Part A – academic essay (1500 words) 40% of overall mark
Self-awareness is the key to career success. Using a range of relevant literature (both academic
and professional sources), choose 2-3 of the core topics we have studied on this module and
explore and critically evaluate why it is important for you to develop in these areas for your own
successful career development.
You must include the following in your essay:
 A definition of self-awareness and an explanation of why it is important to the development
of your leadership and/or management capability.

Assessment Brief – Newcastle Business School

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 Identify 2-3 of the core module topics from the following: giving and receiving feedback,
values, learning to work in a team, emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, personality,
motivating self and others, leadership and management, and explain their importance to the
development of self-awareness.
 Provide an overview of the context of your target job/profession/industry/sector with a
focus on why you need to develop in the topics you have selected in order to succeed in
this chosen sphere of work.
 A conclusion of your own attitudes towards self-awareness and how they might help or
hinder your career development and success.
Part B – Establishing the Possessional and the Positional: A self-analysis (1500 words)
40% of overall mark
Drawing on the results of toolkits and/or psychometric texts you have completed during the course
of this module, including those related to your topics of exploration in Part A , conduct a self-
analysis identifying your strengths and weaknesses across the range of interpersonal and
intrapersonal skills relevant to your target profession/industry/sector
Firstly you must:
 Use the template provided – please download this from the Assessment Folder on the BB
site – provide a summary of your strengths and weaknesses
 This summary must be supported with evidence from the toolkits and other psychometric
test results provided to you, or that you have identified from previous work or assessment
centre experience, or researched online.
NB. The contents of this table are not included in the word count for your submission
Your template answers the question – what skills, attributes and characteristics do I possess?
Secondly, you must:
 Include a reflective statement in which you critically evaluate your strengths and
weaknesses and reflect on any patterns of behaviour that relate to the topics you have
discussed in Part A.
 Consider what are the implications of your current skills, attributes and characteristics in
relation to your target job/profession/industry/sector, ie. how ‘ready’ are you to enter into
the career of your choice?
NB. You should draw on appropriate academic literature to underpin your reflections and this
statement is included in the overall word count for your submission
This reflective statement establishes your ‘position’
Part C – What Next: Establishing Areas for Development (500 words) 10% of overall mark
This final part establishes the ‘processual’ – the ‘what next’ element to your career development
 Based on your self-analysis in Part B outline three areas for development – aligned to the
topics under discussion in Parts A and B – which will enable you to bridge the gap between
where you are now and where you need to be in the future to ensure career success in
your target profession/industry/sector.
 Provide an action plan in table format to demonstrate how you will achieve these areas for
development

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NB. The contents of this action plan are not included in the word count for your submission

Professional presentation of your essay: 10% of overall mark
 You must present all component parts in one document.
 You must use the template provided on the Blackboard site to set out your strengths and
weaknesses in Part B.
 You must present your work to the academic standard commensurate with Level 7 and
that you use APA referencing throughout.
 You are not required to submit your tool kit findings as an appendix. If you include an
appendix you will be penalised, and lose marks in this section.

Academic Misconduct
The Assessment Regulations for Taught Awards (ARTA) contain the Regulations and
procedures applying to cheating, plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct.
The full policy is available at: http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/central/ar/qualitysupport/asspolicies/
You are reminded that plagiarism, collusion and other forms of academic misconduct as referred to
in the Academic Misconduct procedure of the assessment regulations are taken very seriously by
Newcastle Business School.  Assignments in which evidence of plagiarism or other forms of
academic misconduct is found may receive a mark of zero.

Mapping to Programme Goals and Objectives:
At the end of your programme of study you will have achieved the following goals:
Goal 1: To develop the skills necessary for employment and career progression
Goal 2: Be culturally and ethically aware
Goal 3: Have developed leadership and management capability
Goal 4: Have developed and applied knowledge of international business and management theory
Goal 5: Have developed a range of research skills and project capabilities
All of the learning that takes place within modules is designed to enable you to achieve the above
goals and your assessment tasks are mapped directly to these goals. In this module you will be
assessed on objectives relating to Goal 1 :
1.1 Demonstrate awareness of your personal strengths and weaknesses and the ability to engage
in continuing self-development
1.2 Critically review and develop your inter-personal and intra-personal skills