Students of the Dutch bachelor’s programme, see Perspectief op Carrièreplanning (POCP)
Entry requirements
Students are strongly advised to first follow the first-year Academic Skills Tutorial.
Description
This course consists of two modules. Module 1 centres on the question: “What can I expect from my future work field?” This module focuses on topics such as careers, orienting towards your future career, making potentially difficult career choices and dealing with insecurities relating to one’s planning and career path. Module 2 centres on the question: “What does the future work field expect from me?” This module addresses the professional and ethical conduct of the psychologist, as well as a fundamental aspect of a psychologist’s work: their ability to solve problems.
Course objectives
Students work actively on their future career. They learn to discover what they want to achieve and how they can shape their career path. They gain insight into how career paths develop, and learn the importance of analytical and problem-solving skills in a psychologist’s future work field. Students also acquire knowledge and insights that will help them manage their own career and deal with insecurities that may arise. They learn to use scientific theories to analyse practical problems and receive training in dealing with ethical matters.
Exemption
An exemption from POCP will only be granted in very exceptional situations. Students can be eligible for an exemption if they meet three criteria:
(1) They can demonstrate that they have made several career choices in the past and can substantiate these choices adequately.
(2) They are demonstrably familiar with the professional field of psychologists on the basis of their own experience. In other words, their work experience has included contacts with psychologists.
(3) They can demonstrate and present arguments showing that they have been able to learn about themselves (e.g. core qualities, pitfalls, skills & knowledge) and ways to manage their own behaviour (e.g. through reflection assignments).
Age or work experience alone are not enough to make you eligible for an exemption.
Exemption must be requested at least 6 weeks before the start of the course, by submitting a ‘petition’ via uSis, and must be well-substantiated. Exemption requests that are not sufficiently substantiated, are submitted late or are not submitted via the correct channels will not be accepted for consideration.
Timetable
Introductory meetings will take place in block 1. Lectures, seminars and mentoring interviews will take place in block 2 and 3.
For the timetable of this course please refer to MyTimetable
Registration
Education
Students must register themselves for all course components (lectures, tutorials and practicals) they wish to follow. You can register up to 14 days prior to the start of the course. The exception here is that first-year bachelor students are assigned and registered for all components in the first semester or academic year by the administration of their bachelor programme. The programme will communicate to these students for which course components and for which period the registration applies.
Exams
It is mandatory for all students, including first-year bachelor students, to register for each exam and to confirm registration for each exam in My Studymap. This is possible up to and including 10 calendar days prior to the examination. You cannot take an exam without a valid pre-registration and confirmation in My Studymap.
Carefully read all information about the procedures and deadlines for registering for courses and exams.
Students who take this course as part of a LDE minor or a premaster programme, exchange students and external guest students will be informed by the education administration about the current registration procedure.
Mode of instruction
4 lectures (online available)
8 2 hour seminar sessions
1 introductory meeting with the mentor and 2 mentoring interviews.
Assessment method
The final grade for POCP consists of two constituent grades, which are recorded separately: the seminar grade (90%) and the career event grade (10%). Both of these constituent grades must be a pass (5.50 or higher). Successful completion of POCP results in five EC credits. The POCP has only been successfully completed if the final grade is a pass. It is not possible to claim a proportion of the five credits. Final grades that are a pass (5.50 or higher) cannot be raised by taking ‘resits’ of individual assignments. If the seminar grade is a fail (after the resit opportunities for the separate elements described below), the student must follow the seminar groups again in the next academic year, and must complete all the assignments and polls related to these. If the career event grade is a fail (after the resit opportunity described below), the student must (still or again) attend a new approved career event in the next academic year and submit a report on this career event. Resit opportunities for separate parts of the course will be offered to the student by their mentor after finishing all course assignments.
Seminar grade (1-10)
The seminar grade is calculated as the weighted average of the module grade (80%) and the task grade (20%).
Two module assignments make up the module grade. Assignments not handed in, or not submitted on time or via the correct link on Brightspace, will result in zero points. Module assignments are graded on a scale of 0 - 10. The grades of the individual module assignments may be lower than 5.00, provided that the average grade of the two module assignments (the module grade) is at least 5.00. Retaking one or both module assignments is only possible if the module grade is lower than 5.00. Within the duration of the course, but only after the grades of both module assignments are known, a resit of one or both assignments will be offered once by the seminar tutor. The tutor will provide the student with feedback on the submitted assignment(s) once, after which the student has 2 weeks to revise and submit the assignment(s). In the case of a resit for an assignment that was not submitted, the student also has 2 weeks to submit the assignment. In both resit situations, a maximum of 6.00 can be obtained for a module assignment because students have had sufficient opportunity during the course to obtain individual feedback on the assignment(s) to be handed in.
The task grade consists of two polls (50% in total) and a personal development (PO) assignment (50%). Both the polls and the PO assignment are assessed as fulfilled (1 point) or not fulfilled (0 points). Please note: it is not possible to resit polls or reflection reports from the PO assignment.
Career event grade (1-10)
Students must attend one approved career event and write a reflection report about it. This report is graded on a scale of 1 - 10. Reports that are not submitted, not submitted on time or not submitted via the correct link on Blackboard will be graded with zero points. During the course there will be one opportunity to resit a submitted report that is graded as a fail. If a resit is taken, the tutor will provide the student with feedback on the submitted report, after which the student has 2 weeks in which to revise and resubmit the report. Students who attended a career event but did not submit a report for this, or did not submit a report on time, will also be given the opportunity to resit this by still submitting a report within 2 weeks after their tutor has given them this resit opportunity. In this resit situation, a report can never be given a grade higher than 6.0, because students have had sufficient opportunity during the course to obtain individual feedback on the report to be submitted. Students who did not attended a career event cannot resit this assignment. They will have to attend a career event in the next academic year and submit a report.
The Institute of Psychology uses fixed rules for grade calculation and compulsory attendance. It also follows the policy of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences to systematically check student papers for plagiarism with the help of software. Disciplinary measures will be taken when fraud is detected. Students are expected to be familiar with and understand the implications of these three policies.
Reading list
The reading material consists of scientific articles and will be announced via Brightspace. Examples of the articles that need to be studied are:
Mitchell, K. E., Al Levin, S. and Krumboltz, J. D. (1999), Planned Happenstance: Constructing Unexpected Career Opportunities. Journal of Counseling & Development, 77: 115–124. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6676.1999.tb02431.x
Lent, R.W. & Brown, S.D. (2013). Social cognitive model of career self-management: Toward a unifying view of adaptive career behavior across the life span. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60, 557-568
Contact information
Esther van Leeuwen, Chris Verhoeven POCP@fsw.leidenuniv.nl