Prospectus

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Career Preparation

Course
2024-2025

Admission requirements

This course is for master’s students of Public Administration only.

Description

Students choose a master's programme with a goal in mind. They want to gain more specialist knowledge and develop skills to help them fulfil their ambitions and have a positive impact in the world. A master's degree provides access to a certain level of positions (and salaries) on the labour market. But how do you know what jobs, organisations and sectors are suitable to apply your specialisation and skills, and realise your ambitions?
The Career Preparation programme of the Master of Public Administration equips students with the knowledge, skills and tools they need to make a good head start on the labour market, in the Netherlands or abroad. Having a master's degree in a certain specialisation alone, while significant, is not sufficient. It needs to be accompanied by (personal) reflection, experience (application in practical situations) and labour market orientation.
That is why we have developed this Career Preparation programme as a valuable and indispensable addition to the master's programme. It helps students to connect the master's programme to their ambitions, skills and personality traits, so they obtain a holistic view of themselves as an academic professional. When they have completed the programme, they are able to position themselves in the labour market and target their dream job(s) effectively.

Course objectives

After this programme, students:

  • Are able to scan and analyse the labour market according to their ambitions.

  • Understand and explain their personality traits/preferences, values and qualities in a professional context.

  • Have knowledge of how to network and use LinkedIn in their job search.

  • Have the necessary skills and tools to effectively apply for jobs regardless of labour market resilience.

  • Have knowledge of how to successfully pass the interview and assessment stages of the application process.

  • Have learned about different personal development models to deal with challenges and setbacks.

Timetable

On the right-hand side of the programme front page of the Prospectus you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Brightspace.

Mode of instruction

The Career Preparation programme consists of self-study (sub-)modules in Brightspace, preceded by a kick-off meeting on campus. The programme is largely organised online to enable students to follow the (sub-)modules independently at their own pace and time.

Kick-off Meeting

The Career Preparation programme starts with a kick-off meeting of two hours. During the kick-off meeting, students learn about the importance of career preparation and possibilities during their master's studies and how to navigate the (sub-)modules in Brightspace.

Online Modules

The Career Preparation programme is divided into four modules:
1. Career Orientation,
2. Know Yourself,
3. Application Skills
4. Transition to Labour Market.

Each module consists of several sub-modules. Although the (sub-)modules follow a logical order, students can also choose to do them randomly. The modules are composed of the following elements: introduction, body paragraphs, assignment and suggestions for more information.

Assessment method

The final product of the Career Preparation programme is a personalised Career Portfolio that is not graded. If you want to receive feedback on your Career Portfolio, please submit it before the deadline in Brightspace and complete the Perceived Employability Questionnaire at the start and end of the programme.

Reading list

More information will be published on Brightspace.

Registration

Master’s students of Public Administration are registered for this course automatically.

Contact

Charlotte Rosalie MA