{"id":11881,"date":"2026-01-15T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T11:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/?p=11881"},"modified":"2026-01-15T14:14:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T13:14:38","slug":"how-kth-prepares-you-for-your-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/2026\/01\/how-kth-prepares-you-for-your-career\/","title":{"rendered":"How KTH prepares you for your career"},"content":{"rendered":"

Studying at KTH often means learning far beyond the traditional classroom. In this post, Ruban and Annysia share their personal reflections on how KTH has shaped their professional journey so far.<\/p>\n

Ruban\u2019s Perspective: Designing With Purpose<\/h2>\n

Learning Through Projects<\/h3>\n

Coming from the product design<\/strong> and interactive design<\/strong> side of KTH, most of my learning happens through hands\u2011on, project\u2011based work<\/strong>. What I\u2019ve especially enjoyed is how many of these projects focus on socially impactful challenges<\/strong>, working with municipalities or companies who genuinely want to improve everyday life<\/strong> for people.<\/p>\n

Designing a clever product is one kind of joy, but crafting a solution that truly helps someone<\/strong> and makes their daily life better gives me a deeper sense of purpose<\/em>. These projects push me to think beyond aesthetics and functionality, encouraging me to consider the emotional, cultural, and societal layers<\/strong> of design. That mindset has shaped how I approach every new brief and is something I know will stay with me throughout my career.<\/p>\n

Exploring the Professional Landscape<\/h3>\n

THS Armada<\/strong> was my first big career fair in Sweden, and it quickly helped me understand just how diverse the design and tech landscape<\/strong> here is. Even as a first\u2011year student, simply walking around, talking to companies, and observing what they look for gave me clarity about the types of roles and teams<\/strong> I want to aim for.<\/p>\n

The Swedish work\u2013life balance<\/strong> is something I\u2019ve genuinely grown to appreciate. There\u2019s a calming rhythm to the culture \u2014 a quiet belief that good work comes from people who also have space to breathe, rest, and be human<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Small moments like fika breaks<\/strong>, open conversations with teachers, and the informal way everyone interacts make it easy to understand how Swedish workplaces value trust and autonomy<\/strong>. These everyday experiences are helping me feel more confident about entering the job market here. It\u2019s not just about learning what<\/em> to design; it\u2019s about learning how to live well while designing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Looking Ahead to the Degree Project<\/h3>\n

Even as a first\u2011year student, I already know I\u2019d love to do my degree project with a company<\/strong>. It\u2019s the perfect way to work on real challenges<\/strong> and understand how design teams operate in practice.<\/p>\n

At the same time, I really appreciate the freedom to choose any experienced teacher in our programme as a thesis mentor<\/strong>. We have incredibly experienced faculty who\u2019ve worked in the design field for years, and I\u2019m genuinely excited about learning from them. Pairing their academic guidance with a company collaboration feels like the ideal setup<\/strong>. It might not guarantee a job, but it does guarantee growth<\/strong>, insight<\/strong>, and a meaningful final project<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one profound thing I\u2019m learning here, it\u2019s the importance of following what truly excites you<\/strong>. In design, your genuine interest shows \u2014 it fuels your ideas, sharpens your process, and raises your energy. That passionate engagement is often what helps you stand out<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So my advice to new students is simple: stay curious<\/strong> and choose courses, projects, and opportunities that spark something within you<\/strong>. Talk to teachers, explore different areas of design, and don\u2019t hesitate to step into projects that feel meaningful. When you follow your passion, the right opportunities tend to follow naturally.<\/p>\n

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View from THS Armada – the biggest career fair in Scandinavia, hosted by KTH<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Annysia\u2019s Perspective: Growing Through Collaboration and Curiosity<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Learning Through Projects<\/h3>\n

The project\u2011based courses<\/strong> have helped me develop both my technical<\/strong> and soft skills<\/strong>. On the technical side, I get to explore technologies I wouldn\u2019t have encountered yet and apply them to larger projects \u2014 great additions to a portfolio<\/strong>. On the soft\u2011skills side, working with diverse, multicultural teams<\/strong> has taught me how to collaborate and build something better together than I could have imagined alone.<\/p>\n

A standout project for me was the final assignment in the Search Engines and Information Retrieval Systems<\/strong> course, where we created a recommendation system<\/strong> for academic works. It combined everything I enjoy about working with data: cleaning, preprocessing, training<\/strong>, and designing an interface to interact with the system.<\/p>\n

Navigating Career Fairs and Swedish Work Culture<\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve attended both THS Armada<\/strong> and D\u2011Dagen<\/strong>, the career fair focused on Computer Science students. In my first year, I mostly wandered around and asked questions. By the second year, I realised how important it is to research companies beforehand<\/strong> \u2014 that\u2019s when you can have more meaningful conversations and network effectively<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Outside of career fairs, studying at KTH \u2014 and living in Sweden \u2014 teaches you that work isn\u2019t everything<\/strong>. You need moments to unwind. Lots of fika with friends<\/strong>, friendly conversations with professors, and the first\u2011name basis culture helped me appreciate the Swedish approach to balance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Preparing for the Degree Project and Looking Ahead<\/h3>\n

For my degree project, I plan to focus on referential integrity in microservices<\/strong>. I\u2019m hoping to work with a company, but I\u2019m also collaborating with one of the KTH labs<\/strong>, which is great for both industry connections<\/strong> and research opportunities<\/strong>. It\u2019s valuable to explore advanced solutions in a lab, but also to experience a different work culture<\/strong> outside academia.<\/p>\n

What helped me feel most confident about the job market was simply applying for things that genuinely interested me<\/strong> \u2014 student societies, internships, thesis opportunities. Even when I didn\u2019t get something, I learned a lot from the process. At the same time, using all the opportunities at KTH to discover my interests made a huge difference. Being proactive in courses<\/strong> helped me learn about the labs my teachers and TAs were involved in, and researching companies<\/strong> made it easier to connect with representatives at job fairs.<\/p>\n

By taking these steps and maintaining good relationships with the people I met, I eventually found thesis opportunities<\/strong> and received offers<\/strong>. So don\u2019t be afraid to explore everything KTH has to offer \u2014 each step builds your confidence<\/strong> and helps you understand exactly what you can bring to the job market.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Studying at KTH often means learning far beyond the traditional classroom. In this post, Ruban and Annysia share their personal reflections on how KTH has shaped their professional journey so far. Ruban\u2019s Perspective: Designing With Purpose Learning Through Projects Coming from the product design and interactive design side of KTH, most of my learning happens […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1530,"featured_media":10686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-life"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/files\/2024\/01\/photo_1_2024-01-05_23-58-03.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9W9I7-35D","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1530"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11881"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11886,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11881\/revisions\/11886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}