Dr Emma Soane NAB4.02 and Dr Alexander Pepper NAB4.30

This course is compulsory on the MSc in Management. This course is not available as an outside option.

The Professional Development Programme (PDP) aims to equip students with the skills necessary to secure internships and jobs, optimise their career opportunities and succeed in their careers. The sessions will also provide students with tools and techniques that can be 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; and career-related skills such as networking and giving presentations and making the transition to postgraduate working life.

Students apply 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 year, 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 (normally 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 business question posed by the company. The actual topic is for the sponsoring executive to decide and questions are very diverse. Subsequent variations may be proposed by the company and agreed 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.

20 hours of lectures in the MT. 20 hours of lectures in the LT.

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, selection and assessment. Business Project: Students will work in groups (normally 5 or 6 people ). They will be allocated a Faculty Coach who will support and guide them through the full project.

Students will be asked to apply theory to personal and professional development, such as leadership, communication or effective decision making. Students must refer to the Professional Development Programme syllabus which will provide full assessment information. Students working on their Business Projects in MT will submit their formative course work at the end of week 7 of MT. Students working on their Business Projects in LT will submit their formative course work at the end of week 7 of LT.

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.

Project (65%) in the MT and LT.
Other (35%) in the ST.

• PDP assignment - 35 % of total marks. Students must refer to the Professional Development Programme Syllabus. 
• Business Project - 65 % of total marks, assessed on a group basis 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. Students working on their Business Projects in MT will submit their summative Professional Development course work at the end of week 2 of LT. Students working on their Business Projects in LT will submit their summative Professional Development course work at the end of week 2 of ST. 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. Business projects are assessed on a group basis