Gain entrepreneurial skills with Utrecht University Business Course

An Nguyen completed her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences and is currently following a master’s programme in Science and Business Management. She participated in the Utrecht University Business Course 2017 (UUBC) and decided to become board member of the year after. UUBC is a 12-week student-led honours programme that combines consultancy and entrepreneurship.

Why did you apply for the board of UUBC?

There is an inspiring and motivating ambiance at my Science and Business Management master among all students: Everyone is enthusiastic and interested in similar things like startups, business and innovation. It gave me the motivation to broaden my horizon and to look further than my own study. One of my classmates organised the UUBC 2017 and promoted it enthusiastically in our class, so I decided to participate in the course. It offered me a lot of insight into my future career, social skills and myself. I wanted to bring that same experience to other students and decided to join the board.

Entrepreneurial skills are the future: employers are looking for employees who take initiative, are venturous, seek and take opportunities and know how to build up a network

What is the UUBC about?

In three months, students will learn the ins and outs of consultancy and entrepreneurship. The first six weeks, the course focuses on learning what it is like to work as a consultant, learning about business top-down. Each team will be assigned a case to solve. In workshops from consultants of well-known firms, they learn the skills hands-on. The next six weeks, it is all about gaining entrepreneurial skills. During this period students get the chance to work on their own startup - they learn about the business from bottom-up. Every week a different trainer guides them through the process of being an entrepreneur from their experiences with their own business. One example is the founder of Blackboard, who flew over from New York to talk about digital marketing, so cool!

How can you use these acquired skills in real life?

Students acquire skills such as creative thinking, solving societal problems and knowing how to sell their ideas and themselves. They start to learn more about their own interests, for example if they want to work in a young startup or big company and if they want to focus more on consultancy or entrepreneurship. Employers are looking for employees who take initiative, are venturous, seek and take opportunities and know how to build up a network and that is what we are aiming to learn. The course offers several moments to pitch your startup idea to potential clients and extend your network. I would say the course is super helpful for attaining skills that are needed in your future career path.

Why would you recommend participating?

I am currently working out my startup idea that I developed during the course. I am creating an online tool for students who want to develop personal skills. They can fill in their interests and will get weekly updates about courses, lectures, events and workshops they can attend. Students can keep track of their attained skills and show it to their future employers. I would definitely recommend UUBC if you are interested in learning about consultancy and entrepreneurship from professionals and want to acquire new skills.

The application for Utrecht University Business Course 2019 is officially open! Read here more: https://uubc.nl/