ENGLISH FOR THE PROFESSIONAL WORLD TecnoCampus | Centers attached to Pompeu Fabra University and Business Park

General information

Subject type: Optional

Coordinator: Rafael Suarez Gómez

Trimester: First term

Credits: 6

Teaching staff:

Juan Garcia Ramirez

Teaching languages

This module is entirely delivered in English.

Skills

Transversal competences

T1_That students know a third language, which will be preferably English, with an adequate level of oral and written form, in accordance with the needs of the graduates of each degree

Description

English for the Professional World aims to help students be competent in planning their job hunting process as well as in using English accurately in certain situations of professional life.

As for the former, considering how competitive the professional world is, students must be prepared to sell themselves and make themselves different in order to land a job.

Regarding the latter, effective communication is a skill professionals have to acquire before completing university and entering the world of business.

Learning outcomes

In general terms, this subject contributes to the learning outcomes (LO) specific to the subject matter it belongs to (English).

At a more specific level, this module will help students become competent in the use of English for job hunting and making effective oral presentations. At the end of the course, students must be able to:

(LO1) identify the stages in the job hunting process
(LO2) make a mind map with strengths and weaknesses
(LO3) understand the specific language of job adverts
(LO4) write a personal statement
(LO5) produces a good CV
(LO6) write a cover letter
(LO7) plan a job interview
(LO8) participate in a job interview
(LO9) communicate personal ideas, points of view, and opinions on a given topic
(LO10) make an effective oral presentation

Working methodology

Class work is based on a theoretical explanation of the course content. The theory is supported by practical work on the proposed exercises. Exercises will be completed either individually or in small groups according to cooperative learning methodologies.

Pieces of work, exercises, tasks, and assignments made both in the classroom or at home will be delivered just after completing each section of the syllabus on a given deadline.

Activities leading to achieving objectives related to oral skills will be done in the classroom in groups of two or more students.

Other autonomous learning tasks will also be taken into consideration, such as those devoted to the reading of articles and complementary exercises.

1.1 Research of the job hunting process: stages, mind map of strengths and weaknesses, qualifications, work experience.
1.2 Personal statement: features of the personal statement, short description of the applicant (education, work experience, soft skills, achievements, goals).
1.3 The CV or Summary: sections of the CV, vocabulary, analysis of common errors, first good impression, the CV and the job offer, creative CVs.
1.4 The Cover Letter: features and parts of a good cover letter, style and vocabulary, the Cover Letter, and the job offer.
1.5 The Job Interview: preparation of the job interview, the small talk, typical questions, and the most suitable answers, good first impression, vocabulary, analysis of common errors, simulation of a job interview.

2. Effective Oral Presentations

Structure of an oral presentation in a professional context
The body language
Effective visual aids

Learning activities

Aiming to gather evidence of the achievement of learning outcomes (LO), the following activities will be carried out:

Activity 1: Personal statement. resume Cover Letter. Job interview. (Content 1) (Evidence of Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6, LO7, LO8, and LO9) Individual Activity

Mind map of strengths and weaknesses: skills, qualifications, experience
Writing the personal statement
Writing the CV. The creative CV
Writing a good cover letter
Preparing a good job interview
Simulation of a job interview

Regarding competencies, this activity has an impact on general competencies G2 and G4, and cross-curricular competency T1

Activity 2. Effective Oral Presentations (Content 2) (Evidence of Learning Outcomes LO9 and LO10) Individual activity

Making a good short oral presentation
Making an effective oral presentation of the CV

Regarding competencies, this activity has an impact on general competencies G2 and G4, and cross-curricular competency T1

Evaluation system

Assignments on all the points of the syllabus will be collected for assessment:

- Personal statement

- C.V

- Cover letter

- Job interview

- Formal writing

- Oral exercises: discussions, dialogues, oral presentations

1. Continuous assessment: 70%

A1: Personal Statement (5%)
A2: CV (15%)
A3: Listening comprehension (10%)
A4: Cover letter (15%)
A5: Speaking activity: Job Interview (10%)
A6: Short writing: summary of an article (5%)
A7: Short oral presentation on one of the articles given or on a topic chosen by the student (10%)

2. Oral presentation of professional profile: 20%. This activity is mandatory in order to pass the subject.

3. Class attendance and participation: 10%

Exam Pass: 70%. The resit exam covers the continuous assessment part (point 1 above). In order to be allowed to do the resit exam, a mark of 4 to 4.9 must be achieved in the continuous assessment part. Otherwise, the module will be given a fail. The highest mark possible in the resit exam is PASS (5).

VERY IMPORTANT:

Total or partial PLAGIARISM of any of the assignments will be automatically qualified as FAIL (0). And, if plagiarism is repeated, it may mean that the module has a definitive qualification of FAIL (0).

PLAGIARISM consists of copying text from unacknowledged sources, whether this is part of a sentence or a whole text, which is intended as the student's own text. It includes cutting and pasting from Internet sources, presented unmodified in the student's own text. PLAGIARISM IS A SERIOUS OFFENSE. Students must respect the authors' intellectual property, always identifying the sources they may use. They must also be responsible for the originality and authenticity of their own texts.