Description Evaluate your professional and personal capabilities at the start and end of the trimester, compare these capabilities to your target post-graduation job requirements; identify objectives in the unit and document how you address the gaps during the unit; and propose how capability gaps will be resolved during your course.

Specific Requirements All information technology related professional bodies (e.g. Australian Computer Society) require that their members complete ongoing professional development, which corresponds to Deakin's Selfmanagement GLO. A key aspect of self-management is the ability to identify and address one's professional capability gaps. Deakin and professional bodies (which accredit courses) thus emphasise the need for all students to complete a Professional Capability Gap Analysis during their course. We need to produce a report on the results of our analysis. You are required to undertake background research to do a Professional Capability Gap Analysis, reflection on your learning, and plan add resolve the identified gaps.

Your Tasks in this Assignment: Task 1. Identify required professional capabilities There are two objectives of this task: 1. Identify and justify a suitable professional role (job) that you plan to target 2. Identify the technical and soft skills and knowledge (with evidence) that the role requires

To achieve the first objective in Task 1, decide on the specific job title/position to use for your analysis. Students who are already employed and are not planning to change their job after graduation can use their existing job title and state a professional development goal. Students planning to apply for a new job after graduation should identify one (1) job title (e.g. Business Analyst or Data Analyst or another job title). If you have not yet decided, pick one that is the most interest to you at the moment. Please note: The job/position must be achievable given your industry experience and qualifications. For example, students with 6-12 months of industry experience cannot be managers. Australian employers of international graduates expect applicants to have Australian work experience relevant to the job/position. If you don't, then a more realistic goal is to apply for junior / entry-level positions initially.

To achieve the second objective in Task 1, first find a minimum of 15 high quality, credible research sources, specific to the job title/ professional development goal and relate to the Information Systems / Information Technology sector or relevant to your discipline or choice of career. Each source should state multiple capabilities needed for the professional development area:

A minimum of 5 o advertisements for the job title (for those applying for a new job after graduation)

(AND/OR) o course syllabuses (for those focusing on professional development, not a new job) which include capabilities relating specifically to the professional development area above and to the job sector.

A minimum of 5 academic research sources (i.e. peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers) which report on capabilities relating specifically to the professional development area above and to the job sector.

A minimum of 5 industry sources (e.g. documents, reports or articles) written by a professional body (e.g. Australian Computer Society, Forrester Research, Gartner Group, Ernst and Young, PWC) about the capabilities relating specifically to the professional development area above and to the job title. You are required to submit a list of references to the research sources with your final report for marking. Make sure you store all these sources for checking if needed. Second, identify the various specific capabilities that are needed for the job title / professional development goal. You must submit the list in your final report.

Task 2. Reflect on growth There are two objectives of this task: 1. Identify and justify your professional development goals for the unit 2. Reflect on your growth during the unit To achieve the first objective in Task 2, reflect on your own capabilities in reference to the required capabilities. Develop a table summarising your pre-trimester (Week 1) and target professional capabilities identified in Task 1. To achieve the second objective in Task 2, reflect on your learning and identify achievements and explain how the objectives were (or not) achieved.

Task 3. Plan for future professional development There are two objectives of this task: 1. Identify your skills gaps towards the target role 2. Propose how capability gaps will be resolved during your course. To achieve the first objective in Task 3, reflect and identify 2-3 capability gaps with respect to the specific capabilities which emerge from the research synthesis (Task 1) and your reflections (Task 2). To achieve the second objective in Task 3, identify highly specific strategies that you will use to address the gaps. For example: Not just 'certifications', but which specific certifications, what do they cover, and how and why will they address one or more of your weaknesses? Not just 'internship', but what specific internship tasks, and how and why will these tasks address one or more of your weaknesses? You must submit a professional development strategy table in your final report. Each column should be a capability required for the job title / professional development goal. First row lists descriptions of the capabilities. Second row should be your own reflections, highlighting growth and gaps. Third row lists strategies to address the weaknesses. Outcomes of the three tasks should be consistent.