Self-Assessment/Management Reflection Paper Assignment Requirements and Guidelines
Length: The paper should be 6-8 typed (double-spaced) pages (excluding your title and any reference or appendix pages). I will stop reading after 8 pages so please write succinctly – quality not quantity!
Rubric:
Part 1 (60 pts)
Interviewee fits 1 of 7 manager types
15
Brief job description
10
Business card information
10
Interviewee selection rationale
10
Copy of interview notes
15
Part 2 (65 pts)
Insights gleaned from engagement assessments
65
(management skills, management abilities, leadership, cultural and environmental references, organizational behavior capability)
Part 3 (55 pts)
Summary – self-reflection & org fit
55
Part 4 (20 pts)
Formatting
Title page
Within Page limit
10
10
Total Points = 200
Whether or not you are in a formal management role, you will be called upon to participate in selection interviews either as part of an interview team or as the hiring manager. Since this is a management course, you will have an opportunity to apply the learnings from the course and conduct a structured interview. You will be required to interview a person who is currently working as a manager in a career area you believe you would like to pursue (or are currently pursuing). It will be your responsibility to contact and set-up an interview with a manager of your choosing. The interview should be conducted face-to-face (or via Zoom or similar means).
Part 1: should summarize the information you gather during the interview. This summary should also include a brief description of the job and the specific function in the organization of the person being interviewed Include the business card information (name, title, organization, and phone number) of the person you interview in this part (or in an appendix). Part 1 should also include the brief rationale for the interviewee selection and how you connected with them (i.e., explain why you selected a VP of Human Resources to interview or Director of New Product Development, etc. and how youmet them). You must also identify which of the 7 manager types fit your interviewee’s job responsibilities. Automatic 2 points deduction if you omit this information.
[Example interview questions are provided in the Appendix. Remember to take notes during the interview.]
Choose an interviewee wisely. Don’t simply select a person out of convenience. You should NOT conduct the interview with someone whom you know personally or are currently working for/with.
Part 2: Part 2 Requires you to analyze and summarize the results of the various self-assessment measures that you will complete during the course. These results should provide insights regarding your management skills, abilities, leadership, cultural and environmental preferences, and organizational behavior capabilities. Note: Your summary should make reference to your actual score and its meaning for each assessment -OR- you must provide screen captures of the interpretative score summary for each assessment in your paper (or in an appendix) in order to satisfy this requirement.
Part 3: Part 3 should provide an integration of the above information to present a picture of your own management propensity. Be sure to address both strengths and weaknesses. This part should also include job and organizational characteristics that you believe would “fit” with your cultural and environmental ‘style’. For instance, what type of job fit would be best for you if your creativity and innovation scores are high and your tolerance for ambiguity is low? Be aware that some dimensions of the assessments may seem to conflict with each other; this is not unusual. It may be that personal observations (self-reflection) will help you decide which dimension is more important. This part will also compare the information that you gathered about the job you chose for the interview with your self-assessments taken throughout the course. Be sure to discuss not only where your organizational behavioral style overlaps with your chosen job’s requirements, but also where it might conflict.
Part 4: Based upon what you have learned both from completion of the previous sections of this project as well as from the course topics in general, the conclusion/summary of your paper should sum up what you have learned about yourself and the type of organization you think that you would find desirable based upon your unique needs and characteristics.
CAUTION! Five points will be deducted if you refer to a specific company vs the attributes of an organization!
Grading Criteria: Papers will be evaluated on content (all 4 parts) as well as quality of writing and formatting.. Please adhere to the requirements. For those of you who may feel that your writing skills are a bit “rusty,” please have someone else whose skills are greater proofread your paper for errors prior to submission (or seek assistance at the Mays Communication Lab). https://writingcenter.tamu.edu/
Self-Assessment/Management Reflection Paper Assignment/Examples
Title Page: The title of your paper should be underlined and centered on a separate sheet of paper. Center (on the middle of the page) your name one space below your title, the course designation (MGMT 655:199) one space below your name, and the due date one space below the course designation. For example:
Director of Product Marketing [Descriptive title of job/career]
[Your Name Here]
MGMT 655:199
12/09/2022
Headings: Carefully consider the hierarchy of the ideas you wish to present, and use headings to convey the sequence and levels of importance. Headings help the reader grasp the article’s outline and the relative importance of the parts of the article.
Font: Use Times New Roman 12-point font (which is what you’re reading).
Margins: Set margins to 1 inch at the top, bottom, right, and left of every page. Do not justify the right margin. If you do not know what “justify” means, just look at any one of the paragraphs on this sheet. The left margin is justified and the right margin is not. Indent each paragraph with a five- to seven-space indent.
References: Because of the nature of this particular assignment, it is possible/likely that you may not have any references to cite in your paper.
O*NET: This site can be used to educate yourself about a given job or categories of jobs (including salaries). It may prove helpful prior to your scheduled interview. http://online.onetcenter.org
Interview Tips and Sample Interview Questions
Basic Interview Tips
Make sure you understand the project fully before you conduct the interview. Be fully prepared.
Know what questions you want to ask (i.e., the information you wish to acquire) prior to the interview. You do not have to ask all the questions in the Sample – choose a subset to gather the information you think you’ll need in the allotted time. (Usually not more than 1 hour)
Make sure you read over and understand each of the questions prior to the interview.
Try to ask the most relevant questions up front in case you run out of time.
Be focused and precise in asking your questions. Clarify any confusion regarding the meaning of a question to ensure valid answers.
It is unlikely that you can go back and clarify answers to questions, therefore make sure you take good notes during the interview.
A well-conducted interview helps ensure a higher quality paper; a poor job on this part will hinder the quality of your paper since all subsequent parts builds off of the information collected during the interview.
Respect the time of the individual you are interviewing, paying special attention to their time constraints. Be sure to thank the person for his or her participation. Follow-up by mailing or emailing a “thank you” note.
** Present and represent yourself in a professional manner that reflects well on both you and your university.
