Skills and reflections

You must reflect on three employability skills written to reflect the Engineers Australia competencies. You can submit more than three (there is no maximum number of reflections), however you must choose from the nine employability skills below. Each skill must have its own reflection. AI & Generative AI tools must not be used within this assessment as the assessment task requires students to demonstrate human knowledge and skill acquisition without the assistance of AI.

Employability skills include:

  • communication
  • creativity and innovation
  • initiative and enterprise
  • professionalism
  • planning and organisation
  • problem identification and solving
  • teamwork
  • intercultural competence
  • use of tools and technology.

Reflecting on experiences to demonstrate employability skills


Identify your employability skills and then reflect on them to demonstrate meaningful experiences. You should reflect using the Situation, Task, Action and Result (STAR) method. Recruiters use STAR to determine if candidates have the right skills. Each reflection should be between 150 and 250 words.

Situation: This is the backstory – the who, what, when and where.
Task: What it is that you had to do? What were the success criteria? What part did you play
in the situation? What did you have to achieve?
Action: Paint a picture of the task and showcase your contributions. What did you do? Why  did you do it? How did you do it? How do your actions demonstrate this skill? What  were you thinking? Was there anything unique about your actions or your method worth mentioning?
Result: There is little point explaining the situation if the employer is still left wondering  whether you made any difference. What happened as a result of the actions you  took? What would you do differently or improve? What did you learn? Can you quantify your result?

If the sample statements don’t resonate with what you want to reflect on you can also write your own statement.

CPD example

Below is an example on how to answer your six CPD assessment questions using the STAR method assist you with understanding what high quality answers look like.

Description

At Monash University, there is an (club) chapter, a movement of students who believe in the work of (the club) and implement local activities that add to the collective work of the organisation. I served almost 18 months as President of (Student Club), after several years as a volunteer and committee member. As President, I was responsible for ensuring that the team was psychologically safe, we did impactful and personally meaningful work, and that we challenged and grew ourselves and the organisation.

Reflection

Employability Skill - Teamwork

Situation: I was elected to the President role at (Student Club) Monash. I was in the role for 2.5 years.

Task: As President, I was charged with working with the Vice-President to lead a team of 15 committee members and a wider membership base of 350-400 students. My focus was on empowering my team so they could excel in their roles. Tasks included administrative tasks (e.g. chairing meetings, workshops), people leadership (mentoring members) and organisational tasks (e.g. coordinating and running team retreats).

Action: As President, I made a commitment to be a leader that was respectful and would foster a positive team. I went out of my way to get to know each member of the team through individual catch-ups, making them feel known and valued. At the beginning of meetings, we would take turns in sharing answers to a 'question of the day'. At retreats, I set up team building activities. Sometimes, we would have social team events. I fostered respect by setting an example. And I made myself accessible and approachable in-person / phone / email or other.

Result: We developed a strong team culture where everyone respected each other and could work better together. This was crucial especially when we would have changing committee members (re-elected annually) over time. We had members continue to stay with the organisation and express positive emotions about being a part of the team.

CPD and Academic Integrity

CPD is an academic unit, and as such falls under Monash’s Student Academic Integrity Policy.

When you submit your CPD for assessment it will be checked by TurnItIn for plagiarism.

The Faculty of Engineering audit CPD submissions every semester to ensure there are no academic integrity issues.

There will be severe penalties for anyone caught falsifying claims on their CPD. Failure to supply accurate and honest details about the activities you have attended, the hours you spent at those activities, the skills you have developed, the experiences you were exposed to, or accurate contact details and supporting documentation for verification purposes, would put your graduation in jeopardy if you were suspended or excluded from the university. Monash University’s policy on Academic Integrity applies in each of those instances, and for all CPD submissions. Furthermore, as a future Engineer, you should be upholding the Engineers Australia Stage 1 competency of ethical conduct and personal accountability.