Agency: How to make money using your expertise
A semester-long practical course that teaches students how to turn the knowledge gained at the university into a source of revenue by securing a promising job, starting a business or launching a project.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course teaches the skills and strategies necessary to turn what students learned in university into a source of income. The course is meant as an answer to the question of employability of students who gain excellent theoretical knowledge in their subjects but do not know yet how to apply it in practice.
It is an »entrepreneurship course« that goes beyond the scope of business, including key skills necessary for future success, like:
how to cultivate a network of connections necessary for career opportunities,
how to find opportunities for new products or services in your field of study,
how to communicate your value and present your skills,
how to approach companies and master the process of job applications,
how to launch your own business,
how to be successful in fundraising, seeking sponsorship or attracting investments.
This course is meant as a complement to the core subjects in the field of study of every student and is aimed at preparing future experts to start a fruitful and successful career. It is 100% practical and has no exam at the end. Instead, students are going to »get their hands dirty« and try everything for themselves. They will be expected to actually try and make a sale, approach a recruiter, propose a project to a potential funder an will end by creating a personal portfolio that will be immediately useful for a future career. After the course, students are expected to have the mindset, skillset and confidence to take full advantage of their knowledge for a fruitful and successful future career.
COURSE OUTLINE
The course is structured in modules that guide students through key skill areas required for career success in the unpredictable world of the 21st century. It is delivered in the form of lectures, where they learn how to act in various professional situations and tutorials, where they practice the underlying skills in real-life situations. It lasts one full semester.
INTRODUCTION: THE WORLD OF TODAY
For better or worse, emerging technologies are changing the world and we need to adapt to be able to survive and to thrive in a professional setting. Students will learn about key technological developments and emerging trends, and will consider how they influence their future careers and how they are changing the business environment they will enter after graduating.
Key learning activities in this module: Demos and testing of current state-of-the-art technologies (generative artificial intelligence, AR and VR environment, no-code software development suites, predictive algorithms, tools for online sales...)
Deliverables: none
Learning assessment and grading: none
MODULE ONE: THE SKILLS OF TOMORROW
In this module, students will be forced to test their skills and gain first experiences in some of the most crucial skills required for a successful career: they will make their first sale, they will try to complete a complex team project, they will attempt to persuade a stakeholder to work with them and they will try to get in touch with an influential person. This will be a series of 100% practical real-life exercises with real people outside class that the professor will prepare for them.
Key learning activities in this module: Mission impossible learning activity (group challenge with 25 tasks that need to be completed in one hour), business skill scavenger hunt (small teams are expected to compete in a series of tasks that test business skills), making a sale on the street in front of the school building (students are given small items they must try to sell)
Deliverables: none
Learning assessment and grading: student participation, successful completion of a task is never required, but it is expected to try
MODULE TWO: HOW TO MAKE PEOPLE WANT TO WORK WITH YOU
The main purpose of this module is to teach and empower students to be able to secure a job they want. Students will create a personal portfolio and learn how to present themselves and their past work in a way that future employers will want to hire them. This includes preparing their CV's but goes beyond that. It includes steps and tricks that will predispose decisionmakers to think of them in a favourable way. Upon completion of this module, students should be able to secure a meeting with whoever they wish.
Key learning activities in this module: writing a curriculum vitae and personal cover letter, sending a letter to a famous person and getting a response (students will be taught how to do this successfully), getting someone to introduce us to an important stakeholder
Deliverables: cover letter and curriculum vitae
Learning assessment and grading: marks given for the quality of curriculum vitae and cover letter (deliverable 1 out of 3 in the course), submitted to the professor via email
MODULE THREE: HOW BUSINESSES FORM AND HOW TO START ONE YOURSELF
In today's economy it is highly likely that a large number of people will need to know how to start and work in a new business. In this module, students will learn the general way new companies start, which will be useful for them if they are company founders, early employees or intrapreneurs working on new initiatives. Students will test-drive a small project and learn how to iterate and prototype new concepts quickly, cheaply and effectively. This will enable them to know how to attract early customers and understand the importance of making sales for any organisation. Upon completion of this module, students will know how to go about turning an idea into a product, a product into a successful sale, and a successful sale into a sustainable venture.
Key learning activities in this module: trying a micro business (students are given a small, product-based business to run for 24 hours and attempt to make revenue), writing and sending a sales proposal to a real customer, following up and iterating on it until a sale is made
Deliverables: sales proposal for a real customer
Learning assessment and grading: marks given for the quality of the sales proposal created, full marks automatically awarded for a large number of iterations and for a successful sale (deliverable 2 out of 3 in the course), submitted to the professor via email along with a report of interactions with customers, successful sale is never required, but it is expected to try (not attempting counts as zero participation)
MODULE FOUR: THE SUPERPOWER OF PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION
Today, just knowing something or being able to do something, is not enough. One needs to be able to tell the world about it, or to »sell yourself.« In this module, students will learn how to use effective storytelling and practice various communication approaches in front of real people in order to achieve their goals. Concretely, they will learn how to deliver an engaging presentation, how to write a persuasive proposal and how to convince collaborators to join them. Upon completion of this module, they will know how to write a good sponsorship letter, how to ask for investment and how to create a successful partnership proposal.
Key learning activities in this module: public speaking workshop concluding with a brief presentation by every student, writing a sponsorship/donation/project/fundraising proposal and sending it to a real stakeholder, attending a fundraising/sponsorship/project meeting with a real stakeholder (students attempt to get a »real« meeting, if unsuccessful, professor arranges one for them)
Deliverables: fundraising proposal for a real stakeholder
Learning assessment and grading: marks given for the quality of the proposal created, full marks automatically awarded for a successful sale (deliverable 3 out of 3 in the course), submitted to the professor via email along with a report of the meeting, successful deal is never required, but it is expected the proposal is to be sent to a real stakeholder
CONCLUSION: YOUR CAREER PLAN AND YOUR PURPOSE
The course will conclude with students reflecting on the skills learned, and creating a personal career action plan. They will create a list of key partners they need to get in touch with and experiences they require for future career success. Then, they will create a timeline of activities they can do in order to reach those goals. Upon completion of this course as a whole the students will know how to take full advantage of the opportunities around them and have the confidence not to be bound by circumstance. They will reflect on this by writing a career essay and presenting it in front of their peers in a semi-formal setting.
Key learning activities in this module: creating a personal career action plan, writing a letter to yourself in the future to be opened 10 years later
Deliverables: students create a personal career action plan (this is expected to be completed, professor will provide feedback if needed, but it will not be graded as it is highly personal)
Learning assessment and grading: writing an essay »what have you learned during this course and how will this affect your career,« student participation (completing the career action plan)
COURSE LOGISTICS AND GRADING
The course lasts throughout a semester and is convened two times a week. Usually, the first weekly session is an interactive lecture where the professor teaches the material and gives instruction, while the second one is a practical tutorial where the professor guides students through practical exercises. During the first module, all sessions are tutorials. Several sessions are designed to get the students out of the classroom and interact with people or require students to send emails and use computers.
The course is 100% practical and is more close to workshops than traditional lectures. Intense student participation is expected so a smal group (up to 35) is formed. If there are more interested students, more groups will be formed.
The course does not have any exams or tests. The final grade will be assigned as the sum of the following:
Three deliverables to be sent to the professor during the course (60% of the final grade)
a completed CV and cover letter (20%),
a sales proposal to a customer (20%),
a fundraising/project proposal to a stakeholder (20%),
Student participation during the entire course (30% of the final grade)
Final essay on lessons learned during the course (10% of the final grade)
Full marks are expected to be awarded for every deliverable that has achieved the desired effect (CV that resulted in a job, sales proposal that resulted in a sale, fundraising proposal that resulted in financing), just like in the real world. Unsuccessful proposals do not mean a failing grade, but not preparing them, or not sending them, does.
COURSE READING AND MATERIALS
As this course is 100% practical, there is no assigned reading and no textbooks. Instead, students will be provided with templates for relevant activities: a template CV and cover letter, templates for sales letters and templates for fundraising proposals. The only exception for this is module three on starting a business, for which students will receive materials on the general theory and best approaches on starting a small business, made specifically for this course. All these are designed specifically for students to keep and use later as it becomes necessary for their careers.
WHO SHOULD TAKE PART IN THIS COURSE
This course is designed as an elective for undergraduate and graduate students, irrespective of their field of study or their year. If possible, groups will be mixed in order to create a pool of diverse experience. It is encouraged that every student of the university does this course at some point before graduation. It is not meant as a replacement for business or entrepreneurship courses offered by economics or business departments as its' scope is broader than a typical business course. It is meant for every student who wishes to prepare for a successful start of a career. Ideally it should be taken in the semester preceeding the year when the final thesis is prepared, but this is not a requirement.
COURSE SCHEDULE
This course is held two times per week for 11 weeks throughout the semester. Typically, but not always, the first meeting of the week is an interactive lecture when a topic is introduced, and the second meeting is a practical tutorial where students take part in a practical learning activity. A session lasts two hours, for a total of 50 hours of instruction.
Lectures: 12 sessions of 2 hours = 24 hours
Tutorials: 10 sessions of 2 hours = 20 hours
Fieldwork: 2 sessions (week 1, session two and week 4 session one) for a total of 6 hours
Expected individual work for completing the assignments: 20 hours
Week 1
Introduction module: THE WORLD OF TODAY
Session one
Course introduction: aims and expectations
Lecture: The world today, the trends and new technologies, with the new reality
Session two
Immersion: students spend the day testing various new technologies and discuss how they will shape their future career prospects with experts
Week 2
Module one: THE SKILLS OF TOMORROW
Session one
Lecture: Real stories of students early careers, projects and businesses and the lessons learned from them
Session two
Activity: Mission impossible group simulation game testing the group in a highly complex and time sensitive task that must be completed with teamwork and perseverance
Week 3
Session one
Activity: Make a sale with 10 Euros. Students individually receive money and are instructed to invest it and make a profit in one hour
Session two
Activity: Send a letter to a famous person. Students are challenged to reach out to a famous person with the goal of getting a response
Week 4
Session one (this session lasts an entire afternoon and concludes with a dinner/pizza)
Activity: business skills scavenger hunt. A team comopetition where students need to complete tasks testing their entrepreneurial skills to score as many points as possible
Module two: HOW TO MAKE PEOPLE WANT TO WORK WITH YOU
Session two
Lecture: How careers and jobs really work. A discussion about what attributes are sought after in companies and how to go about creating an opportunity for yourself
Roundtable discussion with 3 employers with tips and tricks for getting noticed and hired
Week 5
Session one
Lecture: Step-by-step guide to the best approach to get hired, including a presentation of the way to write a CV and cover letter (students receive templates for their cover letters and resumes)
Session two
Tutorial: Students receive individual help while they write their CV's and cover letters
Course grading milestone 1/3: Students send their letters to actual employers to seek a job, a summer internship or just a meeting
Week 6
Session one
Lecture: How to get contacts, how to meet the right people, how to create and maintain relationships to get introduced to new opportunities
Session two
Module three: HOW BUSINESSES FORM AND HOW TO START ONE YOURSELF
Lecture: The fundamental theory of business creation – the steps every business takes to start earning revenue
Activity: How to test every business idea in 45 minutes
Week 7
Session one
Lecture: Turning an idea into the first sale. The approach to get the very first customer by writing a »business proposal« and sending it to a test customer (Students receive templates for various business proposals)
Session two
Tutorial: Students receive individual help while they prepare their proposals for test customers
Course grading milestone 2/3: Students send their proposals to actual customers to get a proof-of-concept sale
Week 8
Session one
Lecture: How to turn the first sale into a sustainable business. The general overview of things needed to be done in order to execute on a proven business idea
Module four: THE SUPERPOWER OF PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION
Session two
Lecture: How to create stories and messages that stick and are persuasive for every audience
Week 9
Session one
Lecture: On fundraising and other asks for help. An overview of what to do to get investment, secure sponsorship, seek buy-in and convince partners to join you (Students receive templates for various asks (sponsorship, investment, partnership...))
Session two
Tutorial: Students are asked to actually create a proposal and send it with a real ask to a real stakeholder. They receive individual help while they write their proposals.
Course grading milestone 3/3: Students send their proposals to actual stakeholders
Week 10
Session one
Lecture: How to conduct a meeting and deliver a presentation (Students receive templates and outlines for various business situations, additionally they are given help to prepare for meetings they secured previously)
The professor helps to secure practice meetings for those who were not successful in their outreach so everyone gets experience
Session two
Tutorial: Public speaking workshop inviting everyone to practice the basic concepts, learn the way to address an audience, speak properly in front of a crowd and show enthusiasm for their story
Week 11
Conclusion module: YOUR CAREER AND YOUR PURPOSE
Session one
Lecture: How to think about a career – by creating opportunities now and not just visions of tomorrow
Tutorial: Creating a personal career action plan (students receive a template for their career plan)
Session two
Tutorial: Final activity – Writing a letter from the future. Every student is invited to write a letter to their future self describing where they are if everything went right
Evaluation of the course with the students
Final essay for grading: Students write a short essay on the topic »What have I learned from this class and what will I do with those lessons to prepare for a future career«
