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Professional Practice in IT
Assignment 3 - Analytical Report/e-portfolio: Industry analysis, résumé and
five-year plan (1,500 words)
Due Date
This assignment must be created as:
• a Mahara page that contains the résumé and the 2 five-year plans
• a professionally formatted Word document for the industry analysis
and be submitted via Moodle by Week 12 (Sunday 10 May).
Grading
Assessment Item Percentage
Industry analysis (approx. 1,000 words) 15%
Five-year plan (approx. 250 words) 5%
Résumé (approx. 250 words) 5%
TOTAL 25%
The Task
You will undertake an analysis of the IT industry and identify your current skills, interests, and future
learning needs based on which parts of the industry you might like to work in. You will also create a
couple of five-year plans and an up-to-date résumé.
The industry analysis will be structured as a formal report, in a professional layout, and submitted as
a Word document. The résumé and plans will be stored on a single page in Mahara, where you can
make them available to prospective employers, even after your finish your degree.
The weightings of the three components are shown above.
Extensive information on how to use Mahara to create your résumé and plans is available under
Assignment Handouts on Moodle, including illustrated step-by-step instructions and a sample
assignment.
For the résumé and plans you can even access a sample Mahara page.
Item Descriptions
Industry Analysis
This needs to be written in the form of a professional report and will discuss the current state of the
IT industry and what it has to offer in terms of career pathways and how these might relate to your
skills, interests, and future learning needs. It will be submitted as a Word document.
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Assessment criteria will include the following:
• Report includes cover page, table of contents, executive summary, introduction, body,
conclusions, recommendations and references (if needed)
• “Executive Summary” reflects whole report
• Word styles (e.g. “Heading 1”, “Heading 2”, etc.) are used for headings and sub-headings
• Spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct
• Plain English writing makes report easy to read
• Report is easy to understand and logically organised
• Conclusion draws main findings together
• Appropriate recommendations are made
• Referencing is done (if needed) and is correctly presented
Résumé
This needs to be done in Mahara using Content, Résumé. It should include the major components
that are shown in Mahara under the five résumé tabs:
1. Introduction (including a brief cover letter)
2. Education and Employment (including a brief education and employment history)
3. Achievements (including any awards, certifications, publications and professional
memberships)
4. Goals and Skills (including personal, academic and career goals and personal, academic and
work skills)
5. Interests (any interests that may be relevant to your future career)
The information should accurately reflect the skills, qualifications and experience that would make
you attractive to an employer.
Assessment criteria will include the following:
• Includes the components mentioned above
• Does not include irrelevant information
• Makes the candidate appear attractive to a potential employer
• Uses appropriate language
• Spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct
Five-Year Plans
These need to be done in Mahara using Content, Plans and two separate five year plans will be
created: Plan A and Plan B. Plan A is the “best case scenario” and Plan B is the fall-back position in
case Plan A does not work out.
For example, Plan A might say “Become CEO of Google within 5 years”, while Plan B might say “Do
further study and obtain a senior executive position with a major government department”.
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Assessment criteria will include the following:
• Shows evidence of analytical thought and creativity
• Is realistic
• Includes viable alternatives
• Spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct
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