Communication and Employability Skills for IT Unit 1 Communication and Employability Skills for IT

Basic Housekeeping Check Lanyards Complete Register Health and Safety check Reminder about use of mobile phones Reminder about classroom rules No food or drink, thank you!

Please make notes to the best of your ability. You should make notes as you go along when theory is delivered in order to complete the task successfully therefore bring a pen and some paper please! Please make notes to the best of your ability.

Today’s Learning Outcomes Unit Criteria Key Terminology Understand Direction Words in Assignments Understand specific personal attributes valued by employers

How you will be assessed This unit will be assessed by a number of internal assignments. The assignments will be designed to allow you to show your understanding of the unit outcomes. These relate to what you should be able to do after completing this unit.

Assessment Criteria - pass To achieve a pass grade the evidence must show that you are able to: P1: explain the personal attributes valued by employers See Assessment activity 1.1, page 14 P2: explain the principles of effective communication See Assessment activity 1.3, page 25 P3: discuss potential barriers to effective communication See Assessment activity 1.2, page 19 P4: demonstrate a range of effective interpersonal skills

Assessment Criteria - pass To achieve a pass grade the evidence must show that you are able to: P5: use IT to aid communications See Assessment activity 1.4, page 31 P6: communicate technical information to a specified audience P7: produce a personal development plan See Assessment activity 1.5, page 34 P8: follow a personal development plan

Assessment Criteria - merit To achieve a merit grade the evidence must show that, in addition to the pass criteria, you are able to: M 1: explain mechanisms that can reduce the impact of communication barriers See Assessment activity 1.2, page 19  M 2: review draft document s to produce final versions [EP4] See Assessment activity 1.4, page 31 M 3: explain how an awareness of learning style can aid personal development [RL5] See Assessment activity 1.6, page 36

Assessment Criteria - distinction To achieve a distinction grade the evidence must show that, in addition to the pass and merit criteria, you are able to D 1: evaluate interpersonal and written communications techniques See Assessment activity 1.3, page 25 D 2: review progress on a personal development plan, identifying areas for improvement [RL3] See Assessment activity 1.6, page 36

Assignment Submission Formal Written Feedback from me Second Submission ONLY if could improve Submission– all tasks completed I will be assessing your progress regularly and will be providing verbal feedback. Formal feedback will only be issued ONCE!

Over to you! Any questions? What areas of this unit might you find challenging? Which section of the unit are you most looking forward to? How can you prepare for the unit assessment(s)? Any questions?

Moodle and MEGA Log on to Moodle to access course materials. For some tasks you are asked to use MEGA: https://mega.co.nz/ Log in: wilsono@selby.ac.uk Password is collegework2014

Key terms – revision Do you remember what “attributes and abilities” mean? Attributes and abilities: these are the personal characteristics that employers expect you to have. Examples would be that you can solve problems, that you can be creative, that you have leadership qualities, that you can work as part of a team, that you can work with a minimum of supervision.

Key terms to complete at the end of the lesson/study time/at home: Create a table and in the first column put a list of the main technical terms you will learn in this unit. In the second column write definitions from the text book (pages 5, 6, 7, 12, 16, 18, 19, 22, 27, 28, 30). The textbook is on Moodle. Then, try and think of a simple way of saying each term and put this in the next column. Try them out on your friends or relatives to see if they make sense. Add additional terms as you go along and follow the same process.  

Understand the personal attributes valued by employers Class discussion: Describe the perfect employee and agree a list (write it on the board or using writing pads) of attributes and abilities they are likely to have.

Job adverts: In small groups select key words from the job adverts and write them down Compare with the rest of the class

Job description In most situations, employers will be looking for particular skills when engaging a new employee. The exact requirements will be listed in a job description that lists and explains the tasks the employee will be expected to undertake.

Job description A job description typically consists of: core information about the post (title, start date, salary range/grade etc.); job purpose (a broad overview of the post); job responsibilities and duties (what the person is expected to do in the role); information about the department and organisation; a person specification.

A person specification Experience: Usually this is a short profile detailing the type of previous experience that the candidate is required to have to take on the type of role. Experience may even be very specific (for example, ‘…has developed database systems in Microsoft Visual Basic.NET® for the retail sector for at least two years’). Qualifications and training: An outline of the educational requirements and professional qualifications that are necessary in order to perform the job. Most industries have a vocational body to guide this sort of decision for example PGCE for teaching. Abilities: These define the characteristics of the person being sought for the role. Typical abilities may include ‘must be able to work in a team’ or ‘must be able to use own initiative to complete tasks’.

A completed person specification This table gives a completed person specification for??? a systems programmer

Understand the personal attributes valued by employers Individual Work: THINK! Imagine you are keen on working for a particular organisation in a particular role. List: Why should the employer give the job to you? What are your USPs (unique selling points)? What makes you more suited to fill this post than any other applicant? What do you have to offer that the employer might value? What kinds of things are employers looking for in an employee?

Attributes Some attributes are specific to a given job but many apply to all jobs. Some attributes relate to you as a person, while others relate to the type of organisation that you hope to join. Attributes fall into two categories: Specific Attributes General Attributes Let’s consider each type of attribute in turn.

Specific attributes Specific attributes cover job-related aspects necessary to carry out the job, the knowledge of the good working procedures which your employer will expect you to follow and employee’s attitudes towards work. Specific attributes are divided into three groups: Job-related attributes Good working procedures Work attitudes

Job-related attributes For some jobs, technical knowledge and skills might be necessary. In small groups complete these sentence and share with the rest of the class: A sales representative needs to be able to ……….. The employer may provide ………………..but some jobs require you to have ………………………….. It is courteous for airline employees to ……………………… Therefore, some airlines demand ……………………….of their cabin crew. An IT technician, who fixes hardware faults, must be ………………………….., but will also need to be skilled in ……………………. Check your answers on the next slide 

A sales representative needs to be able to drive A sales representative needs to be able to drive. The employer may provide a company car but some jobs require you to have your own means of transport. It is courteous for airline employees to respond to passengers in the same language that the passengers have used. Therefore, some airlines demand language skills of their cabin crew. An IT technician who fixes hardware faults must be able to use hand tools such as screwdrivers, but will also need to be skilled in using electronic testing equipment such as a multi-meter.

Job-related attributes You might demonstrate your technical skills by taking and passing academic or vocational qualifications or you might have a certificate to prove that you have a special skill, e.g. you can cook or swim. If a particular technical skill is essential to an advertised job, it should be made clear to all prospective employees. This will deter candidates without the requisite skills and prevent employers from having to waste time interviewing applicants who are not qualified for the post e.g. database management, drilling, security and so on.

Activity : Technical skills download from Moodle or student drive

At the end of the session revisit aims and objectives to check if the learning took place