ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

STUDENT DETAILS

Student name: Cao Phương Quỳnh Student ID number: 31211024567

UNIT AND TUTORIAL DETAILS

Unit name: Business Communication Unit number: BC6

Tutorial/Lecture: Learning Portfolio 6 Class day and time:
Lecturer or Tutor name: MICHAEL SARAM

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

Title: LEARNING PORTFOLIO 6

Length: 1185 words Due date: December 19th Date submitted: December 19th

DECLARATION

I hold a copy of this assignment if the original is lost or damaged.

I hereby certify that no part of this assignment or product has been copied from any other student’s work or from
any other source except where due acknowledgement is made in the assignment.
I hereby certify that no part of this assignment or product has been submitted by me in another (previous or
current) assessment, except where appropriately referenced, and with prior permission from the Lecturer /
Tutor / Unit Coordinator for this unit.
No part of the assignment/product has been written/ produced for me by any other person except where
collaboration has been authorised by the Lecturer / Tutor /Unit Coordinator concerned.
I am aware that this work may be reproduced and submitted to plagiarism detection software programs for the
purpose of detecting possible plagiarism (which may retain a copy on its database for future plagiarism
checking).

Student’s signature: Cao Phuong Quynh

Note: An examiner or lecturer / tutor has the right to not mark this assignment if the above declaration has not been
signed.

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 1. a) How would you quantify an important transferable skill you have developed?

Through learning and experience, we can easily identify and measure our transferable skills
through self-analysis, evaluation, and searching. Personally, to recognize those skills, in addition
to going through stages such as practice, there is also a step to check if they are really useful and
necessary for employers when looking for a job. Specifically, during my high school years, I had
the opportunity to develop my communication skills:

 When participating in class or group activities, I always take the lead in expressing opinions and
conveying messages to everyone, which is highly appreciated by teachers and friends for my
expression attractive, easy to hear, and understand
 I had the opportunity to give a speech in front of the whole school, more than 1000 students,
and received a lot of good feedback from everyone because of my professionalism as well as my
fluency in effectively conveying information.
 When I first started the club, I convinced more than 100 people to agree to join by stating the
benefits and meaning that my club could bring.

b) Choose one transferable skill you know would benefit any employer and describe it in
measurable terms.

I think, one of the transferable skills that can benefit any employer is communication skills:

 Nowadays, communication skills are highly valued because they play an important role not only
in daily life but also are an indispensable part of the workplace.

 This is a transferable skill that has been prioritized by organizers for a long time for leadership
positions.

 Specifically, in an annual GMAC Enterprise Employer Survey, employers were asked to

determine which of the five skill sets they considered most important when hiring for a
company. Communication skills topped the list, followed by teamwork skills, technical skills,
leadership skills, and management skills.

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  Furthermore, 57% of employers say that interpersonal skills will grow in demand over the next 5
years, and 69% cite strong communication skills as the reason they are confident in hiring. 

 Therefore, when talking or interviewing with employers about areas of your job, you must think
about how you can showcase your communication skills to highlight them with other skills. For
example, in the current COVID situation, it would be special and beneficial for you to show
employers how interpersonal skills, such as empathic communication and strong listening, have
helped you better manage stress and uncertainty at school or work.

 Remember that how well you communicate and present yourself will set you apart, both during
the hiring process and later as you advance in your career because this is the key to being
successful.

 At work, no matter what position you hold, you have to interact with many people every day. It
could be your boss, co-worker, client, or partner. With good communication skills, you will easily
convey clearly and accurately what you want to say to the audience.

 Of course, if you are a recent graduate or do not have much experience, employers will not
expect too much from you. But by knowing what they need and looking for and trying to train
yourself accordingly, you will have a lot more opportunities than others.

2. a) What is the STAR interview technique?

o The STAR interview technique is a method to help candidates deal with behavioral
interview questions.
o STAR stands for S – Situation; T – Task (Task); A – Action (Action); R – Result (Result).
o Behavioral interview questions often revolve around competencies and skills to meet
job requirements.
o Although the questions are usually not difficult, answering them coherently and fully is
not easy. That's why the STAR method was born to solve the challenge candidates face.

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 b) Research to discover how to use the STAR technique to answer interview questions.

 Step 1: Select typical examples suitable for the question (situation)

 First, you need to find a specific situation that fits the question the employer asks. Carefully
consider each experience during your past career journey. 

 Next, analyze what you have learned from it. Remember, what's important is what you learn
from those experiences.

 Think of stories that you have the flexibility to change or adapt to the interviewer's question but
still be honest enough. The preparation will help you be more proactive when answering the
interview, as well as increase your confidence in front of employers.

 Step 2: Arrange the situations in a logical order.

 Once you've defined your story, you need to make it clear to the hiring manager. This is why
candidates need to organize their experiences not just in chronological order, but also in a
logical order that is easy to understand. Your goal is to paint a particular picture and emphasize
the important details of that picture.

 The key to a successful application of the STAR model is simplicity. Try to use only 1-2 answers
for each step. Keep things brief and focus only on the details relevant to the question.

 Step 3: Emphasize your role

 This is the next important thing you need to pay attention to. The ultimate purpose of this
answer is to show the employer that you are the main character in the whole story; you are an
important person. Therefore, before diving into the situation, skillfully outline the tasks you did
in that situation.

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  After all, when hiring a new employee in a company, what they care most about is the ability of
that person to work.

 Step 4: Describe how you completed the task

 How did you achieve your goal? The best way is that you should have evidence with specific
data to increase the persuasion, instead of saying vague, clichéd things like "I did my best to..."
or "I worked hard to do...".

 Outstanding details need to be carefully selected to add value to the answer. 

 Step 5: Highlight your accomplishments and results.

 The result is what makes the whole answer you just presented make sense. Every experience is
worth cherishing, be it success or failure. End the story with what you learned, or did to improve
the mistake.

Reflection

From the learning resources and portfolio question answers above, I was able to further understand the
benefits that transferable skills can affect at work and in everyday life. Compared to soft skills,
transferable skills are always more appreciated in the eyes of employers, helping us to stand out from
other candidates. In particular, I also learned about the STAR technique used in interviews and how to
use it appropriately to solve difficult problems when you not only have to think of a good example that
fits the sentence but also have to develop it in enough detail to make it easy to understand but not too
verbose. It can be seen that, after the lesson, a lot of useful knowledge has been fully synthesized,
helping me to improve my communication style and be more successful in the future.

References

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Braun, K., Locker, K. O., & Kaczmarek, S. K. (2016). Business communication: Building critical skills [6]
(6th ed.).

Cheesebro, T., O'Connor, L., & Rios, F. (2009. Cheesebro. Pearson College Division.