Do you want to change jobs? Are you just starting in the job market? Are you returning to work after a break? If so, then this free course, Succeed in the workplace, is for you. It will help you explore career opportunities by starting from you, not the job - getting to know yourself and what you value are the foundations of your career planning. You will  gain the skills to write strong CVs and application forms, and to handle different types of interviews. By the end of the course you will have made a start on your own realistic and robust action plan to enable you to find a job that will fulfil your aspirations and suit your lifestyle.TranscriptSucceed in the workplace is a free course which lasts about 8 weeks, with approximately 3 hours' study time each week. You can work through the course at your own pace, so if you have more time one week there is no problem with pushing on to complete another week's study. You can also take as long as you want to complete it.Enrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they're a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career, and to provide evidence of continuing professional development. The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional start-of-course survey. Once you complete the course we would also value your feedback and suggestions for future improvement, in our optional end-of-course survey. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others. This course is accredited by the CPD Standards Office. It can be used to provide evidence of continuing professional development and on successful completion of the course you will be awarded 24 CPD points. Evidence of your CPD achievement is provided on the free Statement of Participation awarded on completion.Anyone wishing to provide evidence of their enrolment on this course is able to do so by sharing their Activity Record on their OpenLearn Profile, which is available before completion of the course and earning of the Statement of Participation. Â
Overview
Syllabus
- Introduction and guidance
- Introduction and guidance
- What is a badged course?
- How to get a badge
- Acknowledgements
- Week1Week 1: Start planning your career
- Introduction
- 1 What is a career?
- 1.1 Careers: then and now
- 2 The career planning process: knowing yourself
- 2.1 What’s to love about work?
- 3 What do I really want from work?
- 3.1 Thinking about your answers
- 4 What am I like?
- 5 What personal values do I hold?
- 5.1 Jon’s values
- 5.2 Personal beliefs and values
- 6 What most interests me?
- 7 Are there any limits?
- 8 Pulling it together
- 9 This week’s quiz
- 10 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week2Week 2: Understanding your skills and abilities
- Introduction
- 1 The difference between ‘knowledge’ and ‘skills’
- 2 What roles are played in life?
- 2.1 My roles in life
- 3 What abilities have these roles required of me?
- 3.1 Evidence of my abilities
- 4 Skills developed through work
- 5 Skills developed through learning
- 6 Assessing your skills
- 6.1 My skills: how good am I at them?
- 7 Pulling your thoughts together
- 8 This week’s quiz
- 9 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week3Week 3: Exploring available opportunities
- Introduction
- 1 The career planning process – where am I now?
- 2 How clear are you about what you want?
- 3 Refining your ideas: where to get information
- 3.1 Types of question to ask
- 3.2 Identifying your questions
- 3.3 Finding your answers
- 4 Matching you and the work
- 5 Broader options
- 6 Making choices and keeping going
- 7 This week’s quiz
- 8 Summary
- Acknowledgements
- Week4Week 4: Considering work experience and voluntary work
- Introduction
- 1 What is meant by ‘work experience’?
- 2 What are the benefits of work experience?
- 3 Ways to find work experience opportunities
- 3.1 Exploit opportunities
- 3.2 Use your contacts
- 3.3 Do your own research
- 4 The practicalities of work experience for you
- 4.1 Making the most of your work experience
- 5 What is ‘voluntary work’?
- 6 Voluntary work and career development
- 7 What voluntary work might suit me?
- 7.1 Is it the right time to volunteer?
- 8 Pausing on the journey
- 9 This week’s quiz
- 10 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week5Week 5: Social and employment networking
- Introduction
- 1 What is networking?
- 2 What does networking look like in action?
- 3 Why network?
- 3.1 Helping you to get things done
- 3.2 Finding creative solutions
- 3.3 Ensuring you stay current
- 3.4 Finding work
- 4 Traditional networks and their uses in career management
- 5 Social media networks
- 5.1 What are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn?
- 5.2 Getting started with social media
- 6 What does your complete network look like?
- 7 Networks and finding work
- 8 Effective networking etiquette
- 9 This week’s quiz
- 10 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week6Week 6: Creating strong job applications
- Introduction
- 1 What to look for in job advertisements
- 1.1 Picking out the details from a job advert
- 2 The key areas in a job advert
- 3 What do they mean?
- 4 How to present yourself to an employer
- 5 Completing application forms
- 6 What is a curriculum vitae and why do I need one?
- 6.1 What should be included in a CV?
- 6.2 The main types of CV and when to use them
- 6.3 Chronological CV
- 6.4 Functional CVs
- 6.5 Preparing a CV
- 6.6 Bringing your CV to your network
- 7 This week’s quiz
- 8 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week7Week 7: Presenting your ‘best’ self at interview
- Introduction
- 1 Your experience of interviews
- 2 Role of interviews and interviewers in the recruitment process
- 3 Types of interview you might encounter
- 4 Preparation: before the interview
- 4.1 Preparation basics
- 4.2 Practical planning
- 4.3 Special situations
- 5 A summary of yourself
- 5.1 Your personal profile
- 6 Interview question practice
- 6.1 Types of interview question
- 6.2 Tough questions
- 6.3 Prepare questions to ask
- 7 At the interview
- 7.1 Physical impression
- 7.2 What you say and how you say it
- 7.3 Dealing with difficulties
- 8 After the interview
- 9 Week 7 quiz
- 10 Summary
- Acknowledgements
- Week8Week 8: Planning your next steps
- Introduction
- 1 Your career planning process
- 2 Personal development planning
- 2.1 The next steps in your plan
- 3 Reviewing and strengthening
- 3.1 Your priorities and decisions so far
- 4 Moving forward
- 4.1 SWOT analysis
- 4.2 Reflecting on your wish list and SWOT analysis
- 5 Action planning
- 5.1 SMART
- 5.2 Building your own action plan
- 6 Planning to ‘stay on track’
- 7 The importance of reflection
- 7.1 Learning review
- 8 Week 8 quiz
- 9 Summary
- Tell us what you think
- References
- Acknowledgements
