Discussion Essay – Your Competence Assessment
This essay should be double-spaced, use Times New Roman font 12, 1 inch margin all around. Don’t use bullet points. 4 pages are minimum and 5 pages are maximum with appropriate headings. Since the space is limited, you need to think clearly and write concisely. Do attach the print out from the O*Net on the job you choose. The attachment only includes the list the tasks (from the summary), and the six KSAs that you selected. DON’T print the whole list of KSAs.
This assignment is a self-assessment of your strengths and weaknesses for a particular occupation. Visit the website: http://online.onetcenter.org, click on O*Net Online, and then click on Find Occupations. Type key words of an occupation that you most likely to pursue upon graduation, such as “customer service.” The screen will show you a list of occupations that match your key words. Choose one occupation that you like most and click on it. You will see Summary Report for this occupation. You should read the whole summary report in order to thoroughly understand the job. If the summary report is not enough for your occupation, you read the detailed report, which provides more detailed information about an occupation.
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. Skills are learned proficiencies in areas. Abilities are inherent aptitudes of a candidate. You can learn more in detail about the meanings of KSAs’ and their subsets. Next to “Find Occupation”, you will see “Browse by O*NET Descriptor.” Click on those folders and then click sub-folders to find more info you need.
From the summery report, you choose two items from each of the KSAs, one is your strong point while another is your weak point.
For each of your strength, first describe your strength (indicators or examples or facts that show this is your strength), and then explain how you developed or obtained them, (or explain the importance of the item to the job or discuss how you can build your career on the strength (how you can take advantage of it).
For each of your weakness, first describe it (indicators or examples or facts that show your weakness, and how it will block your career advancement if not overcoming it), and then what you can do to overcome them.
For both strengths and weaknesses, DON’T repeat each KSA in the attachment.
Example of the essay components and headings:
Occupation: First Line Supervisor for customer service
K1 My strength – Administration and Management (about 15 lines)
K2 My weakness – Customer and Personal Service (about 15 lines)
S1 My strength – Coordination (about 15 lines)
S2 My weakness – Service Orientation (about 15 lines)
A1 My strength – Oral Expression (about 15 lines)
A2 My weakness – Problem Sensitivity (about 15 lines)
Attachment (must be in a separate page and staple it after your essay)
Sample of Attachment (On a separate sheet, 1-2 pages, not count into the length of the paper)
Job: First-Line Supervisors, Customer Service
Tasks
· Supervises and coordinates activities of workers engaged in customer service activities.
· Plans, prepares, and devises work schedules, according to budgets and workloads.
· Observes and evaluates workers’ performance.
· Issues instructions and assigns duties to workers.
· Trains and instructs employees.
· Hires and discharges workers.
· Communicates with other departments and management to resolve problems and expedite work.
· Interprets and communicates work procedures and company policies to staff.
· Helps workers in resolving problems and completing work.
· Resolves complaints and answers questions of customers regarding services and procedures.
Knowledge:
Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Skills:
Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
Ability:
Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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