Is the subject important to my career?
From an academic point of view, the big projects are your chance to perfect your academic skills and show what you can do and what you have learned. But you can also use your projects to get a step ahead in your career and as a way to shape your own profile. As career counselors, we think that it is a good idea to think ahead and think about your career, especially when it comes to your Master’s thesis.
Think about your career when you’re about to choose your subject
Now you might think that we want you to choose a subject that is directly usable and transferable to “the real world.” Something that companies can directly implement. That is, however, not what we’re going to say. You can choose to write about something that is very academic or theoretical and still include a career perspective.
Consider:
- What do you want to do after you graduate?
- Which tasks would you like to do?
- Could you angle your subject in a way, so you will get relevant knowledge or competences that you could use in the job or field that you want to work in?
Maybe there is a field or area you want to work in but lack knowledge of. Maybe you want to work with qualitative analysis, which you can use as a method in your project.
Collaborate with a company
It’s not the only way to use your thesis as a way to make it relevant to companies, but it is a very good way to make it relevant and gain some vocational experience at the same time. Doing your thesis in collaboration with a company might be the gateway to working at that same company. You have pointed to an area that needs attention. Who would be better suited to work with it than you?
Maybe they can’t hire you in that specific company, but your knowledge and experience might be valuable somewhere else. It could very well be what lands you the job.
A project collaboration can be done in several different ways. Many companies offer you a desk at the company so you can be at the company while you write your thesis. Use that opportunity to meet people outside university’s walls. It’s a great way to be visible to others and create a network. And who knows? It might lead to a job afterwards.
How to find a company to collaborate with:
- Look at SDU’s job bank. Under “Projects” you can find companies that are currently looking for someone to do a project with them. Is there something interesting?
- Do you have a subject in mind but no company? Reach out to one! You might have a specific company in mind. If not, you might find inspiration in the job bank. All companies that have any type of job or project posted is willing to collaborate with students. If you see an interesting company, you’re always welcome to contact them and propose a collaboration.
- Keep an eye on the media. Who is there talk about? Are there any companies facing interesting challenges? Look in the papers as well. They have information on companies that you won’t find online.
Your project needs to valuable to both you and the company
You need to explain to them how your project can be valuable to them. If they can’t see it, they might not want to spend resources on it.
That means you might have to adjust your project, so it fits both yours and the company’s needs. They might not be interested in everything that you have written, but only the parts that concern them. You make an agreement with the company on how you should deliver your results or recommendations to them. That could be in the form of a presentation or a short report on your findings you make after you have handed in your thesis or done your final exam.
If you want to collaborate with a company, you must make a project agreement. Find it at the bottom of our page on internships.
Think about your career when you have chosen (a theoretical) subject
Even if your subject isn’t focused on the business world, it could still be relevant for companies and organizations. Sometimes it’s easy to see how, other times it takes a little work:
- Is your subject important? Why? To whom?
- How can you angle your subject and your knowledge in a way that would make it interesting to a company or organization?
- How could the theme or methods be used elsewhere?
- Are there people out there that would be interested in your specialist knowledge?
You can use your project as a ticket to the company or a network. Use it as the basis of e.g. a coffee meeting, where you talk about your discoveries.
Think about how your knowledge can create value in a company. Practice explaining how your project is valuable bot what it was about.
Your project might also be fit for publishing. Or maybe you could write articles or do presentations about it. It could also become a podcast. You can get create with your opportunities.
Remember that your thesis or project is more than the subject. It is also about the process and what you learned from it. What you learn form the process are also competences that you gain. When you do your thesis, you’re the project leader of your own project and you get an understanding of how you work and what a good process is to you.
Do you want to make the process good? Look at the General Study Counseling’s webpage.