SSC-20005 - Module Specification
School of Social Sciences
Faculty of Business, Law, Humanities & Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2026/27

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2026/27

This module is designed to be useful for anyone who wants to better prepare themselves for life after Keele. It is designed for students who are thinking of work involving the public sector or private sector broadly speaking, but it could be of use whatever direction students see themselves taking, including self-employment. There are three main areas addressed.
1. Employability and career development education: * What jobs are available to me? * How do I find out about them? * How do I decide what to do next? * How can I improve my chances of succeeding with applications to graduate jobs (successful CV writing, interview and assessment centre techniques)?
2. Personal and professional development: the module focuses on the broad concept of emotional intelligence, that is to say techniques for you to understand and to manage better yourself and people who you find yourself working or living with. In other words the module aims to help you to improve your motivation, resilience, people skills, communication skills and other key life skills.
3. Change agency: through developing these techniques and skills the module material is designed to help you to become a more effective change agent, and to understand the value of your discipline in addressing real-world challenges.

The module has three interrelated aims:
1. Career development education: to enable students to develop a knowledge of the graduate labour market for social science students, techniques for career decision making, and the range of transition skills needed to gain, secure and change jobs
2. Personal and professional development: to raise awareness of the components of emotional intelligence, that is self awareness, awareness of others, self-management and management of others
3. Through the above, to become more effective change agent, whether in personal life or a professional context

Intended Learning Outcomes

articulate their current strengths, skills, areas for development, personal values and priorities: 1,2
demonstrate the ability to produce a CV and covering letter appropriate for application to graduate jobs: 1,2
apply the concept of emotional intelligence to reflect on their performance, and their effectiveness in dealing with personal challenges, including using appropriate techniques from the course materials: 1,2
articulate a career plan, setting out intended directions, and outlining next steps: 1,2
research appropriate career options, including details of the nature of the work and current entry routes: 1,2

Study hours

24 hours workshops
46 hours structured engagement with online resources (this is primarily engaging with the Keele Careers Online app and multiple resources contained therein, which students are guided to use on a week by week basis)
80 hours completion of formative and summative assessment

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment