also seek advice from RHUL careers on how to write a cover letter)
	Evidence of a personal profile on LinkedIn or other career oriented social media platform. If you are engaged in any forums on LinkedIn, please provide evidence (a photo of your LINKEDIN page will do).
	Using the STAR technique, prepare a one-page document to answer the following questions:   Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership. Give me an example about a time when you worked in a team to achieve a common goal. Describe an instance when you have had to work under pressure in order to meet a deadline.
	Evidence that you have engaged with at least one on-campus career event during the term.
	Evidence of completion of one of each of the following Psychometric tests (print out test scores and completion reports): Situational judgement Critical thinking Logical reasoning Personality test E-tray exercise See these link for sources to the assessments: https://moodle.royalholloway.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3259&section=10 https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/students/study/academic-skills/cedas/maths-statistics-and-numeracy/maths-stats-and-numeracy.aspx Please note that the diagnostic test for verbal reasoning and numeracy do not count for this section
	Evidence of completion of all AF1407 Moodle videos and tests at appropriate pass rate (print out of test scores).
	Any other evidence you have to support your academic and career plans – these could be from work, volunteering and or being a student member of a professional body.

 
Submission of your assignment:
You are required to submit your assignment via two media:
 

1. Submit a folder with your 1500 word written piece, appendices, references and evidence to the UG Management office. Please use your candidate number only and not your name on your documents.  You can blank out (colour over) any part of your evidence showing your name).
2. You are also to submit ONLY your written piece (without evidence) on Turnitin via Moodle so that your work can be checked for plagiarism and marked.  Your written piece should have attached the reference list and any appendices (although these are not included in the 1500 word count),

 
Please follow instructions from the UG team on how to name your assignment.