Career development & selfmanagement skills formation 2100-SPP-L-D6CDSS

Course scope and goal

The course prepares students to consciously build and manage their professional career by strengthening self-awareness, employability skills, and self-management capabilities. Students will identify their core competencies (knowledge, skills, attitudes, transferable skills), learn tools for developing these competencies, explore evidence-based approaches to career thinking and planning, and practice implementing a realistic professional development plan through iterative steps (diagnose → decide → plan → act → review).

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the student will be able to:

Knowledge

Explain key concepts in career development (career as a process, employability, competency-based development, career adaptability, lifelong learning).

Describe common career decision-making approaches and typical early-career pathways.

Identify mechanisms that influence career progression (labour market trends, skills signals, networks, personal branding).

Skills

Perform a structured self-assessment to identify strengths, values, interests, and competency gaps.

Formulate career goals using SMART/WOOP or similar goal frameworks and translate them into a feasible career - action plan.

Create professional materials aligned to a target role (CV/resume, LinkedIn profile, portfolio summary, elevator pitch).

Apply self-management tools, including time/energy management, habit building, prioritisation, progress tracking, and effective feedback use.

Demonstrate basic career communication skills: informational interview, networking outreach, interview preparation, and negotiation basics.

Social competence/attitudes

Take responsibility for personal development, show initiative, and adapt plans based on feedback and changing conditions.

Communicate professionally and ethically, including respectful collaboration and constructive peer feedback.

Reflect on personal progress and articulate a learning plan beyond the course.

Course content:
Career as a project: career mindset, employability, transferable skills, career adaptability.

Self-assessment & identity: strengths and competencies, values and motivations, interests, preferred work environments; competency mapping.

From competencies to development: growth mindset, deliberate practice, learning strategies, and building evidence of skills (projects, volunteering, internships).

Career decision-making: exploring options, narrowing pathways, managing uncertainty, dealing with barriers and limiting beliefs.

Career planning & execution: goals, milestones, risks, alternative plans, tracking;

Professional communication: CV/resume structure, LinkedIn basics, storytelling and accomplishment statements, personal brand signals.

Networking & opportunity creation: weak ties, informational interviews, outreach messages, event strategy, professional etiquette.

Recruitment readiness: interview practice (behavioural + competency-based), showcasing projects, and feedback loops.

Self-management toolkit: time/energy management, prioritisation frameworks, habit building, stress and resilience basics, maintaining performance.

Ethics & sustainability: professional integrity, boundaries, burnout prevention, work-life sustainability, and a continuous learning plan.

Integration: presenting the Career Portfolio and an individualised career development roadmap.