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Career Fair 2018 "Work in the Future – Inspiration from Science and Practice"
What will work look like in the future, and how do I envision my own professional career? These were questions that many of the interested participants had in mind when attending the "Work in the Future – Inspration from Science and Practice" Career Fair at the Erwin Piscator House on November 8, 2018. It was the first time that the MArburg University Research Academy organized a career fair, including a corresponding framework program, together with the Career Center, the Junior Scholars Office, and the International Office for students, doctoral candidates, and postdocs. The event attracted a large number of visitors. About 600 participants took advantage of this offer.
A sizeable crowd of interested participants had already gathered at 10 in the morning when Prof. Dr. Evelyn Korn, Vice President of Student Affairs at Philipps-Universität, officially opened the career fair in the Erwin Piscator House's Panorama Room, where they followed the stimulating panel discussion immediately thereafter. Prof. Dr. Michael Bölker (Vice President for Research, Young Academics, and International Affairs), Sophie Cyriax (Elkamet Kunststofftechnik GmbH), Prof. Dr. Bernhard Seeger (Department of Mathematics and Computer Science), and Veith Janßens (graduate of European Ethnology) addressed the topic of "Work in the Future" and the opportunities and challenges that it will entail, not only for higher education but also for employers and employees.
The panel discussion was followed by a framework program that offered impressions of the world of work today, outlined future developments in the labor market as a result of digitization, and provided tips and information for starting one's career or choosing an internship. As part of this program, MARA organized two presentations: one by Frank Elster and Matthias Kühne of Deutsche Bundesbank on "Zukunftstrends der Arbeit: Zwischen öffentlicher und privater Wirtschaft ‒ Die Deutsche Bundesbank" ("Future Trends on Work: Between Public and Private Economy‒Deutsche Bundesbank") and the other by Dr. Henrik Koch, Project Manager at BioSpring Gesellschaft für Biotechnologie mbh, on "Unexpected Career Opportunities: Project Management." The very diverse and stimulating framework program addressed a wide range of different interests.
One of the highlights was the MARA contest for the most convincing elevator pitch. According to this format, adopted from MARA DAY, eight doctoral students and postdocs from different disciplines presented their research projects in three minutes each and attempted to convince the audience of the usefulness of their research and its significance for the future. All of the speakers did an excellent job of explaining their, indeed, very complex research questions in a generally comprehensible fashion and roughly within the given timeframe. The audience ultimately even elected two lucky winners: Tied for first place were Sven Wardenburg with his elevator pitch on "Regionale Ungleichheit am Arbeitsmarkt der Zukunft" ("Regional Inequality in the Labor Market of the Future") and Dr. Goutham Kumar Ganjam, who spoke about "Do the Bacteria in Our Gut Control Our Brain?" Each winner was awarded a voucher worth 100 EUR toward MARA continuing education offerings.
Another of the fair's main features was fair booths where businesses offered visitors the opportunity to introduce themselves and, if interested, engage in a short job interview. Businesses from a variety of industries were represented, covering a wide range of options across all disciplines. With their coffee mug in one hand and their application portfolio in the other, a large group of students, doctoral candidates, and university collaborators gathered on the second floor of the Erwin Piscator House and exchanged ideas about their professional futures. Appropriate to the occasion was the opportunity to have professional application photos taken and receive advice on one's personal application portfolio.