Career clarification on the timetable

As a graduate, you face a number of concerns: Which competences have I acquired through my studies? What would I like to work with? How can I communicate my competences to an employer? These questions are in focus on the new Career Management Skills course, which has just received DKK 230,000 in strategic funding from AU.

In the autumn of 2017, the CMS course is a voluntary offer for students doing an internship on the Master’s degree programme in Economics and Business Administration. However, as of the autumn of 2018, it will become an integrated and compulsory part of all internships on the Master’s degree programme in Economics and Business Administration. The aim is to help get the students’ careers off to a good start while they are still studying, but also to create a better interaction between the students’ theoretical knowledge and the internships, says Director of Studies on the MSc in Economics and Business Administration degree programme Lars Esbjerg:

“The new CMS course will be an integrated part of the internships in which students are already required to solve specific tasks for a company. Through the CMS course, the students will acquire a number of tools that they can use to reflect on their experiences in the company and relate them to their own competences and career aspirations from a theoretical as well as personal perspective. This adds an extra dimension to the internships and makes them more targeted and career-oriented.”

Time for reflection

The new CMS course is being developed in collaboration with Aarhus BSS Career & Alumni, who is also responsible for holding the course with Susanne Søes Hejlsvig as the project manager and lecturer. She has previously headed similar optional courses on the Master’s degree programmes in International Business Communication and Business Administration and Commercial Law. According to her, the course should be seen as part of a larger clarification process, which is important, but also time-consuming for the students:

“As a student, you don’t often have time to reflect on who you are, and what you can and want to do with your career. The CMS course offers the students the time to think about these things, and they really like that. In addition, we always do mixed classes so that the students get to explain their competences and knowledge to students from other programmes. In this way, the students not only gain a better understanding of their own competences, they also learn how to communicate their competences and how these interact with those of other students. All of this is extremely important when you’re applying for a job.” 

Part of a larger initiative

Preparing students for their career is a key topic at both school and university level. It also enjoys a great deal of political attention, says Vice-dean for Education Per Andersen. For this reason, he is pleased that the CMS course will soon become a compulsory part of the internships on the Master’s degree programme in Economics and Business Administration. In time, he hopes the course can be implemented on all of the school’s Master’s degree programmes:

“Aarhus BSS’ most important task is to ensure that our students get good jobs, preferably relatively shortly after they graduate. Naturally, the only way we can do this is by offering high-quality degree programmes,” he says. “Combining the internships with a career clarification course gives our students a fantastic opportunity to bridge the academic and practical learning with their own personal development. In short, they’ll be better prepared for the next step in their lives: Their career. As an educational institution, we can only be pleased with that.”

If you want to know more about the CMS course, you are welcome to contact:

Director of Studies Lars Esbjerg
Email: lae@mgmt.au.dk
Tel.: +4587165058

Project Manager Susanne Søes Hejlsvig
Email: sush@au.dk
Direct tel.: +4587152354
Mobile phone: +4523716816