Dr Emma Soane (PDP), Dr Sandy Pepper (Business Project).

Compulsory for MSc Management. Students must chose either MG489A (assessed) or MG489B (non-assessed).

The Professional Development Programme (PDP) is designed exclusively for the MSc Management and aims to equip students with the skills necessary to secure internships, optimise their career opportunities and succeed in their careers. The sessions will also provide students with tools and techniques that can applied to long term career management.

Content includes developing your CV; writing application letters; understanding your workplace preferences and working to your strengths; preparing for psychometric assessments and other candidate selection activities; interview preparation; networking skills; presentation skills. There are also evening activities with guest speakers from organisations.
 
Students utilise the skills and knowledge gained from the PDP sessions and first year courses in order to carry out a Business Project for a company in either MT or LT of their 2nd years, culminating in an "executive seminar" - a presentation of their findings to the company and to their MIM peer group.

• At the start of the term groups of 5-6 students are assigned to a particular company, with a sponsoring executive from the company and a faculty coach from the LSE;
   
• The students research a strategic business question posed by the company - the actual topic is for the sponsoring executive to decide and agree with the student team and faculty coach;
   

• The students present their research findings to the company; they will subsequently give a presentation to their peer group at a seminar which is attended by the company sponsor; the sponsor is invited to give a short talk to the students in response to the presentation.

Professional Development Programme: Sessions run once a week throughout the Michaelmas and Lent Terms of both the first and second years. Sessions are delivered by LSE faculty, advisors from the LSE Careers Service, business professionals and experts in specific areas, for example, psychometric testing.
Business Project: Students will work in groups of 4 or 5. They will be allocated a Faculty Coach who will support and guide them through the full project.

Many of the core areas are covered in the text Cottrell, S. (2005). Skills for Success. The Personal Development Planning Handbook. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. A reading list is provided at the start of the course. Relevant readings will also be provided by group supervisors.

This course is not formally assessed. However, students will work in groups to complete a Business Project. The Business Project will result in a presentation based under three headings: quality of group presentation; quality of research including application of theoretical concepts; quality of outcomes (recommendations and solutions) and other deliverables. 5% of the total mark for the Business Project assessment will comprise an individual mark for a peer evaluation assessment. The presentation will be the assessed component of the Business Project. The presentation must include the following sections: an introduction, literature review, methods, results, discussion and recommendations.

Presentations for students working on their business projects in MT will take place during LT.
Presentations for students working on their business projects in the LT will take place in the first two weeks of ST.