Career orientation and coaching
The Data Science bachelor program offers many possibilities to choose your own courses and shape yourself as a data scientist. Your interests and ambitions are the main drivers for making choices, and you have the responsibility to plan your study program and ensure it complies with the requirements. To make this work, you have to be motivated and committed to reach your own set goals.
There are many activities offered by both universities that enable you to explore and improve your career opportunities, see https://myfuture.tue.nl and https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/students/career/student-career-services.
On top of the above centrally organized activities, the data science program provides coaching via student mentors and coaches, and provides advice via the academic advisors.
Coaching
Year 1
The student mentor is a senior student in the data science bachelor program. In Q1 and Q2, the main role of the student mentor is to assist with practical issues such as course registration, how to study, and how to find your way around in student life. There are group sessions once every week or two weeks. In Q3 and Q4, the focus of the student mentor shifts to training you in providing feedback (think of peer reviewing for group work, but also how to provide constructive feedback in course evaluations) and helping you on the way to start shaping your own study program.
In Q3, there are several activities with a focus on shaping your program;
- the workshop Study Crafting provides you with tools to take control over your own development. You will learn how to formulate and achieve your own goals. After this workshop, you decide if you want to actively take part in our coaching program,
- we organize an information session about electives and follow-up master programs as a preparation for the Check your Match event,
- the TU/e organizes the Check your Match event, which is a marketplace for elective courses and packages offered by all departments.
In Q4, the Impulse Career Orientation takes place on the Wednesday before Ascension Day. The organization is in the hands of the study association Pattern. The aim of the day is to visit companies to discover the professional field of data science, and to talk with data scientist about their daily work.
Note that you decide in Q3 whether or not you wish to take part in coaching in year 2 and 3. If you decide not to take part, you cannot participate in the trainings and other activities of the coaching program.
Year 2
The coach is a trainee in the EngD program Data Science, who is actively working on real-life, cross-functional projects with companies in the data science field. Your coach will talk with you to reflect on expectations, prospects, successes and difficulties, and help you to formulate your ambitions in data science. You will be responsible for the choices you make, and that responsibility requires an active approach when it comes to conducting the actual discussions, preparing for and documenting of the discussions, and actively working on discussion points between coaching sessions.
In Q1, the JADS Career Day offers great opportunities to meet with and talk to professional data scientists. As part of the coaching, you will do a preparatory assignment for the Career Day, which you discuss with your coach in a group meeting.
In Q2 and Q3, there are coaching meetings on topics that you choose yourself.
In Q4, you do a career orientation assignment, which forms the basis of the coaching meeting.
Year 3
You continue with the same coach as in year 2.
In Q1, we organize a training on how to pitch yourself and pitch panel. Being able to say in a few sentences who you are, what your skill set is, and what you are looking for/want to achieve is an essential skill for any data scientist. The training and feedback you get from the pitch panel will make you more secure in searching for an external BEP and in job interviews later.
In Q2, you have one final meeting with your coach.