Employability Case Study
Guidelines for the assessment This assignment consists of:
Employability Case Study (Poster and Cover Letter)
Employability Case Study Word length Poster: 500 words (+ / – 10%) Cover letter: 250 words (+ / – 10%) Instructions
1. Researching your case study
1.1.Work in pairs or alone to research an organisation that applies psychology.
1.2.A list of organisations is provided on Moodle but there are lots more organisations that you can find online. You should pick an organisation that interests you. The only stipulation is that the organisation you select MUST apply psychology.
1.3.If you are on a pathway, ensure that the organisation you pick is related to this i.e. forensic pathway students must select a forensic organisation, child pathway students must select a development/ educational/ child psychologist organisation and sports pathway students must select a sports psychology organisation.
1.4.Spend time researching your organisation before preparing your poster. Make sure you can find all of the information you need for the mandatory headings below.
2. Sections: Your case study poster should include the following sections
2.1.Background to organisation: A brief summary of the history and strategic aims of the organisation. Remember to write out everything in your own words. Copying from websites is a form of plagiarism.
2.2.How this organisation applies psychology: In what way, and to what ends, they apply psychology. This could be around a psychological theory or approach, it could be the use of psychological therapies, or it could be work based on psychological research. Use the organisations webpage as the starting point for your own research here. For example, if an organisation says they use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), move away from the website and conduct your own research into CBT, using references in your poster as you would do an essay. The Psychology of Resilience and Success 2020 – 2021
2.3.Include a minimum of two references to academic literature (i.e. journal articles or books). These can be for any section of the poster.
2.4.Employment and volunteering options: Briefly describe what kinds of jobs or volunteer roles are available, concentrating on roles that will be relevant for psychology students or recent psychology graduates.
2.5.References: This should include all your references, formatted in the APA 7 th style. Remember that websites must be cited and referenced alongside academic literature.
3. Producing the poster
3.1.If you have researched an organisation in pairs, you must produce your own poster.
3.2.Use the template provided on Moodle.
3.3.You must use the sections shown in the template, but you can change the design in any way you want, in terms of background, choice of font, colour scheme, etc. – as long as it retains the same structure. Visual impact will be considered during marking.
3.4.Keep the font to a size where it is legible.
3.5.You may wish to include images in your poster. Use stock images (available on PowerPoint) wherever possible as you do not have to reference these. If you would prefer to use an image form your organisation, ensure that it is referenced. There is guidance for referencing an image using APA 7 th online.
3.6.Complete the title page as seen the PowerPoint template on Moodle.
4. Writing the cover letter
4.1.In the Appendix of the PowerPoint file (i.e. second slide) write a cover letter to the organisation applying for a job or for a volunteering opportunity. This, like the poster, should be done individually. The job does not have to be a current vacancy, but it should be one that the organisation would employ people for. Ideally it should be a graduate level job (e.g. Assistant Psychologist/ Research Assistant/ Support Worker/ Clinical Support Worker)
4.2.Check advice online for cover letters – there is lots out there. The Psychology of Resilience and Success 2020 – 2021 4.3.Use whatever font size makes the letter fit well on the slide.
4.4.Sign off with a false name to preserve anonymity.
5. Submission
5.1.Save your poster and cover letter as a PDF file (File > Save as > Save as type > select ‘PDF’)
5.2.Submit your file on Moodle.
Example Organisations that Apply Psychology
Forensic/ Criminal Psychology http://forensicpsychologysolutionsltd.co.uk https://www.forensicpsychology.co.uk/ https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-prison-service/about/recruitment http://www.prisonersadvice.org.uk/
