Managing People & Careers: QAB020N501A Portfolio Assignment

This portfolio assignment focuses on Managing People and Careers, encompassing elements such as a cover letter, CV, application form responses, interview practice reflection, and assessment center practice reflection. The cover letter expresses interest in a Research Executive position, highlighting skills in research, data analysis, customer service, and technical proficiency. The CV provides a summary of the candidate's qualifications and experience. The application form addresses questions related to teamwork, problem-solving, managing priorities, and persuasion. Reflections on interview and assessment center practices identify strengths and weaknesses for future improvement. This portfolio showcases the candidate's preparation and understanding of key concepts in managing people and careers.

Managing People and Careers Portfolio
ADD NAME AND STUDENT NUMBER HERE
ADD VACANCY REFERENCE CODE HERE

Managing People and Careers Assignment Template
COVER LETTER – COPY AND PASTE YOUR COVER LETTER HERE (MAX. 500 WORDS)
Dear HR Manager,
This letter is to express my interest in the position of Research Executive. With a bachelor’s
degree in Business and along with the range of skills and knowledge that I possess, I am confident
enough that I would be an asset to your organisation. I am well aware of the fact that your company
is a global leader in the field of reputation management and research and that it provides their
senior research executives with some really clear as well as practical advice for feeding directly into
the communication and stakeholder management process.
I enjoy being challenged and working on projects that require me work outside my
knowledge and comfort set, as continuing to learn new development and techniques are important
to me as well as for the success of your organisation. I also have some exceptional attention for
detailing and I prefer providing meticulous approach for analysing the data. I am very customer
focused as well and work creatively and think commercially during my work process. I have really
exceptional customer service and management skills and hence, I can assure you that I can handle
the clients very effectively. I would also like to highlight that I possess the ability to handle multiple
tasks on heavy workload days. Hence, I can give my best during the pressure days as well. I am very
fluent in English, Spanish and French.
I am a highly computer technology literate and I consider myself to be an expert at all the
software applications under Microsoft Office. I am well familiar with Microsoft office like Microsoft
Excel, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Outlook Express. With the same, I also have a Hands-on
Network and hardware troubleshooting experience and I am highly skilled in the process of
designing and developing the software as well. I am also willing to travel anywhere for this position
whenever it is required for me to do so. I also have a valid passport as well. So, in case if there is any
necessity of travelling international boundaries in my job description, there would be no issue from
my side to do so. However, I want to be permanently working and remaining in the UK region.
Furthermore, I would also like to mention that I am able for developing and implementing
research plans for any of the company products and services and I can also create the protocols for
field testing them. With the same, I can also develop and conduct the filed surveys and focus groups.
I have also created several software programs which can be used for conducting market research
plans for different markets for my employer and I would be highly willing to offer my service for your
company.
I can assure you that my passion for the research excellence would translate into diligence
and dedication for the work that would be performed for your organisation as you upcoming
Research Executives.
Feel free to call me any time. I am looking forward to speak with you soon. Thank you for
your consideration.
Sincerely,
Ned Mc
Enclosure: Resume
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Managing People and Careers Assignment Template
CV – COPY AND PASTE YOUR CV HERE (Maximum 2 sides of A4)
Attached as 890222(2)
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Managing People and Careers Assignment Template
APPLICATION FORM(maximum 200 words per answer)
1. Why do you want to work for us?
I am having interests in researching from the elementary stage and from the very small
age i got my interest in newspapers and different external sources. In addition, being a
marketing student, i am also curious about learning different news ideas and trend
around the world. Thus, it will be a wise decision to leverage this interest in building my
career. It should also be noted that passion should be there in a particular sector, which
will help in further development of mine. Thus, the post of graduate research executive
is the most eligible and ideal job for me. It is my expectation that this post will help me
in further enhancing my research skill and eagerness to learn new things. On the other
hand, this interest of mine will also help the organization in their development. I have
chosen Ipsos as my first job opportunity due to the reason that it is one of the most
renowned research brands in the world. For me, not only the name and brand matters
but also the other factors such as people management. Ipsos is one of most effective
brands in terms of people management, which further motivated me in working with
you.
2. Tell us about a time you worked in a group to achieve an objective (what did you do
and what was the outcome?)
We are having a group of 5 in our university for different projects and assessments.
Once we were given a project, which required surveying from a particular market
location. However, we all are from different locations and do not have the idea about
the particular market given. In addition, we do not have the corporate exposure, which
may have helped in effective surveying process. Thus, we required an outline of the
project based on which, we can work further. In addition, we would also require a basic
idea about the market before surveying the location. Hence, in accordance to this
requirement, i have divided the group members in different job profiles from which i got
the job of gathering secondary data about the market and to analyze about the best way
to survey the market. I have gained enough data about the market and this further
helped me in determining the scenario of the target area and how we can approach
further. Moreover, accumulating all other data from other members also helped in
having an effective and proper database, based on which we went ahead with the
project and accomplished it. All the criterions are being met properly and we also got
distinction in this particular one.
3. Tell us about a time when you identified a new approach to solve a problem. (what did
you do and what was the outcome?)
Almost all of my experiences are based on my university activities over the corporate
one. This is due to the reason that i have not gained enough corporate exposure as of
now. At the primary stage of our team activities, we do not maintained any particular
approach rather we have just put our individual efforts in the final project. This helped in
submission of the project in time but with lower quality. It is also seen by me that
submission of the projects are being done in this way only in general. I have tried to take
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Managing People and Careers Assignment Template
a new approach of initiating the planning process prior to the start of the project. This
involved garnering of different data and information and designs it in accordance of the
project requirement. This promoted proper allocation of the tasks based on the different
expertise of the group members. Thus, the quality of the projects got increased along
with better utilization of the skills and expertise of the group members. In addition, i
have also initiated the feedback process to identify the major issues with the members.
This helped in proper coordination among the group members and better productivity.
4. Tell us about a time when you had to manage a number of different priorities and
complete a number of tasks in a short amount of time (what did you do and what was
the outcome?)
At one of point of time, i was made the team leader of our group and was also assigned
the role of maintaining the connections between the management and team members.
Thus, my job of just working in a particular area got diversified by addition of more
responsibilities such as communicating with the professors and determining the issues in
the team. In addition, majority of the projects given to us were to be submitted within
shorter time frame. Thus, prior to the start of each of the projects, i first allocated the
task in different parts for allocation. Each of the team members was being given
different responsibilities within the certain time period. After the completion of this
primary job, it was my job to accumulate all the information and create a consensus
among the team members in completion of the project. In addition, i was also assigned
to communicate with the professors in case of any difficulties being faced in between
the project. Thus, i can be sure enough about my multitasking abilities and in the case of
workplace also, i can manage the different priorities at once and meet the objectives
within shorter time frame.
5. Tell us about a project you worked on that required you to persuade others to your
point of view (what did you do and what was the outcome?)
In one of our given projects, we were required to induct two new members in the team for
more and added responsibilities. Thus, a decision should have to be taken regarding how
and whom to induct in the team. I as the leader of the team asked each of the team
members to come up with their ideas. It was found that i and other team member were in
different point of view regarding the induction of the new employees. This is due to the
reason that all the members are having the opinion to induct new ones from same cultural
groups to have less issue in the team. However, according to me if the team can be made
more culturally diverse, then we will have more access to different approaches and
strategies. In addition, this will also help us in enhancing our connection with different sets
of employees. Thus, i tried to persuade them by stating the major advantages of having
diverse workforce and also tried to be empathetic with their views. This helped me in
steadily convincing them about my opinion and new two members from different cultural
groups are being inducted in the team.
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Managing People and Careers Assignment Template
INTERVIEW PRACTICE – COPY AND PASTE YOUR REFLECTION NOTES FROM YOUR INTERVIEW
PRACTICE HERE (MAX 200 WORDS IN BULLET POINT FORMAT)
From the interview practice, a few major strengths and weaknesses are being identified by me.
Further evaluation of these factors will help me to have most effectiveness and efficiency in meeting
the needs of the interviewer in the future.
Strengths
 One of the major positive factors being identified is not getting carried away by the words of
the interviewer. This prevented me from deviating from the core subject.
 Another major positive factor of mine is having proper body language in the interview
process. This helped me in showing my confidence in facing the interviewer. It should be
noted that body language is one of the major elements to be fulfilled to have positive
impression with the interviewers.
Weaknesses
 The major weakness identified of mine is inability of direct answering the questions of the
interviewer. I have identified that in many times, i am just adding extra words and facing
more complexities in answering the questions.
 In addition, i was also not being able to properly state practical examples of mine in
answering the interviewer. This further reduced t he competitiveness of mine in the
interview process and i also not being able to communicate to the interviewer about my
experiences.
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Managing People and Careers Assignment Template
ASSESSMENT CENTRE PRACTICE – COPY AND PASTE YOUR REFLECTION NOTES HERE (MAX. 200
WORDS IN BULLET POINT FORMAT)
In the case of the assessment centre practice also, a few positive and negative factors are being
identified by me. The following sections will further review these factors.
Positive factors
 It is identified that communication process efficiency is one of the major competitiveness of
mine in the group works. This is due to the reason that with the help of my effective
communication process, i was able to properly identify the issues with the team members
and overcome them.
 Another positive factor of mine is having the employee oriented approach over the outcome
oriented approach. This further helped in maintaining the motivation level of the team
members.
Negative factors
 It is identified that I cannot be able to lead the team members in very challenging situations.
This is mainly due to the fact that i am having less experience as the team leader and thus i
took more time than desired in settling down.
 It is also identified that i could not found a proper and ideal approach to engage with all the
team members from different cultural groups. This further created the issues in terms of
coordination among the team members.
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