Toma Gajdov’s path to the Junior Enterprise movement is anything but straightforward: after a gap year, two years of military service, and training at the IT school 42 Lausanne (a university without traditional lectures or teaching staff) he came into contact with Junior Enterprises for the first time. What immediately convinced him was the opportunity to apply his own knowledge directly in real projects while simultaneously taking on responsibility.
Today, Toma is President of Junior Enterprises Switzerland, the national umbrella organization currently representing 12 Junior Enterprises in Switzerland. JE Switzerland represents the movement at both national and international levels and coordinates collaboration between students, universities, and companies – within a multilingual, federal environment that is particularly strongly anchored in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.
The mission is clear:
To empower students to gain real project experience and thus close the gap between academic education and professional life.
What do Junior Enterprises actually do?
Junior Enterprises are student-run consulting organizations that offer services closely linked to the academic content studied by their members. In Switzerland, the range of services includes:
- Market and competitive analyses
- Financial and business analyses
- Marketing and communication projects
- Technical or engineering-related tasks (e.g. material testing, software, prototyping)
Accordingly, the client base is diverse: startups, SMEs, large companies, foundations, associations, and public institutions work with Junior Enterprises.
One particularly notable showcase project comes directly from Switzerland:
Students from Junior Enterprise EPFL internally developed an app (“Junior Experience”) that connects students worldwide with Junior Enterprises. A project that is now used internationally and demonstrates the innovation potential of student initiatives.
Why companies should work with students
Why should organizations collaborate with student consulting teams instead of traditional consulting firms?
For Toma, the answer is clear:
Students think without mental boundaries.
They bring fresh perspectives, creativity, and the courage to question existing assumptions. This often surprises many companies in a positive way, often for the first time.
At the same time, Junior Enterprises are a protected learning environment for students:
“We are a sandbox system to build skills – professionally, but above all personally.”
Especially at a time when entering the job market is becoming more difficult, Junior Enterprises enable students to build a resilient CV with real projects, real clients, and real responsibility.
Knowledge transfer between academia and practice
Junior Enterprises operate precisely at the interface of education, research, and business. Knowledge transfer works bidirectionally:
- Students bring current academic knowledge, new methods, and an unbiased perspective into organizations.
- Companies provide real problem statements, time pressure, expectations, and feedback that do not exist in this form at universities.
One often underestimated learning effect is communication.
For Toma, it is one of the most important future skills of all: the ability to express thoughts clearly, to listen, and to perceive emotions. Equally central is the ability to learn continuously, especially in a world that is changing rapidly due to technological progress.
Advice to students – and the role of Studyond
His most important advice to students who want more than theory:
Do not be afraid to try things out.
With regard to universities and policymakers, Toma’s message is clear:
“Trust the young generation.”
At the same time, better framework conditions are needed for student organizations, especially simpler, faster, and more practical regulations so that innovation is not held back.
Platforms such as Studyond play a central role for Toma:
“Students often don’t know how to reach companies. Studyond creates exactly that connection.”
By making theses, projects, and student expertise visible in a structured way, an ecosystem emerges in which knowledge can create impact.