Program development and Coordination
Academic institutions
The academic institutions have developed and are continuously improving the CONNECT program. They are responsible for project coordination, advertisement of the program within their institution, and the selection process.
If you would like to reach out to the CONNECT contact person at your institution, click on the respective logo.
industry and public sector
Partners from Industry and Public Sector
The success of the CONNECT program builds on interactions between scientists that are curious about exploring career options, and role models or company representatives who show opportunities. A big thank you to all the role models for their openness, and their willingness to share personal career stories, challenges they faced and how they managed to overcome them. We are also grateful to company representatives for giving our participants a behind-the-scenes view on their recruiting process, or providing insights into their daily work.
Get to know the partners of the current CONNECT round (Sept 2023 - Mar 2024):
Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps the world’s most ambitious change makers define the future.
Across 65 cities in 40 countries, we work alongside our clients as one team with a shared ambition to achieve extraordinary results, outperform the competition, and redefine industries. We complement our tailored, integrated expertise with a vibrant ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster, and more enduring outcomes. Our 10-year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in pro bono services brings our talent, expertise, and insight to organizations tackling today’s urgent challenges in education, racial equity, social justice, economic development, and the environment. We earned a platinum rating from EcoVadis, the leading platform for environmental, social, and ethical performance ratings for global supply chains, putting us in the top 1% of all companies. Since our founding in 1973, we have measured our success by the success of our clients, and we proudly maintain the highest level of client advocacy in the industry.
Participating in CONNECT would allow the Academic and the Consulting worlds to get closer to each other. We are eager to get to know talented and ambitious young women and to support them in their search for an alternative career path. We would be glad to show them how to unleash their full potential at Bain, while working on challenging projects.
Since we serve a broad range of industries and clients, diverse expertise and insights are of great value to our work: there’s no one profile or experience set that makes a good Bain consultant. On the contrary: great minds and diverse perspectives help us solve some of the world’s toughest business problems.
This is why we actively recruit talented experienced professionals from
a wide array of industries and backgrounds, including physics, chemistry,
material sciences, healthcare, mechanical engineering, and many others. Through
CONNECT we hope to meet many of them.
You can apply for a job at Bain at any time throughout the year. Please use our Online tool and make sure to complete your application about six to twelve months before your preferred entry date. Along with your cover letter and résumé, you can upload all certificates for your studies, internships and prior positions. Receipt of your application will be confirmed immediately.
Your office preferences will be checked in the order of your priorities. If your office preferences are Germany or Switzerland, you will usually receive our response within two weeks of completing the online assessment. Should you also have selected international offices among your preferences, your application will be forwarded to those offices. In that case you’ll receive feedback from the office indicated most recently, so the response may be delayed somewhat. Please note that the selection criteria and cycles may differ in other countries.
Entry Level after PhD / Postdoc: Consultant (CON)
A solid team player who’s also an independent thinker
Deadline-driven, organized and able to multitask
Strong verbal, written, quantitative and presentation skills
An analytical mindset
Willingness to travel to some of the world’s great cities
Fluency in English (other language requirements might apply)
Inform yourself about the company you are applying for
Understand why Bain is a good fit for you and your career
Get started early
Practice introductions, experience interviews and questions
Challenge yourself with different types of cases
Practice with a diverse set of people
Listen carefully and respond thoughtfully in all interviews
Don't be afraid to ask questions
Be yourself!
Relax and have fun!
Joining Bain will be your start into an extraordinary career. We always have openings for best-of-class graduates from all fields and promising candidates who have gained some professional experience. New recruits should share our passion for entrepreneurial thinking and action and for tangible results.
In return, we offer challenging assignments, responsibility at an early stage, an international environment, a unique corporate culture, excellent development opportunities – and lots of fun. Are you ready?
DETEC is:
More than 2’500 employees
Near 70 interns
7 federal offices
… all working daily to ensure that the various networks (transport, telecommunications and energy) are both modern and efficient; and also dealing with issues relating to the environment, spatial development, health and safety.
Working at DETEC offers several advantages:
A large number of professions and functions,
Flexible working methods
A great interest in the well-being and development of employees
And above all a focus on equal opportunities and careers
We feel it is a great opportunity being able to connect PhD students and employees with similar backgrounds for them to share their experience. They also get to have an insight into what it is like to work at DETEC!
As a PhD student, you have several opportunities to continue your career at DETEC. We offer one-year internships as well as direct work positions. You can check the open positions on our website.
Ability to communicate
Ability to give and take criticism, and deal with conflict
Strategic thinking
Speaking at least one of the national languages of Switzerland on a B2 level
Highlight any experience you’ve had, show your motivation and most importantly be yourself!
We would very much like to take part in this experience with you. If you choose us, you’ll get an insight into what it is like working in STEM as part of the Swiss government. Come and get to know how to develop your career with us!
We are committed to building a better future for our local community and the people we work with.
Hilti is a family-established business founded in 1941. The company evolved from a small family start-up to the trusted global business we are today. Its global headquarters is in Schaan in the Principality of Liechtenstein, where Martin Hilti established the company more than 80 years ago.
Construction is one of the largest industries globally. It plays a central role in the world economy; it creates jobs for millions of people, provides housing to almost everyone living on our planet, and builds commercial, industrial, and civil infrastructures that enable economic growth. The industry, however, faces significant challenges. It has yet to deliver productivity over the past decades. Skilled labor is in short supply, and health and safety issues are abundant on job sites. Carbon emissions are high and continue to rise.
In the face of these challenges, construction is transforming. Enabled by digitalization, construction is industrializing. Workflows are becoming more efficient and effective and will increasingly deliver productivity. Sustainability is essential for our customer’s success, and safety is moving up the agenda. Construction is becoming more productive, safer, and more sustainable. In short, construction is becoming better.
Hilti is ideally positioned to be this partner. With our focus on innovation, we help our customers to do things better. That is why we have defined Making Construction Better as our purpose. Better means improved productivity, safety, and sustainability. We want to be our customers’ best partner for productivity, safety, and sustainability and deliver better applications, projects, processes, and experiences.
At Hilti, our objective is value creation through leadership, built on differentiation and direct customer relationships. Value creation goes beyond economic value. We create value not only for our shareholders but also for our customers, suppliers and partners, team members, and society.
Our passionate and inclusive global team is at the core of our success. Together with the Hilti Foundation, we build a better future.
A diverse and inclusive workforce with females in leadership positions creates a great workplace and delivers superior business results. At a high-tech and innovation-oriented company, Ph.D. graduates and postdocs from top institutions are provided excellent opportunities to further develop, network, and gain experience exchange.
Our Corporate Research and Technology (CR&T) department has excellent opportunities for upstream technology development. In our Business Units, we offer roles in product development as a research or development engineer and the opportunity to grow into leadership positions in the respective field.
Reach out to your Hilti contact or check out our openings under Where Your Best Belongs | Hilti Careers
Leadership skills, cross-department collaboration, a strong people orientation, a goal-driven, outcome-focused, and growth mindset.
We will ensure that the CONNECT participants have a personal Hilti contact to identify opportunities together at Hilti. A strong motivational letter and professional CV are prerequisites for a successful application.
Sensirion
About us
Sensirion is an internationally active high-tech company with headquarters in Switzerland and subsidiaries in Asia, North America and Europe. For two decades, the ETH spin-off has been developing and producing world-leading sensors and sensor solutions for a wide range of applications in the medical technology, automotive and consumer goods sectors. As a market leader, Sensirion offers stability and security - and lives the start-up spirit of the early days. Today, around 1’300 employees do their utmost with expertise and passion to always be one step ahead. Their common goal is to bring about lasting change with sensor solutions that cannot be copied. For better quality of life, health, efficiency and safety - for a smarter future around the globe.
Write a success story - in the largest start-up in Switzerland.
Why we participate in CONNECT
With CONNECT, we want to share with the participants our believe in a diverse work culture and how they can use their scientific background to make a change in people's life by providing exceptional technology. Our engineers and sales people use their technical understanding to develop innovative solutions and explain the customers the value of our products. We believe in an open and appreciative corporate culture and promote a diverse workforce. All of our employees have the same career opportunities - independent from their gender, cultural background, religious, sexual, or political orientation. We are proud of our employees who - apart from their great work - support their communities and provide care to their family members. Therefore, Sensirion supports part time work and brave career moves also later in life.
Information on entry opportunities and the application process
Even as a career starter without industrial experience, you can quickly take on responsible tasks at Sensirion and make your contribution to the company's success right from the start.
You can find your way into Sensirion by submitting your application via our careers page. In addition to your CV, you can also upload your references or diplomas. Subscribe to our jobs newsletter to make sure you don't miss any new vacancies.
Main competencies we are looking for
Anyone who strives for the extraordinary, as we do, needs extraordinary employees. To be successful in the long term, we are therefore dependent on talent at all levels. Our philosophy of potential before experience helps us achieve this. In the recruitment process, we focus on the personality and potential of applicants, rather than on previous professional experience. As part of the acquisition process, we therefore also check whether the applicant can develop beyond the advertised task and is a "fit" for Sensirion in terms of character.
Hints for successful applications
Choose a company whose culture matches your personal values.
Find out about the company's products, values and culture before the first interview.
Stand out from the crowd with a strong cover letter.
Network with other people and use your contacts to learn valuable insights about the companies of your choice.
Why CONNECT participants should choose us
Sensirion is the perfect place to move from an academic environment to industry. With us, you will find a young, innovative and dynamic environment in which you can contribute to the big picture from the very beginning.
ZEISS is technology. ZEISS is optics and innovation. Our over 42,000 colleagues develop, manufacture and sell highly innovative products and solutions for our customers in a variety of business fields, generating revenue of over €8.8 billion. As one of the world’s top technology companies, ZEISS has a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production, and a strong brand to boot. ZEISS is shaping the future far beyond the optics and optoelectronics industry.
Step out of your comfort zone, excel and redefine the limits of what is possible. That’s just what our employees are doing every single day – in order to set the pace through our innovations and enable outstanding achievements. After all, behind every successful company are many great fascinating people. And we believe that we can find such people – that we can find you – at the CONNECT program.
We continuously offer trainee programs and job opportunities for PhD students and post-docs to join our technical, scientific and commercial departments at ZEISS.
You can find all open positions online on our career site (www.zeiss.com/career).
Please apply via our career site and don’t forget to add your current CV and degrees.
Be aware that the hiring process takes some time – apply at least four months before your preferred start date.
We’re looking for people who are empathetic and passionate, who are committed to achieving their goals, and who get excited about challenging topics. People who deliver a top performance and push the limits of what’s possible. Who always strive to develop, accept responsibility and take society into the future. As part of the global team ZEISS.
Ideally you should provide a cover letter along with your CV that highlights your experiences, your motivation and your expectations (one page is sufficient).
Prepare yourself for the interviews; use the interviews to also ask your questions and to get a better understanding of the role you are applying for and ZEISS.
Why CONNECT participants should choose us
What does the future hold for us? Researchers and developers are best placed to answer this question – because they’re the ones shaping our future. What might seem impossible today may well be possible in the future thanks to their ideas. They’re tackling diseases, developing innovative products, finding new possibilities. Research is so important to us that we invest 10% of our overall turnover in it. Most importantly, though, we nurture and are always on the lookout for people who want to apply their ideas to make a significant contribution to society together with us. However, we are not only looking for researchers. Industry 4.0 needs people who want to make an impact. Operating a heavy CNC lathe while also maintaining an accuracy of 0.02 µm, oils and displays, clean room and conference room: the working day of our colleagues in Production & Manufacturing connects the analog world with the digital future. A challenge for people with a steady hand, a keen eye and an understanding for innovative processes.
Join us today. Inspire people tomorrow.
