HW Template, Ch 1 Competency Assessment

HW Handouts for MHR3010

Ch 1 Competency Assessment Essay

Topic Relevancy

This assignment is related to the topic in Ch 1 about competencies and management skills.

It is a self-assessment of your competencies for a particular occupation upon graduation based on the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) from the website www.onetonline.org

The Meanings of KSAs

KSAs are the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the tasks of a job. Knowledge is the education and information used for a job and organized sets of principles and facts applying in general domains. Skills are learned proficiencies in areas and developed capacities that facilitate learning or the more rapid acquisition of knowledge. It includes basic skills, complex problem solving skills, resource management skills, social skills, system skills, and technical skills. Abilities are inherent aptitudes of a candidate and enduring attributes of the individual that influence performance. It includes cognitive abilities, physical abilities, psychomotor abilities, and sensory abilities.

How to complete this assignment?

Visit the website: www.onetonline.org , click on Find Occupations. Type key words of an occupation that you most likely to pursue upon graduation or within five years, such as “sales manager” or “financial analyst.” The screen will show you a list of occupations that are related to your key words. Choose one occupation that you want to pursue and click on it.

Then click on “Details” to read Details Report for the job. After reading the detail report for the chosen occupation, you shall select TWO important KSAs with an important score of at least 60 or higher – one item from “Knowledge” that is your strength and another item from “skills” or “abilities” that is your weakness. If no score is higher than 60, you shall choose the highest score in that category. The explanations for each part of the assignment are provided below.

Job Title: The job you select should be what you want to pursue upon your graduation or within five years of your graduation. A job title must come from the website and do not make up your own job title.

Job Zone: Copy the first line under the Job Zone on the website.

Projected Growth (2018-2028): Copy the line under Wages & Employment on the website.

Projected Job Openings (2018-2028): Copy the number under Wages & Employment on the website.

Strength Assessment under Knowledge

You need to choose one specific item with 60 or higher score under Knowledge that is your strength. Copy the importance score and definition. For example:

Definition: Knowledge: 90 Economics and Accounting – Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

The writing structure of this part should have three layers: an opening statement, body part, and concluding part.

An opening statement

Use one sentence to indicate where you obtain this knowledge you picked. For example:

I obtain the knowledge of economics and accounting mainly from the courses I have taken at college.

Another example:

I possess solid knowledge of economics and accounting from my work experience in an accounting firm.

The Body Part of Assessment (8-12 lines)

1) Indicate what courses you have taken by giving at least two titles of courses you took and indicate how well you are on this item (to what extent you possess this knowledge in general). Then, giving facts/examples to explain what main things you have learned about this knowledge item from the above.

Or if you learn this knowledge mainly from your work experience, indicate your position, in what industry, for how long, and what you do there to learn this knowledge.

2) Indicate how well you are doing in your courses or at this job.

Concluding Remarks

Simply put one scholarly and academic journal name under the following heading and this journal has to relate to the knowledge you selected. It cannot be a magazine or newspaper such as Fortune, Times, or Wall Street Journal.

Then put one association name under another heading below and this association has to relate to your job field or the knowledge you chose. For example:

List one scholarly journal that you will keep reading to update the knowledge you picked above:

Academy of Management Journal.

List name of an association in your job field you may join in the future:

American Marketing Association.

Your Weakness Assessment under Skills

You need to choose one specific item with 60 or higher score under Skills that is your weakness. Copy the importance score and definition. For example:

Definition: Skills: 72 Reading Comprehension – Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

The writing structure of this part should have three layers: an opening statement, the body part, and the concluding part.

An opening statement

Simply indicate what your weakness is. For example:

Reading comprehension is a weak area I need to work on in order to become a financial analyst.

Another example:

After reviewing the detail report for financial analyst position, I realize that reading comprehension is my weak area for improvement.

The Body Part of Assessment (8-12 lines)

1) Giving specific facts and examples to show that you are not good in this skill, and

2) Discuss reasons for it.

Concluding Remarks

You need a concluding sentence for your weakness assessment. For example:

Improving reading comprehension is now at the top of my agenda and my action plans are discussed below.

Another example:

Reading comprehension is important for me to perform well as a financial analyst and it is high time for me to work on it.

Two Steps for Improvement:

First step about learning (5-8 lines for writing, not including citation):

Citation: You need to find a relevant book or article that is related to weakness you picked. It can be an article on Internet. Make sure that you put full citation (the author name, journal name or publisher, year, or web link) at the beginning of your writing. If some of the information is unknown, you can put: The author and year are unknown. The citation doesn’t count into the writing length.

Writing: 1) explain what you have learned (such as strategies, techniques, or ways) from it that would help you improve your weakness, and 2) explain what strategies or techniques you learned that particularly fit your situation. Your writing length should be 5-8 lines.

Second step about practice

1) Select ONE of the following settings (your job or internship or student organization that you currently hold or you want to do in the near future),

2) What you can do in such a setting (such as what projects or activities/tasks you would do to practice this skill.

3) How you can get feedback about your progress.

Grading Criteria (20 points, 10%)

Format and Rubric (4 points) (see Format Requirements and Writing Communication Skills Assessment Rubric below).

Strength Assessment under knowledge (6 points)

Definition: Knowledge:

Strength Assessment:

Weakness Assessment under Skills (6 points)

Definition: Skills

Weakness Assessment:

Two Steps for Improvement: (4 points)

Total: 20 Points

Format Requirements

The format includes the following requirements:

· No cover page and turn in online on time.

· Use all required headings (see template) and put them in bold.

· Double spacing and 1 inch margin all around.

· Times New Roman font size 12.

· Keep your writing within the range of the minimum and maximum lines.

· No bullet points and not in all capital letter.

· Tips: Quality of your writing is very important. Think clearly and write concisely.

Written Communication Skills Assessment Rubric

Scoring Base	Rating = 4	Rating = 3	Rating = 2	Rating = 1
Basic Grammar	The writing has no major errors in word selection and use, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization	The writing is adequately free of errors in word selection and use, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization	The writing has several major errors in word selection and use, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.	The writing has serious and persistent errors in word selection and use, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.
Structure	The Writing has clear and appropriate beginning, development, and conclusion. Paragraphing and transitions are also clear and appropriate.	The Writing has adequate beginning, development, and conclusion. Paragraphing and transitions are also adequate.	The Writing has weak beginning, development, and conclusion. Paragraphing and transitions are also deficient.	The organizational structure and paragraphing of the writing have serious and persistent errors.
Content	The writing provides in-depth coverage of the assigned topic, and assertions are clearly supported by evidence.	The writing provides sufficient coverage of the assigned topic, and assertions are supported by evidence.	The writing provides weak coverage of the assigned topic, and assertions are weakly supported by evidence.	The writing provides very poor coverage of the assigned topic, and assertions are very poorly supported by evidence.
Score Rating 4 = A, Rating 3 = B, Rating 2 = C, Rating 1 = D