As most undergraduates, I’m ready to hand in my dissertation… But after months and months of work, I can hardly stop talking about it. I asked the staff here at Futureboard how a dissertation can help kick off a job interview. By Carolina Are
I have been so immersed in my dissertation topic – based on how journalists may be changing their reporting ethics on Twitter – that it has become everything I talk about. But how can this become an advantage in a professional setting?
Megan, Consultant at Futureboard, says: “Dissertations are catalysts for conversation. Mine looked into why Harry Potter became so popular, so in job interviews people would say, ‘Wow, that’s interesting, tell me more.’”
Nathan, Consultant at Futureboard, says people ask you about your dissertation in a job interview to test your communications skills, to check if you’re succinct and can summarise a complex subject.
Nathan’s dissertation focused on how masculinity is perceived in the male consumer magazine market. He says: “Talking about your dissertation also gives an insight into your interests and passions and tells a lot about yourself just by explaining how you’ve done it, how you’ve come to certain conclusions and what methodology you’ve used.”
Just like Nathan, Kiera, the Futureboard Consultant who interviewed me before I joined the team, thinks asking questions about a dissertation in a job interview helps understanding the candidate’s personality.
She says: “Since you were being interviewed for a writing job, the question was relevant to your role. I thought your dissertation would have been based on a topic you were interested in, so I could get to learn something about you as well.”
He says interviewers will ask you to go in depth only if your research is very relevant to the role you’re applying for: for example, if you’re applying for a job in technology and that’s your topic of research, the company might be interested to learn more and probe your results.
Now you have one more excuse to talk about your dissertation! Good luck with exams from Futureboard.
Picture by: Study In UK