This short course is a professional development course that is designed to support all PG students in the University of Bedfordshire Business School to enhance their employability and develop a professional profile through their journey in the Masters. The specific aims are to:
1. Enhance students’ professional, personal development and communication skills.
2. To support students to evidence how their experience at masters level has contributed to the development of their professional profile as required after graduation.
3. To support students to develop the necessary academic skill required for successful completion of postgraduate research.

The unit is designed to run in the inter-block period between each taught block of study that makes up the initial 120 credits of the MSc/LLM course. It starts during the induction programme with students preparing initial personal development plans covering both professional and academic development goals. Students are then expected to reflect on their progress after each block of student and to update/modify their plans based on their experience and their future course/professional aspirations.
PAP 1: Be More Prepared (Welcome Week)
Professional Development Action Planning; overview of the connections between course and employability. Reflection on personal goals and aspirations and planning on how these can be achieved within both the course and engagement in wider opportunities within the Business School and university.
PAP 2: Be More Reflective (End of taught block 1)
Reflecting on progress of goals identified in welcome week based on experience of the learning environment and feedback in the first block. IN the light of this reflection modify goals and identify key actions for focus in the second block of study. Exploration of the final 60 credit unit options and how these align with future career goals to inform their final unit choice. Students will complete a survey to establish their initial research preferences and reflect on the outcomes.
PAP 3: Be More Decisive (End of taught block 2)
Students will make their final unit choice, demonstrate how this fits with their personal academic and career goals and begin to identify the key academic skills that are necessary for them to be successful in this choice. This will include an exploration of advanced information seeking skills. They will also complete surveys that allow them to reflect on their confidence, curiosity and study approaches, and reflect on these outcomes.
PAP4: Be More Research Focused (End of taught block 3)
The research process both in terms of identifying a good research question and the methods by which this may be answered are explored with students assessing their own strengths and weaknesses in relation to successfully completing a research project. At the end of this session students will be expected to identify their research topic, and start formulating their research question in preparation for their research in the final unit. They will make a series of provisional choices related to their research and reflect on those choices.
PAP 5: Be more prepared for successful research (End of taught block 4)
Planning their research methodology and process, in the context of the professional ambitions and trajectory of the student. This stage will include hands-on training in research techniques and initiatives the student’s thoughts towards life after graduation
PAP 6: Be More Ready for life after graduation
This stage is not part of the formal delivery of the unit but the students are advised to complete the process by submitting a last set for this unit at the
end of their course, where they can now reflect on how, through their level learning experience, they have developed both professionally and
academically, and have used the experience of this unit to shape their own engagement with the final M-level unit.