1

Career Plan Report - FAQs

Self-assessments
1. What are preferences, strengths and areas for development?
a. The term preference refers to the ways you prefer to work. So, it could include
personality traits leading you to prefer a work environment or sources of
motivation that work well for you leading to preferred industries, types of
work roles, preferences for management/team structures (can incorporate
metaphors) etc. It doesn’t specifically refer to your career preferences – as this
is the second part of the career plan which asks more specifically about career
goals.
b. A strength is any characteristics of a person that is related to success in career
or work. It may be a behavioural skill (e.g. leadership), an attribute (e.g.
cognitive ability), an attitude (e.g. optimism) and a technical skill (e.g. data
analyst). You can review your self-assessments (i.e. cognitive ability,
personality, emotional intelligence and motivation) to determine your
strengths.
c. Areas for development refers to any areas that a person might see as a
disadvantage or potentially interfere with success in career or work (i.e.
cognitive ability, personality, emotional intelligence and motivation). Often
areas for development are skills or capabilities you have not yet fully mastered
and would like to improve.
d. Try not to just to ‘list’ areas for development and weakness. Be more
reflective - try and explore a weakness - or perhaps an area that is needed to
make up for it. For example, a weakness could be an identified area of
enquiry/skill that you have not yet developed.
e. Please note, preferences and strengths does not mean the same thing. Your
preferences may be a strength (e.g. you might prefer an area but still lacking
skills in this area for it to be strength)- but not necessarily. For example, if you
are more conscientious, conscientious also has a dark side. Strengths could
also include your abilities or skills.

2. How many preferences, strengths and areas for development should we include
in part 1?
a. In Part one, it is good to focus on just one or two preferences and 2-3 strengths
and 1 or 2 areas for development. We don’t want to limit you as the specific
number is not important (generally, quality over quantity) as there may be two
closely related development areas (for example) you want to discuss.
However, for the STAR behavioural-based example, you will need 1 strength
to discuss. The main thing is not to spread yourself too thin (i.e. given the
word length limitation, don’t include so many that you can’t discuss them with
any depth or insight).

3. Can I use the STAR example I drafted for workshop 5 pre-work?

You can use the STAR you prepared for your week 5 workshop preparation -
as you will have hopefully improved it after practicing it during your mock
interview with a partner in your workshop. However it may be a little generic
 2

to illustrate the strength you want to show through your STAR for the career
report. If you write another STAR there is an upside – it means that you will
have developed at least 2 STARs during the course that you can use during
your job search and interviews. For the Career Plan Report only ONE STAR is
required.

4. What is meant by ‘using three theories/concepts based on the literature’?

a. It is expected that you will use theories or related concepts from the literature
to help you to analyse your preferences, strengths and areas for development.
It is also expected that you will not only list and describe the theories but also
evaluate and critique (i.e. highlight strengths/weaknesses/limitations) theories
and research.
b. THREE could be a combination of: 1) Concept: Motivation 2) Theory of
Motivation – example: Bandura Self Efficacy Theory; or 3) other concepts:
Emotional Intelligence – Cognitive Ability – drawn from the key literature etc.
basically there is a lot of choice from Modules 2 to 5 content, be strategic
which theories/concepts/literature you will draw on to support your analysis.

1. How many career goals should we outline using the SMART framework?
You decide – you can have one or two career goals. Keep in mind the mark
weighting so don’t write a comprehensive essay on SMART Goals.
If you focus on one long term career goal you could include short-term clear
goals as small steps to help you get there. The important thing is to
demonstrate a clear understanding /knowledge application of SMART and
ensure the goal/s are indeed SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable,
Relevant and Time-bound) as covered in your workshop.

2. What is meant by ‘Connection between career goals, values and ethics’?

a. In Part 2, after you describe your career goals using the SMART framework,
we would like you to consider ‘How does your Values (e.g. having status,
seeking power or influence) and Ethics - (e.g. respecting the rights of all
human, treating others with respect and civility) connect (or is relevant) to
your future career(s). Reflect on the extent your values/ethics are aligned (or
not) with your chosen career goal(s)?
b. By linking your career goals to your values and ethics (with
personal/professional examples) you will have more evidence to justify what
is important to you in your future career. The marker will be looking for how
the student draws on relevant concepts, theories/research and a tight
connection between students' career goals and their values and ethics. The
marker will also be looking to see if you have integrated some of the
workshop activities in a meaningful and thoughtful way.
 3

Integration and reflection

1. What do you mean by Integration of self-assessments and career goals, values
and ethics?
a. This is not a conclusion/ summary paragraph– but a thoughtful integration of
your key insights from Part 1 and 2 and about putting it all together. Consider
how your Part 1: Self-Assessment and Part 2: Career Goals, Values and Ethics fit
together. How do your preferences and strengths align with your career direction,
is there a connection between your goals, values, and ethics? Based on
your self-assessment, what areas/skills do you need to develop in order to be able
to contribute and to be effective in this career area? How will you build the
experience / skills that you need (i.e., through IPP, internship, volunteering, part-
time job, etc.). Provide at least one concrete/actionable example to illustrate how
you will develop your leadership to be effective in your career (what skills that
you need.

Note. some students will treat this CPR assignment as a purely academic exercise
– they will go through the ‘motions’; others (these students tend to do better in
this assignment) will treat this assignment as an authentic opportunity to self-
reflect and therefore will engage more thoughtfully and will often action what
they say they will action – applying the Gibbs framework to reflect, trying out,
and re-experimenting based on key learnings.

2. How many examples should we provide of skills we identify and

recommendations for how we develop our experiences/skills for our career?
c. You can identify one or more areas/skills specific to you, that you will need to
develop in order to be able to contribute and be effective in your career and
provide at least one recommendation based on theory and analysis with
specific strategies to develop the areas/skills that will contribute to your future
career and how you will build the experience / skills that you need (i.e.,
through IPP, internship, volunteering, part-time job, etc.). You will not be
penalized if you provide more than one but be mindful of the word limit and
as above be mindful not to include so many that you can’t discuss them with
any depth or insight).
 4

Overall integration of relevant theory, literature, evidence, structure, flow, connection

between sections
1. What do you mean by overall integration of theory / literature / evidence?
a. The markers will assess whether the theories/literature you chose are relevant,
support your analysis/ arguments, well-integrated and used insightfully
throughout the paper and not just in PART ONE. So, in addition to the
theory/concepts you use to analyse your preferences, strengths, and areas for
development in part one, to achieve very high marks you should critique how
theory/literature has informed your insights and briefly add some evaluation
(strength or limitation).
2. What do you mean by ‘Structure and internal flow of assessment’?
a. It is expected that the relationships between the various sections (i.e. self-
assessments, career goals, values and ethics and integration) will be clear. This
means there are clear and consistent links between your preferences, strengths
and areas for developments and your chosen career goals, values and ethics. In
addition, there are also logical links with each part of the report building on
the next. Finally, the assessment instructions are followed consistently in the
report.
References and Appendix
1. What is the difference between in-text citation and Reference list?
a. In-text citation refers to a specific source (e.g. Smith, et al., 2018) you mention
in the body of your report. Please use APA 7 style for your in-text citations
b. A reference list come at the end of your report and refers to all the sources you
cited in the body of your report. Only include source(s) in your reference list if
you specifically mention these sources in your report. References are not
included in the word count of your report. Please see the reference page at the
end of each module for guidance and please refer to the APA guide in the
library for more information on how to cite a source and provide a reference
list:
https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/citation/apa7

2. Can I cite reflections from MyBUSS2000 from modules 1, 2,3,4 and 5 in my

report?
a. Yes, you can - Given that the meta- reflections from modules 1 to 5 have helped to
scaffold your thinking towards Theme 1 -you can include
insights from these reflections into your career plan report, do not just copy paste
and repeat what you have stated in your reflections as a proxy for your career plan
report. Your meta-reflection is regarded as an
 5

‘unpublished manuscript’ and an example of how to in-text cite and reference this
correctly in your report, see the following:

b. The in-text citation will be the same as the APA convention, for example:
“[Surname] (2021) highlighted …” or “ Drawing from previous work ([surname],
2021)……”
c. The final reference to be placed in your refence list, for example:
[Surname], [Initial]. (2021). BUSS2000: Module 3 reflection. [Unpublished
manuscript]. WOS, Business School, University of Sydney.

3. How do I cite information from the modules that is not specifically from a theory
in my report?
If the information is quite general – you can paraphrase it (i.e. write it in your own
words) and no citation is needed. If you want to use information more directly then
there are several different ways to do it - and there is lots of detail in the APA7. How
you do it depends on the type of information you want to cite.
If you want to use specific information - then you can cite the module (module 3,
2022) or use (Nguyen, 2022) if it was from a video that Helena Nguyen was speaking
in. If the information is referring to a specific theory - then it is better to cite the
theorist in question - such as Bandura (1988).
In the reference list if you used information from the video - it would be
Nguyen, H. (2022) Module 3 Motivation and Goal Setting, BUSS2000 Leading and
Influencing in Business.
Or if the module
Module 3 (2022) Motivation and Goal Setting, BUSS2000 Leading and Influencing in
Business.
However, where possible - it is always best to cite the source - i.e. the original authors.
d. Appendix – To provide evidence of your pre-work source. Please ensure you
also place a copy of the original reflection in the appendix as a ‘screen shot’ (a cut
and paste will impact your word count) and ensure you direct the marker to the
appropriate appendix. E.g. (see appendix B for full detail of Reflection from module
3).

4. Is the appendix included in the word count?

NO. Appendices are not included in your word count. They are required for the
assessment, but they are not formally marked. (However, remember in-text citations
are included in the word count).
 6

5. Is the final reference list included in the word count?

NO. The final reference list is not included in your word count. It is required for the
assessment, and it will be formally marked. (However, remember in-text citations are
included in the word count).
 7

6. How do we reference our appendices in our report?

Intext, for example, it would appear like this: ‘referring to my motivational source test
(appendix A)’.
In the Appendix, please provide the title e.g., ‘Appendix A: motivational source test’.

7. How do I submit the reference list and appendix so that text is not included in
the word count?
a) Do not include information in your appendix or your reference list as a PDF
(please image/screen shot) otherwise Turnitin counts this in the overall
wordcount.
b) What is included in the Appendix? Please image/screenshot your reference list,
CV, class activity worksheets, figures and tables, and other forms of evidence at the
end of the word document. This ensures that your appendix is not counted as words.

General Questions

1. Should this be written in the same way as our other essays?

This isn’t a formal essay, so it is fine to use first person pronouns (I, my, we) as you
write. This makes the report more natural and you will find it easier as you draw in
your own experience with the theories and concepts.

2. Should we divide the report into 3 equal sections?

Please pay attention to the % allocation of marks. Parts 1 and 2 are worth 20% so
these should be relatively equal in word length. Part 3 is 30% with the integration
and reflection requiring depth (this is not a summary but a nuanced reflection of
parts 1 and 2) so we would expect a good amount of words for this – and the
strategies and experiences are straightforward. You will need to make judgements
on your word allocation to ensure each part is answered adequately.

3. How many additional references would you like us to incorporate into the
report?
Keep this simple and minimal, mainly draw on literature from Theme 1 – as the
rubric is marked on your integration and application of Theme 1 concepts, literature
and theories – while we would love you to read widely, this can be a challenge so you
need to balance the breadth of your reading with the depth of the concepts you
include. The rubric asks you to focus on the readings we suggest in the course for the
main content in your report and if you are able to do some additional reading, be very
selective in what you include as you don’t want to include too many ideas at the
expense of writing a thoughtful and insightful report.

4. Should I include an introduction and a conclusion?

No. You don’t need an introduction and a conclusion in a report of this kind (as you
would in a more traditional academic essay). The problem with including an
introduction and a conclusion in a paper of this length is that it will take up too much
of your word count without adding much value. You can use the headings from the
rubric to signpost to the reader (marker) how your paper is structured and the
information that is included.
 8

5. Can I use headings and sub-headings – yes you can and this helps the marker know
what you are covering. Remember, they will be in the final word count.
6. Can I use bullet points – yes but sparingly –bullets points are only relevant to
structure your STAR and SMART goals – but as this is a reflection paper we expect
you to use complete sentences.

7. What Modules are related to the Career Plan Report?

Modules 1-5 provide practical support to help structure your response to the career plan
report.

8. What is the word limit of the Career Plan Report?

The word count is 1700 words +/- 10%. Therefore, the maximum words you can use is
1870 words.

9. Could we undertake our own test (for example: other emotional intelligence
tests/measures outside the course work) to use it as a reference for self-
assessment or is it recommended to stick with the ones we did for our pre-work?
No – stick to the tests used in the unit as the career plan is scaffolded from these tests/
measures. The tests/measures and surveys explored in this course are well designed
and have substantial evidence that underpins them.

10. Can I assume the reader knows definitions for new concept that we introduce?It
is a good idea to introduce the concept briefly. Pretend that the marker does not know
the concept, and that they do not know if you know the concept.

11. Do we need to cite/reference sources of information about the company that is

part of our career goal? For example: "the skill required by the company Q that I
want to be part of, is xyz".
No, it is not necessary to cite/reference information about a company - or the skills that
the company is seeking.

12. How many attempts of submission is allowed, and which submission will be
marked?
Your final submission attempt (e.g., the most recent submission) is what will be
marked.

13. Can you explain late submission penalty for the CPR?
Your Guide to all the business school rules for assessment submissions are here
(http://sydney.edu.au/business/currentstudents/policy - Links to an external site.).
Please note that there is a late penalty of 5% of the total marks per day late. Please note
the university has made changes to simple extensions and how you apply. Please read
more about how you can apply for an extension of five calendar days from your
original assessment. Read more information on Simple Extension (Links to an external
site) and Special Consideration (Links to an external site). If you have an approved
extension, please submit via the latter submission link as per usual - this submission
link will still open - please go by the due date that you have been approved. We will
reconcile any difference in due date as part of the marking process. There will be no
penalty if you submit by your approved due date.

14. What happens if I receive a simple extension or have an Academic Plan

extension and my assignment shows late on Canvas?
Please submit by the revised approved due date and ignore the late badge as canvas
auto calculates any submissions past the fixed assignment due date- you will not be
penalised.