How to write a good dissertation that will help you in your future job

If you’re pursuing a master’s degree or a doctorate, you want your education to be an advantage for your career; after all, why would you invest so much in it if you couldn’t benefit from it in the future?

The degree itself, of course, will help somewhat in getting and excelling in the job of your dreams, but there’s more to it than that. Aside from your diploma, writing a great thesis that’s relevant to your future job can be an enormous help. Here’s how to do it.

Consider Your Thesis Topic Carefully

This is the most important part of writing a dissertation that will help you in your professional career. Your dissertation topic should be something of current interest in your field. It should be something that hasn’t already been done, and your research should offer tangible benefits and outcomes to the field as a whole. It’s ideal, of course, if your dissertation topic is also a very innovative one, but that’s not strictly necessary; it doesn’t need to be innovative so long as it has very concrete, practical applications to your field.

Write to be Published

This is also very important. Choose a topic that you actually stand a chance of having published in a professional journal in your field. If it’s not an academic field that you plan to work in, that’s okay—getting your dissertation published still looks great on your resume, and it can also have another benefit. While future employers might not read peer reviewed journals, they do read industry publications. Although your dissertation might not be suitable for publication in one of these magazines or newsletters, an article or review of it can be. The important thing is to write a quality dissertation that can be submitted for publication so that it generates some press.

Give Your Dissertation 100%

Don’t approach it like the last assignment you have for school; approach your dissertation like your first assignment at your dream job. Give it your all, and you’ll find that writing a good dissertation that helps you in your future job isn’t as difficult as you thought it might be. Treat it as a professional obligation, don’t procrastinate, and approach each stage with as much conscientious attention as you would a resume—because in a very real way, your dissertation is your resume.