Last week, the students of Master's Degree University in Architecture, of the Double Master's Degree in Architecture and Sustainability, and of the Double Master's Degree in Architecture and Real Estate, of the headquarters of postgraduate program in Madrid, participated in the intensive Boot Camp program, organized by the School of Architecture and the Internship Service and employment. This program has as goal provide fundamental tools to facilitate their incorporation into the professional environment, addressing topics such as the creation of a good CV and profile of LinkedIn to the management of immediacy and preparation to successfully pass interviews of work.

During the program, several prominent professionals participated, including Leire Zubieta Laseca, Business Development Manager of the School of Architecture; Alfonso Vericat Roger, director of the Internship Service and employment; and Georgina Calderón Nagore, deputy director of the Internship Service and employment. 

Student Elvira García Palacios tells us about her experience: 

"Today, Thursday 24th, we had the Boot Camp session for all students of Master's Degree Architecture at classroom Magna. The workshop started with Georgina Calderón's session, entitled 'How to face an interview'.

Georgina talked to us about how important it is to make a good impression, whether in an interview or after a chat with a speaker. People remember faces, and in the future we could be doing an interview for one of the speakers, for example. 

He gave us several tips and enlightened us with a couple of interviews with two of our colleagues. In the first one, the interviewee had a good attitude and had prepared for the interview. The interview went well, but we saw several things to improve. There were questions that the interviewee had to overthink because he did not have them prepared, questions about his personal experiences and situations that reflected his skills. In the second interview, the interviewee had a bad attitude and was not prepared; the interview went poorly, and we learned that we should never go to an interview unmotivated. 

He also provided us with tools such as the 'Elevator pitch', which consists of a brief and persuasive presentation whose goal is to get an interview from work. To use this tool correctly, we must reflect on who we are and keep in mind the ideas core topic. 

At the end of the talk we learned that we should work on several aspects: who I am, what I can contribute, what differentiates me from the rest, what I am looking for, what are my competencies, and most importantly, that we should not forget how to maintain contact.  

We took the break and resumed the Boot Camp with Alfonso Vericat. 

Alfonso began by talking to us about sales and how important it is to know the product being sold, the customer and his needs, in order to highlight the differential value. 

He provided us with insights into the use of LinkedIn that few knew about, as well as the management of immediacy and the VUCA environment, tools core topic to maximize our chances of finding work. 

He talked to us about the stage we are in now: the end of a university stage, but the beginning of a long working stage. It is the last chance we have to fill our 'tool bag' before starting the next stage. 

He also commented that, nowadays, most of us do not know how to make decisions, and that we must always keep passion, patience and perseverance in mind. Now that we are starting an important stage, we must learn to make decisions, since everything we do will mark our professional degree program . In the first years, we will make mistakes, so we must analyze all our decisions. 

After the Boot Camp and the lunch break, the session on CV and Internships started. Leire Zubieta talked to us about the importance of the CV and portfolio, and how we can improve them. She invited us to have review sessions with her, and afterwards she explained how the selection process internship would look like. 

It was a full day that allowed us to reflect on the transition from academic to professional life, and how success lies not only in our technical skills, but also in how we present ourselves and how we communicate our ideas."

Text written by: Elvira García Palacios