86659 - Soft Skills to be Effective at Work - Cesena

Learning outcomes

The course aims to improve students' awareness concerning the importance of soft skills in work contexts and develop the most suitable strategies for their enhancement and/or consolidation among university students. These skills, combined with the knowledge and specific technical skills, allow to tackle efficiently with the challenges referred to their future career path, and the tasks related to the entry in the labour market (for instance, the recruitment process tasks).

Specific aims: The specific objectives  of this course are:

• Becoming aware of the role played by soft skills in entering the labour market;
• Recognizing the personal soft skills and their fit with different contexts and situations;
• Developing the ability to assessment th personal soft skills;
• Promoting the development and/or enhancement of the soft skills;
• Developing the ability to fill the gap of weakest skills through a specific development plan
  

Course contents

The course consists of three lessons (4 hours each) based on an active teaching method, mostly team works requiring to using the soft skills to face concrete situations similar to typical job search activity (for example, tackling job interviews and in-basket exercises).

Specifically, these activities will be focused on three areas of expertise:

• read/understand the situation, which includes the ability to gather information/data, to analyse and interpret circumstances and relationships, and to process this information/data in order to identify a proper solution;
• address/solve the problems, including the ability to plan, manage and implement a targeted action plan, the ability to make consistent decisions and to effectively manage changes. This area of expertise is further developed through the MOOC named "Change management";
• collaborate, which includes the ability of self-presentation, working within teams, interacting effectively with others, being aware of inter-individual dynamics and conflict management. This area of expertise will be strengthened also with the MOOC named "Conflict management".

Moreover, students will be involved in e-learning activities (these activities will take above 6 hours) aimed at encouraging involvement, active participation, awareness of the importance of soft skills for job placement and the ability to self-evaluate one's own skills.

This e-learning activity will concern:

• Presentation and description through some interviews with different figures (e.g., HR Directors of large companies) of the importance of soft skills to achieve in the laboru market;
• Self-assessment of one’s soft skills;
• Integration of self-assessment activity with classroom activities, participation in MOOCs and output of online questionnaires;
• Writing a development plan in which describing the soft skills ownened, those that should be enhanced, and a detailed description of action plan aimed at strengthening those skills emerged as crucial for job placement and/or accessing advanced training courses.

The topics will be analyzed/presented in terms of inclusive industrialization, multiculturality, innovation and diversity management too, as indicated by the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Readings/Bibliography

The study materials will be available on the e-learning platform before and during the course.

Teaching methods

Blended method (12 hours of taught lessons, 6 hours of distance learning, 48 hours of online MOOCs).

 

Course timetable:

April:

Thursday 2nd from 3 to 6 p.m .Room: Aula europa 2 - v.le Europa 115 Cesena

Thursday 16th from 3 to 6 p.m .Room: Aula europa 2 - v.le Europa 115 Cesena

Thursday 23rd from 3 to 6 p.m .Room: Aula europa 2 - v.le Europa 115 Cesena

 

Due to Emergency situation, the course will be delivered at distance.

Please, click the following link to attend it

 

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_YTg1NGU4MzMtZmNmYy00YzJhLWE1MTItMDUzYTUyNDM2OWE4%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22e99647dc-1b08-454a-bf8c-699181b389ab%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22080683d2-51aa-4842-aa73-291a43203f71%22%7d

Assessment methods

At the end of the course, the final mark is based on the assessment of two elements:

1) The development of knowledge concerning the skills addressed in the course (a suitable bibliography will be provided);

2) The consistency of the development plan written at the end of the course with the potential weaknesses identified through the questionnaires and activities.

Teaching tools

The teaching activity will be support by e-learning platform.

The platform will allow to download the ppt presentations and exercises.

At the beginnig of the course, all the relevant information concerning the course (exercises, questionnaires, deadlines, ...) will be available on the platform.

Office hours

See the website of Rita Chiesa