Career prospects
The Alumnitool on LinkedIn can help you gain insight into possible careers after you finish your degree. It can also help you get in contact with an alumnus or alumna of your degree programme or other programmes. Nearly all graduates have a LinkedIn profile and can answer questions about your future career. They’re often more than happy to share their experiences with you. The video belows explains how the alumnitool works, and how you can use search criteria to find career information that is relevant to you.
Would you like to know more about how you can use LinkedIn to expand your network and put the new information into practice straight away? Take the LinkedIn workshop from Career Services. The workshop Exploring the job market & networking is also useful if you'd like to improve your networking skills, using LinkedIn and other ways.
As an Innovation Sciences graduate, you will have an excellent basis for a further career. Whilst science and technology play an important role in almost all domains of our knowledge society’s daily life, a Master’s degree in Innovation Sciences opens doors to a large, diverse and challenging set of jobs. Your ability to integrate science and social science in complex, multidisciplinary problems makes you well suited for jobs in high level consultancy, strategic management, or policy-making in innovation-related fields and also for positions in research such as a PhD.
Sectors
Graduates end up in a variety of sectors; from working for the government to a more business oriented career path.
Functions
Innovation Sciences alumni go on to end up in a wide variety of positions; it is common to become an consultant or analyst, but many alumni are also directly involved in the management of innovation processes within firms or public bodies. See the list of employers for a more concrete overview of what kind of companies alumni end up working for.
Employers’ opinion of Innovation Sciences graduates
Employers are positive about the capabilities and competences of Innovation Sciences graduates:
- They meet the required professional qualifications.
- Their broad knowledge of the subject (both technical and policy related/innovation studies) was decisive in the hiring process.
- They have well developed analytical and research skills.
- They are well trained in project based work and have good communication skills.
Career perspectives
Experience shows that employers are in great need of people who are able to analyse complex innovation processes and systems and develop strategies, advice, and action plans to further improve these systems and processes. Given the increasing importance of innovation for societal wellbeing and welfare caused by major societal problems in, for instance, sustainability, transport, health, and the growing economic competition from BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), this need will even grow further in the future. What employers value most in Innovation Sciences graduates is their ability to acquire and analyse new problems very rapidly and in an academic and multidisciplinary way.
PROFESSIONAL CAREERS
Innovation Sciences graduates have found jobs at:
- ECN
- Ministries (IenM, EZ, BZK)
- BECO advice
- Essent
- XTNT
- Dialogic
- Deloitte
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Janssen Biologics
- Agentschap NL
- Energy Matters
- RoyalHaskoningDHV
- Ecofys
- European Parliament
ACADEMIC CAREERS
Innovation sciences is also strong basis for those who wish to pursue an academic career as PhD student and later lecturer. About half of the PhD students in the Innovation Studies group in Utrecht come from the Innovation Sciences master. Moreover, many student publish the results of their master students in international peer reviewed scientific journals.
Are you considering starting your own business? Now is a good time to prepare. Utrecht University can offer you a number of opportunities to explore entrepreneurship.
You could, for instance, take electives from Master's degree programmes that cover entrepreneurship in their curriculums:
- If you’re interested in becoming an expert at creating the prerequisites for running a successful business, take an elective at the Master’s programme Business Development and Entrepreneurship of Utrecht School of Economics.
- If you have a background in Economics and Business, and wish to do a Master’s programme in Entrepreneurship: check out the Master’s programme Business Development and Entrepreneurship.
- If you have a background in Science or Medicine, you can take classes Science and Business Management classes.
- If you're interested in sustainable business practices and sustainable innovation, take an elective at Sustainable Business and Innovation.
The Utrecht Center for Entrepreneurship (CE) also organises Spring schools, Summer schools, Winter schools, Honours classes and short seminars on entrepreneurship for non-Dutch students. All courses are offered in English except when the entire group is Dutch.
StudentsInc
Would you like to run a business while still at university? Do you want to graduate on running your own business? StudentsInc (Dutch language website) is home to a number of student businesses and offers programmes to develop your entrepreneurial skills.
UtrechtInc
Have you (nearly) graduated and do you want to start a business? UtrechtInc is the place to find financing, office space, expertise and coaching. UtrechtInc is there for
- starting entrepreneurs and alumni, doctoral candidates, and researchers (preferably from Utrecht University, Hogeschool Utrecht, UMC Utrecht)
- who are still in the ideas phase OR further along (less than five years) and have
- and have a (IT) start-up focusing on health, environmental sustainability, or education.
Would you like to know more? Visit the UtrechtInc site, register your idea, and drop by for a cup of coffee.
Enactus
Would you like to know whether entrepreneurship is right for you? Are you driven, socially conscious, and ambitious? Are you willing to spend a year working on a business for at least 8 hours a week? Enactus Utrecht (Dutch language website) offers you the opportunity to run a business and provides workshops and professional coaching.
Useful links
- Register at the Chambers of Commerce.
- You can read about all the other things you need to take care of on the Revenue Service (Belastingdienst) website.
- Join relevant groups on LinkedIn to share knowledge online and expand your network.
- Will you run an especially sustainable, innovative, and/or internationally oriented business? The Netherlands Enterprise Agency can support you with subsidies, knowledge, regulation, and more.
Upon completion of your current Master's degree programme, you can follow a one-year (Dutch language) teacher training programme. This will grant you a first degree teaching qualification for secondary education. That means you will be able to work in the upper and lower years of vmbo, havo, and vwo in the Netherlands.
Take a look at UU's Master's degree programme selection site.
When you complete your Master's degree programme, if you enjoy doing research in your area of expertise, perhaps you should pursue a PhD. You will start out as a research assistant or trainee research worker. Check the two-years Master's Programmes of Utrecht University.
The best way to find a research traineeship is to contact the professor in the field you want to specialise in. Another option would be www.academictransfer.nl.
If you'd like to pursue a PhD at Utrecht University, your PhD programme will fall under the auspices of one of the Graduate Schools. For more information, consult the Prout | PhD Network Utrecht website.