The Walden Professional Assessment, or WPA, is designed to help you assess and reflect on your knowledge and skills in specific areas of professional competency. These areas, which will serve you well in any role or organization, include teamwork, adaptability, problem solving, ethics, resilience, and many others. There are no wrong answers.

The assessment you will take in this course focuses on 3 of the 14 WPA competencies: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Resilience, and Learning and Self-Development.

Competencies addressed in this assessment:

Ethics and Social Responsibility: The ability to act in accordance with and defend ethical principles, to recognize the social and ethical implications of your actions, and to promote socially responsible behavior in yourself and your organization.

Resilience: The ability to stay focused and productive in the face of pressure, resistance, and change; having the drive to push through obstacles and overcome challenges; maintaining a positive attitude even when things get tough.

Learning and Self-Development: The ability to evaluate your own skills and knowledge and seek ways of improving yourself; being open to learning new things and seeking out feedback; believing in your own ability to learn and grow.

To learn more about the WPA, see the document Building Your Professional Skills with the Walden Professional Assessment available in this Assignment’s Learning Resources section.

Resources

Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.

Readings

• Biography. (2022, March 24). José Andrés. https://www.biography.com/history-culture/jose-andres-world-central-kitchen
• Biography. (2023, April 21). Michelle Obama. https://www.biography.com/history-culture/michelle-obama
• BBC News. (2017, August 17). Profile: Malala Yousafzai. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-23241937
• Britannica. (2023, December 19). Greta Thunberg. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Greta-Thunberg
• Britannica. (2024, January 15). Ai Weiwei. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ai-Weiwei

Activity

• Walden Professional Assessment (WPA). Self-assessment covering competency topics of resilience, ethics and social responsibility, learning & self-development.
  Estimated time to completion is 30 minutes.

Documents

• Undergraduate Writing Template (Word document)
• Accessing and Using Your WPA Score Report(PDF)
• Building Your Professional Skills with the Walden Professional Assessment (PDF)

Taking the assessment

You will be presented with a series of real-life situations. Then, you will be asked to choose from a short list of actions you might take in such a situation—which action you would be most likely to take and which action you would be least likely to take.

Some important things to know:

• There are no wrong answers! Some scenarios have more than one “best answer.”
• The assessment should take about 30 minutes to complete, though you may take more or less time.
• If you want to step away, your progress will be saved. When you return, you can pick up where you left off.
• Don’t rush through the assessment. If you take too little time on a question, the system will assume you have not read it carefully, and you’ll be asked to respond again.
• Unless you share it, only you have access to your Score Report.
• You will write a reflection on the results of your assessment as your Assignment for this week.

Your Assignment

Write 300–500 words to answer the following questions:

• Were there any surprises or insights that stood out to you? How did the results align with your perception of your competencies? You do not have to share your score; however, you can speak generally about your results and how they align or do not align with your perceptions.
• The WPA highlights both strengths and areas for improvement. Which competencies identified by the WPA do you feel most confident about, and which ones do you plan to develop further? How do you intend to work on these areas?
• How might you incorporate the insights gained from the WPA into your current academic program? Are there activities you can engage in to enhance your skills as recommended by the WPA?
• Finally, Google yourself and take a look at your social media accounts, thinking about the factors employers consider during social media checks. Would you hire yourself? Why or why not? If yes, provide a strategy or two you use to decide what to post and what not to post. If not, discuss what you can change going forward to ensure your online footprint does not hurt your chances of being hired. Include examples and information from this week’s Learning Resources.

Note: Use the Undergraduate Writing Templates from the link provided in the Learning Resources. Use the “Save As” command to rename the file. Select text and type over it. Your new text will take on the same style attributes as those in the template.