PhD students queued up to talk with businesses
Gain insight into what competences and qualities employers are looking for, and learn to present yourself and your abilities as a researcher to potential employers. Those were the two central themes of The employability edge: bringing researchers and employers together, an event hosted by AU Career PhD on Tuesday 18 November 2014.
PhD students queued up to talk with a variety of businesses at the AU Career event The Employability Edge, the first major event at AU at which PhD students from the entire university had an opportunity t o meet representatives from business and industry. The 60 available places went so quickly that room was made for ten additional participants. Even so, there were still nine students on the waiting list.
"For me as PhD student, this event is really important, because it gives me the opportunity to come in contact with private companies. That can give me and advantage after I finish my degree,” explains Iulia Kolesnicov, who is studying business communication.
Tools worth their weight in gold
Workshops and representations by 4 alums were held on the morning of the event, which was held in cooperation with Vitae, an international organisation based in the UK that works to help researchers realise their potential by transforming their professional and career development. Vitae was behind the workshops, which among other themes focussed on improving the PhD students’ employability.
“I think it’s been incredibly interesting to learn how you sell yourself in the best possible way. This is the first time I’ll be going out and trying to sell myself to a company, so getting some tools I can use is worth its weight in gold,” says Thomas N. Jensen, a PhD student at iNANO.
‘Meet the talent’
In the afternoon, students had a chance to talk with representatives from different companies. Novo Nordisk, Vestas, DNA Technology and Arla were among the companies represented.
“Considering the area we focus on, in the long term, it’ll be necessary for us to have product specialists who can work together with our customers. That’s why events like this one are a really good opportunity to meet some of the kinds of graduates that we’ll need in the future,” explains Jakob Karaffa, director of operations at DNA Technology A/S.
Not the last event
“We’re definitely counting on hosting a similar event next year, hopefully with even more businesses and even more PhD students,” says Vibeke Broe, career consultant at AU Career PhD, on the background of the positive feedback on the event.
Read more about AU Career PhD’s events and services.