PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR ACCOUNTING & FINANCE - 2021/2

Module Overview

The module seeks to enhance the employability of students on the Accounting & Finance programme through building their knowledge of the skills, behaviours and attitude required to secure employment (i.e. part-time work, internships, placement or graduate jobs) and be successful in the professional workplace.

By increasing their self-awareness through exploration of their experiences and the competencies developed from these, students will be better able to evidence these competencies in their job applications.

By developing their understanding of the recruitment tools used by employers (i.e. CVs, LinkedIn, interviews), students will be more effective in marketing themselves to employers.

By exploring alternative career paths in Accounting & Finance, students will be able to shape their professional interest and career goals.

The assessment for the module will evaluate the development of their written and verbal communication and reflective evaluation skills.

Module provider

Surrey Business School

Module Leader

SAHA Suman (SII DUFE)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

Indicative content includes:

Developing a professional portfolio to include an effective CV, Cover Letter and LinkedIn profile.

Enhancing knowledge of career paths in Accounting & Finance to inform professional interests and career goals through exposure to professionals in the sector.

Developing written and verbal communication, team working and reflective evaluation skills through self-evaluation questionnaires, interviews, the development of a team presentation and a written reflection of professional development journey.

Undertaking the Bloomberg Certificate (BMC) as a self-paced e-learning course to gain an introduction to financial markets and the core functionality of the Bloomberg terminal.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Individual Presentation

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of their own employability and how this has been developing. It also allows for them to demonstrate their developing reflective evaluation, written and verbal communication, and team working skills.

The reflection on learning will enable students to evaluate the progress they have made and look forward to their next steps.

The summative assessment for this module consists of the following coursework:
Team presentation reporting on an interview they conducted with an Accounting or Finance professional.

A 1500 word reflection on their professional development journey including their professional portfolio (CV, Cover Letter and LinkedIn profile).


Formative assessment and feedback
Along with feedback provided on activities during tutorials, students will also be able to sign up for one-to-one sessions with the Module Tutors and/or the Faculty Careers Advisor. This feedback will help students develop their professional portfolios, self-awareness and reflection on learning. In addition, those students seeking placement will be able to sign up for the Professional Training Coaching Scheme to benefit from the support of a Final Year student coach who has returned from placement. All students will also be encouraged to register on SurreyConnects in order to network with and secure mentoring support from Surrey alumni. Students will also be given the opportunity to be mock interviewed by a university staff member or an external employer with feedback provided within the session.  All students will be encouraged to fully engage with Surrey Pathfinder and Employability & Careers service events to help them develop their professional portfolio.

Module aims

• Develop and apply the knowledge, skills, behaviours and attitude appropriate to the professional workplace
• Explore potential career paths within Accounting & Finance
• Develop greater self-awareness through the reflective evaluation of experiences

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to give students the opportunity to develop an understanding of the skills, behaviours and attitude required to secure employment and be successful in the professional workplace by putting these into practice.

The learning and teaching methods include:

• interactive 2 hour weekly workshops in which students work individually and in teams to understand and put into practice the professional skills, behaviors and attitudes of the workplace.


• online (on demand) weekly one hour tutorials introducing the focus for the week and guiding students through various practical activities to enhance their employability.


• interviews with industry professionals to help students better understand the career paths open to them and how they might access these.


• mock interviews to help them practice their skills as an interviewee.


• mentoring/coaching by alumni and/or final year students to support their professional development and understanding of how to effectively engage with employers and secure employment.


• encouraging engagement with Surrey Pathfinder and Employability & Careers service events to help students develop their professional portfolio, an effective job search strategy and engage effectively with employers.


• access to the Bloomberg Certificate (BMC) as a self-paced e-learning course to gain an introduction to financial markets and the core functionality of the Bloomberg terminal.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MAN1129

Other information

N/A

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2021/2 academic year.