Due to a fierce competition at the job market, many university students are facing the question: “How could I stand out?” However, there is no an “instant” solution to this complex question! The world of work is changing at an unprecedented pace: new technologies, new business models and organisational structures are transforming the ways in which companies operate. Many “old” jobs are disappearing ( such as milkmen or paperboys), while “new” jobs are blooming (think of web designers or media consultants). However, new professions require new knowledge and skills. Due to these rapid changes, universities are having hard times as they need to adapt quickly their strongly embedded ways of teaching, which are still rather traditional and quite resistant to adjustments.
Although standard university degrees are inevitable, they need to be complemented by other extra-curricular activities, if one wants to succeed and get hired quickly. A university degree alone is not enough anymore: if you want to distinguish and be competitive, you need to change your perspective and look somewhere else. And here comes the problem: many of these extra-curricular activities are expensive, courses overlap, credits are not recognised by your study-plan and so on. Therefore, many students get discouraged.
On the other hand, companies are also affected by the lack of graduates who are able to deal with ever-changing technologies and growing business challenges. They are diversifying the ways of reaching properly qualified candidates and making the selection tests more difficult. Moreover, businesses are forced to provide their employees with constant training which is also costly. In addition, a firm usually considers hands-on experience, problem-solving capabilities and other soft skills more valuable than theoretical knowledge.
According to many experts, the best way to improve your skills is to get out your comfort zone. HOW? Start working with someone with a different mindset: for example, if you are studying management, you should try to organise the production plan with an engineer. Or maybe you need to switch the way you approach to your studies: instead of learning long definitions by heart, give a chance to the creative part of your personality and take part in a lab or an experiential course. All these activities will allow you to develop new skills or to improve the existing ones.
Moreover, many courses require individual work—you just need to study, complete the final assessment and you are done. A good way to get prepared for a real work situation? Yes, if you expect to start working alone in the middle of a jungle! (Un)fortunately a great majority of jobs require interactions with people.
These interactions require a certain know-how and interpersonal skills as dealing with people is not always easy. Therefore, developing these skills during your studies will give you an important advantage.
However, you don’t have to be worried for your future because we have good news for you! The University of Trento has shown one more time that is able to catch up promptly with new trends in education and at the job market by creating “The School of Innovation”—a new interdisciplinary project with a mission to give to a number of selected students an opportunity to stand out! The School of Innovation has a mission to provide you with a set of skills that proved to be highly appreciated by employers. HOW? By enabling you to follow courses offered by other departments of the University and those organised ad hoc, by working in a multicultural class and by interacting with professionals. We believe this mix will help you distinguish!
#stay tuned for the admission call!!