One of the last posts published before the break was about the feelings that students and teachers experience at the end of each course. At that time, I asked a question and it was the seeking of an answer which inspired me to set up a new project and, at the same time, open a new section of my blog.

So many years working with young people at University have allowed me to know that they feel very lost when it comes to entering the labour market. So, I thought that if they had a plan for going from being a student to becoming a professional, this would reduce their sense of uncertainty. This plan cannot be designed within the subject I teach, but it can be developed in the final paper they write, and I must supervise (we call them TFG).

According to my new point of view, the TFGs would be more useful for the students, as instead of furious and frustrated, they would feel motivated and, in the end, satisfied with a project that means something to them. This idea was called TFG-MP, which implies applying the main aspects of personal branding in the way that each student, on the basis of their own motivation, develops a personal plan to carry on to their professional live. There are many well-known experts in this field of personal branding, focused on a variety of professionals who are in a different stage of their career. However, we can use all this knowledge immediately when starting a professional career. In this sense, I accompany my students when they take the first step in the labour market.

The project, as it has been explained, is based on the idea of personal branding; in addition, we put a lot of effort and attention into a self-knowledge and the definition of life purpose. This is because we understand professional life as a way of self-expression. Regarding methodology we work as a group and have individual meetings with the tutor. In the group sessions students share ideas and worries; and with the individual mentorships each student gets a personalized advice.

In the spring of this strange year 2020 the first group of students that joined this project successfully finished their personal plan to begin their journey towards the labour market. At the same time, they wrote the TFG needed to obtain their University Degree. Now it is time to improve the tools, documents, and procedures we used, hoping that new students want to join the TFG-MP project as well as some new professors.

If you are interested, as a student or as a professor, join me in this adventure!

This page is also available in: Español