Meet & Mix: Speed dating with Traineeships: 'Thanks to the event, I have a clearer idea about what I want to do after my studies'
On Wednesday 8 March, the 'Meet & Mix: ‘Speed dating with Traineeships’ event took place in Wijnhaven. Trainees, employees and HR advisers from different organisations got together with students from the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs to talk doing a traineeship.
Even before the plenary session, it became clear how much enthusiasm there was for the event was: all the available tickets were sold out. Students from different study programmes were divided into groups on arrival, and subsequently talked with one of the 15 member organisations in each round. Students were given ten minutes to speak with each organisation and ask questions on aspects such as the selection process, the work and the study background of the trainees.
'It was a great success' says Emma proudly, who was largely responsible for organising the event as a student assistant with the Career Service. 'Students said that they enjoyed the opportunity to speak to different organisations from both the public and private sectors.'
This was something that Sara, a Master's student in Public Sector Management, could identify with. 'I found the event very interesting and a lot of fun, especially the fact that you were given the opportunity to talk with several different organisations. It introduced me to traineeships and organisations I would otherwise have not known anything about.' Organisations from different sectors such as IT, education, government and consultancy attended the Meet & Mix event.
Because the organisations and also the sectors were so varied, students discovered what is possible after their studies. This gives them a better idea of the future opportunities and of what exactly a traineeship entails. 'I think it would be very useful to do a traineeship, so you have a kind of step in between your student life and your working life. You get the opportunity to discover what is going on and that appeals to me a lot,’ says Lars, who is studying a Master's in Public Administration. 'Traineeships provide a soft landing, which appeals to students. Also, students mainly know about the Central Government Traineeship Programme (Rijkstraineeprogramma), but of course there are many other organisations that are also very nice,' Emma points out.
The popularity of the Central Government Traineeship Programme was also noticed by Massoud Razegh, who attended the event as one of the central government trainees. 'What makes the Central Government Traineeship Programme popular is that it gives you the opportunity to develop yourself. Students were therefore very interested. For example, about how to have the best chance of getting hired. In that case, I say: show that you are socially engaged, be authentic and be clear about why you are applying for the central government traineeship and what you hope to learn from it.'
Rianne is currently doing the Central Government Traineeship Programme. Want to know how she is experiencing it? Then click here. You can find other interesting traineeships on TRAIL, the faculty's internship platform.
Text: Abdelkarim Megaiz