How important are final year module choices when getting a job?

I’m a final year mech eng student doing a bachelors which means my 3rd year counts to 67% of my degree.

I want to get into mechatronics and robotics and there is an optional module that teaches exactly that.

However I’ve been told by many people in the year above that the module uses poorly taught and in general you don’t really get help on the programming side of it and my friends scored really low (roughly 50%)

This had me wondering is it worth it to take this module given this year counts for 67% of my degree and take the risk or would it make more sense to choose easier modules for the time being since companies generally train people up on certain software and tech they use?

FYI The module is 20 of 120 credits for this year.

Reply 1

Scienceisgood

I can’t verify your particular field or specialism but with mine, I would say it is absolutely vital.

My field is Biomedical Science but my specialism is in Clinical Biochemistry (I analyse your blood on a biochemical level (sodium, potassium, calcium etc…), spinal fluid, tissue fluid etc…). If however I was to go into haematology, I would be fairly hopelessly lost…

So I wouldn’t take my word for your subject area but in your subject, I would say in order for yourself to remain motivated, take what you find interesting or you’ll absolutely HATE your final year, which you can’t afford to do given it’s high level of importance. I repeated a year picking a module which is more in demand (immunology) but absolutely hated it and lost all motivation, so ended up doing Clinical Biochemistry the following year. Albeit my module was a bit bulkier than yours in terms of credits.

At Bachelors my credit worth was 30 out of 120.
At Masters, my credit worth was 45 out of 180.

(edited 5 days ago)

Reply 2

LIBF

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

I’m a final year mech eng student doing a bachelors which means my 3rd year counts to 67% of my degree.
I want to get into mechatronics and robotics and there is an optional module that teaches exactly that.
However I’ve been told by many people in the year above that the module uses poorly taught and in general you don’t really get help on the programming side of it and my friends scored really low (roughly 50%)
This had me wondering is it worth it to take this module given this year counts for 67% of my degree and take the risk or would it make more sense to choose easier modules for the time being since companies generally train people up on certain software and tech they use?
FYI The module is 20 of 120 credits for this year.

As mentioned below by @Scienceisgood - I think it really depends on your course.

I wouldn't say you'd learn LOADS from one module, but it would be beneficial as a talking point in future interviews or job applications. What's most important at this stage is if you feel you'd enjoy it, take your friends out of the equation for now because we're all individuals. You'll do well in a topic you'll enjoy as you'll put extra effort into learning about it, beyond just what the University supplies you.

Yes, it would probably give you a more basic understanding around the topic you're interested in, but it won't by any means make you an expert in the area! This may or may not give you an edge over other applicants who might go for similar roles in the future!

Really it's completely up to you!

Alex - LIBF Rep