Whether you are a Bachelor student or almost a Master student, you will at some point be faced with the challenging task of choosing your future career path. Currently, I am almost done with my MSc Marketing Management and I am still considering all of the different possibilities that are available. There are a lot of options: find a job, do a second Master's or even just take a break and go on holiday. Let me introduce you to a marketing principle I’ve learned about in one of my courses: choice overload. When there are too many options to choose from, we as humans are overwhelmed with all the information. Imagine sitting in a restaurant, looking at the menu with a hundred different options. What are you going to order? You can also look at your career path the same way, there are a lot of options, so which direction will you choose?

Thankfully, the University of Groningen has several departments that can assist you in these important choices. In this blog I will introduce you to some of them so you know where to go. Don’t worry, see making this decision as a fun adventure, instead of a challenging process. After all, what can be more fun than finding out what you would like to do in the future?

Career Services

The first resource you should definitely know about is Career Services. The best thing about  Career Services is that it is for free (happy student here), so why not use this? During your studies, you are preparing for your career after graduation and Career Services is here to support you in reaching that goal. This is your go-to place if you have any questions about anything related to employability. This department can help you with everything from helping you create an eye-catching CV, improving your LinkedIn profile or giving you tips on how to reach out to prospective employers. 

They also offer various workshops throughout the year, which are free for all UG students. Check their workshop schedule if you'd like to join one too! I remember having a job interview for my current job, a student assistant at the International Marketing Team. Before I applied, I got my CV checked by someone working for the Career Services student. 

Every faculty has their own Career Services team, which has more specific knowledge on career opportunities that are related to your particular study programme. They can also help you get in touch with certain companies or institutions if you’re looking for a job or internship. My advice is to get in contact with your faculty career officer if you have any specific questions. Next to that follow their Instagram pages or keep an eye on their web page, so you will be updated about their upcoming events. 

Having previously worked for the Career Services, my colleague Avital has also written several blogs with useful tips and tricks on finding work and maximising your LinkedIn profile. Reading this only takes a few minutes and will help you immensely with upgrading your CV or LinkedIn profile. If you haven't checked out Career Services yet, I highly recommend doing so!

 Make it in the North

Most people think you need to go to the big cities to have a successful career, but this is not true! Personally, I would love to stay in the Northern Netherlands, because I feel at home here. Obviously because I grew up here, but also because my friends and family are all living here. If you feel the same way - or if you’re simply curious about your opportunities here - check out the career platform Make it in the North!

The UG is in close contact with Make it in the North, which is focused on providing international students and graduates with career opportunities in the Northern Netherlands. No worries if you don’t speak Dutch (yet), there are a lot of companies looking for English-speaking candidates. In fact, all of the employers listed on this website accept non-Dutch candidates for their job positions. You can also browse their vacancy database for different job positions across the entire north of the Netherlands, which includes the provinces of Drenthe, Groningen and Friesland. The website has an overview of job positions available in various different fields, so maybe you’ll come across your dream job. Furthermore, former (international) students have been through similar experiences, so they share their do’s and don’ts when looking for a job.

Our Alumni Network

When a student graduates from the UG, they become an alumnus or alumna. Together, our graduates form a community of alumni. You can imagine the massive amount of students graduating every year, resulting in a lot of alumni. Our alumni are everywhere; in the Netherlands and abroad and in various positions and organisations. If you want, you are welcome to join the UG’s Alumni Network, which gives you unlimited possibilities. The network can help you get in touch with Alumni all around the world. They know what it is like to work in the field of your interest, so there is no better person to ask all of your personal questions.

We also have a team of International Alumni Ambassadors, which are young (international) graduates, willing to share their Groningen experiences with everyone interested. Every year there is a new team of Alumni Ambassadors ready to share their stories with prospective students to alumni. So, if you have a question, don't hesitate to reach out to them via our website!

Even after graduating you can be part of the UG family, so for example you could join the Young Alumni Network (YAN). They offer alumni under the age of 35 a professional and social network, which supports you in your career and personal development. Many study programmes even have their own alumni association. During alumni gatherings and events, you get a unique opportunity to get in touch with young alumni from different backgrounds, but who are simultaneously in the same career phase. This way you can expand your network in a fun and educational way.

Internships opportunities

When I chose the university, I knew that I was about to learn a lot about the theories behind my field of interest. After years of studying at the UG, I have learned a lot, but I would also like to go deeper into the practical aspects of a job. Knowing what your job entails can be useful information to make a better decision about what you want to do in the future.

A way to gain more practical knowledge is by doing an internship. All Master’s students have the option of choosing the elective ‘Master Internship’, where you can acquire high-quality practical experience of the field. You can work in an organisation without any strict theoretical requirements but of course it does need to have a clear link to your degree programme.

Another option is doing a research internship, where you combine an internship with writing your thesis. By doing this, you can conduct research into a particular phenomenon, using a company and the available data as an example. In this way, you can combine real life practices with the learned theoretical background. The best of both worlds right?

Once you’ve done your initial orientation, it’s time to set up a meeting with your internship coordinator. Especially in the master’s degree programmes, these are appointed UG staff members there to help you with your internship. It’s good to go into such a meeting knowing generally in what sector you’d like to do your internship, and have a few examples of companies or organisations ready. This will show that you are prepared and have put effort prior to your meeting. Your internship coordinator will be able to give you tips about the next steps, namely the phase of contacting companies and organisations and sending your CV and motivation letter.

After your studies tab

The UG added a special tab at every Master’s programme website page, called “after your studies”. Sometimes it can be hard to imagine what different kinds of directions you can go with a certain study, but the UG is here to help you! When you scroll down the page of the Master’s programme the tab will appear.

It will show you different kinds of job prospects or job examples after you completed this study. My personal advice is to search on Google for available job positions. Usually a company lists a description with the job vacancy, describing what kind of tasks you need to do at that position. Doing this will give you a clearer image of what you could do in the future with this job.

Side jobs at the UG

I don’t know if you realise this, but you are studying at a massive organisation. If you go to your Student Portal, you can click on the Career tab (next to Today and Study Info). At the left bottom you can click on “Student Login”. There will be a whole database with new job listings within the university. You could work as a student assistant helping professors with their courses or even teach other students your favourite course.

I did this when I applied for the job listed for the Marketing Team of the UG. Currently, I am working for 16 hours a week next to my study. By doing this job I will gain more practical experience and I will earn some money: Sounds like a win-win scenario to me.

As you can see above, there are a lot of different facilities that the UG offers to support you in your career path. At times, finding your career path can be challenging, but remember that you do not need to know what you will do by tomorrow. You have enough time to find out what job fits the best. I believe that everyone will end up in their destined place in the end.