Future Skills: how Mechanical Engineering students get a head start on their careers

Every year, a group of first-year students chooses to do something most first-years don't: start building their professional future before they've even finished their first year.

Future Skills is an elective workshop series running in the last quartile of Module 4 of the Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering. Since its launch, over 100 students have participated; this year, the workshop filled up faster than any other elective in the module. But why do students find it so attractive? 

The workshop taught me not just how to build a LinkedIn profile, but how to actually approach people and build real connections; and that networking can bring you everything you want in your career.

I learned how to transform a basic LinkedIn profile into a well-structured personal brand with a clear storyline.

The workshop runs across three sessions with deliberate spacing between them, so students can practice what they learn before the next session builds on it. 

• Session 1 is a hands-on LinkedIn and networking workshop. Students arrive with a profile already set up and having studied three Mechanical Engineering student profiles they chose themselves. They open their laptops and get to work. But it goes beyond profile optimization.
• Session 2 opens with a continuation of the networking work started in Session 1. From there, the session moves into an honest talk with an alumnus: A UT Mechanical Engineering alumnus shares what the transition from student to first job actually felt like, which skills turned out to matter most in practice, and what they genuinely enjoy and what they find less enjoyable about their work.
• Session 3 closes the workshop with a company visit, in this case they visit Demcon, a high-tech engineering company based just across the street from the university, where students are welcomed by a UT Mechanical Engineering alumnus.

Listening to the explanation of an alumnus working at the company helped me to better understand the reality of working as an engineer and what that might be like for myself.

During the workshop I got insight into what other UT alumni have pursued after completing their studies: companies, career paths, and a reference for what I could do to develop myself professionally and what steps I could take early during my studies.

A model worth sharing

Future Skills was designed for Mechanical Engineering, but the students themselves make the case for why it shouldn’t stop there.

The alumni thread runs through all three sessions. An alumni professional facilitates Session 1. An alumnus speaks personally in Session 2. An alumnus hosts Session 3. Students don’t encounter professional development through slides or generic career advice; they encounter it through real people at different career stages, all connected to the same university they are sitting in right now.

Is it relevant so soon in your studies?

Many students have strong technical capabilities but lack professional networking skills. This workshop bridges that gap by turning abstract career planning into clear, actionable steps.

I absolutely think that students from other programs could benefit from similar workshops. I think most students see a degree as a way to start the career they would like, and workshops like this are really valuable to prepare them for those careers. This workshop is not limited to mechanical engineering — I imagine it could be applied similarly to most other fields.

Being exposed to the professional world early gives students more time to understand the job market and what possibilities they have and what steps can be made to already prepare; whether the student wants to pursue research or go straight into the job market. The workshop brought up motivation to create a plan on what I am interested in and develop myself for future opportunities.

The three-session structure: digital presence and networking, honest alumni conversation, real workplace visit; is adaptable. The UT Alumni Community is represented across every sector and discipline, making it straightforward to connect alumni and companies to any study program.

The workshop bridges the gap between studying and the professional world in a very concrete way, which isn’t something you get from regular coursework. Especially for students who are about to start looking for internships or to start a job after the bachelors, it gives you a real head start.

If you are a program coordinator or skills teacher wondering whether something like this could work in your program, contact for more information

M.J.B. Moester (Miriam) Teacher academic skills BSc ME

 m.j.b.moester@utwente.nl

Building: Horst Complex BH204

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M. Coello Casian (Magali) Alumni Relations Manager

+31534892343

 m.coellocasian@utwente.nl

Building: Spiegel 109

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