Personal Professionalism Essay Competition 

£500 first prize with 10 x £25 runner up prizes

Personal Professionalism Essay Competition.pdf  

The University of Surrey is proud of the education and training opportunities it provides which aim to help students develop the attitudes, capabilities and qualities necessary to becoming an effective professional in whatever field they choose. This essay competition, which is sponsored by SCEPTrE, provides University of Surrey students with an opportunity to reflect on what they have learnt about what being professional means while they have been a student.

We are interested in the insights you have gained and how you have gained these through the experiences you have had, for example through a professional training work placement, summer internship or job, or part-time jobs on and off campus. We are interested in knowing what is important to you about being professional and understanding the situations that have enabled you to develop these views.

Requirements – an essay up to 1500 words on the theme of

‘Personal Professionalism’: my perspectives on what being an effective professional means 

And 100 word summary of your views on ‘personal professionalism’

Deadline for submission  Friday January 14 2011

Notification of winners and publication of results Friday February 11 2011 on this webpage

Please email your essays to sceptre@surrey.ac.uk no later than 2pm Jan 14th

Some prompts to help you reflect

• ·         What experiences have you had that have enabled you to develop your views about what being professional means?
• ·         What does being a capable and effective professional mean? What are the components of professionalism?
• ·         What sorts of knowledge do you need to be an effective professional and how do you acquire it?
• ·         What sorts of skills do you need to be an effective professional and how do you acquire them?
• ·         How does an academic course of study prepare you for being an effective professional?
• ·         Habits – what are the habits necessary for being an effective professional?
• ·         Attitudes – what attitudes do you need to be an effective professional?
• ·         Beliefs and values – what are they and how have the changed as a result of being in a professional work environment?
• ·         Demeanour and personal presentation?
• ·         Identity?
• ·         Knowing and doing what is right?
• ·         Dealing with situations – what sorts of things are involved in being professional when you dealing with situations?
• ·         Reflecting, evaluating and putting into action what has been learnt

Please make sure that your name, course and email address are at the top of your entry.

How the information you provide will be used:

• The names of students entering the competition will only be known by the SCEPTrE team

• After the event the stories will be analysed to look at common themes and a small booklet will be produced. Extracts may be used from individual stories but no 

   students or their places of work will be identified.

• The booklet will be published on this web page for the benefit of all students who are developing themselves as professionals, and to better inform staff involved in professional training

Professor Norman Jackson

Director SCEPTrE

http://surrey.ac.uk/sceptre