Which minor did you do?        

I did the Career Minor with the Peace and Security (Vrede en Veiligheid)

theme and a placement.

What made you choose this minor?                             

With my Minor, I wanted to get a better idea of what I wanted to do after university which is exactly what the Career Minor is about. Through various workshops and keynote speakers, you learn employability skills and also explore your future personal ambitions.

Furthermore, I really liked that you got the chance to deepen your knowledge on a particular field, in my case the security sector, and learn more about it theoretically but also mainly in practice what it exactly entails and what job opportunities there are.

Another key reason why I was drawn to this Minor is the chance to undertake a 3-month internship. I really saw this Minor as the perfect combination in which I would learn more practical skills, deepen my knowledge on a particular sector and also gain practical experience through the internship so at the end I would have explored the kind of career path I might want to take in the future.

What were the subjects you had in your minor?

For the first three months I followed two subjects, namely Humanities at Work and Peace and Security. Two full days a week, I had Humanities at Work, which is about preparing you for the labour market through interactive lectures from professionals in various fields, and workshops related to developing professional skills, such as communication, employability, reflection and teamwork.

Then I also had two full days a week of my theme Peace and Security in which you get introduced to important challenges, discussions and dilemmas within the field of conflict management, reconstruction and security risks.

It was a really dynamic course since we had guest lectures, a UN simulation, and a number of field trips to, for example, the Ministry of Defense, the Royal Military Academy and a military barrack. In the last three months of my Minor I was doing a full-time internship at the Centre for European Security Studies in Groningen.

What was your hardest experience during the minor course?

I would say for me the most challenging aspect of the Minor is its structure. In the first block, they try to simulate a regular working life, meaning that you are in university from nine to five, and in the second block, I was also in the office all day.

After two years IRIO, this was quite an adjustment and also can be quite intense. So I would say it does take some time to get used to, but I believe the Minor offers a lot of things in return.

What was the best experience during the minor course?
I would say that the chance of doing a placement was my highlight of the Minor. I had the best time at CESS in which I had the opportunity of meeting so many interesting people, develop my skills further and learn so much about various topics and myself.
Did the course meet your expectations?
Yes, it definitely met my expectations! I hoped that it would give me more of an overview and direction for what I would like to do after university, and it did just that and more. Not only did it give me a clearer picture of what my professional drive is, but it also taught me practical skills on how to achieve this, and I got to gain the practical experience of how it is to actually work in the field.
Which other minor did you consider?
The only minor I briefly considered was the placement minor, but I quickly realised I rather do the career minor with a placement to also learn more practical skills related to the job market and I was really interested in deepening my knowledge on the security sector.
Do you think that your minor will be useful for your future career?

I mean it would be devastating if the Career Minor would not have been beneficial for my future career. But yes it definitely was! The internship gave me the practical experience which not only gave me more of an idea of what I would like to do as a job later, it also provided me with a broader professional network which will definitely be useful later.

Furthermore, the practical skills related to making a CV, preparing for a job interview, pitching yourself are all skills that I directly can apply when looking for a job, and the deeper knowledge on the specific theme, so in my case security, has also gave me more insights in whether I would like to explore that field as part of my Master and future career.

If your minor was in Dutch, how was it to study in Dutch again after years of studying in English?

Half of the Minor was in English (Humanities at Work) and the other half was in Dutch (Vrede en Veiligheid is the only theme given in Dutch).

Honestly, it was very weird in the beginning, especially to write, for example, a policy brief not in English but in Dutch. However, it never was a real problem for me and it is something you get used to very easily

Ratings: Rate from 1 to 10


Was the minor doable? (1 very hard 10 very easy)
I would give it a 8. This minor is very practically orientated so the assignments you get are when you compare it to the ones from IRIO pretty easy. The only thing that I found getting used to is reflecting on everything, but apart from that it is a minor that is very doable.


Was the workload less/the same/or more than the IRIO programme? (1 much less workload a lot more workload)


I find it very hard to answer this question because the workload is just very different. You go to class every day for 8-hours which means that you do not have really any ‘homework’ because you do most of the things during your simulated ‘workday’. I would say that this Minor in general cost me a bit more energy than IRIO because it is just a lot more intense during the week, but you do not have exams and your end assignments are all very practical o that also balances it out.
How much would  you recommend to do this minor? (1 not at all 10 100% yes)                                                       

If you are interested in exploring your future career in more detail and do something more practical and totally different from IRIO, I would 100% recommend this Minor. But there are a few important things to keep in mind before you start.

Firstly, it is good to be aware that it is quite an intense program where you will be in university from nine to five every day. Moreover, a tip I would like to give if you want to do this minor in combination with an internship is to start looking for a placement as early as possible. Many students realise too late that they need to secure a placement, and if you wait until October to search for an internship starting in November, you will probably be too late.

But all in all it is an amazing Minor in which you learn a lot about the job market and yourself!


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