Personal Career profile

• Read the information about the Personal Career Profile.
• What do you already know about your own job market or a specific job that might be a good fit for you?
• Find at least 3 vacancies that appeal to you for whatever reason. Consider, among other things, the organisation description, job duties, and job requirements such as required competencies. Identify what appeals to you and why.
   
• Note: these don't have to be vacancies you could actually apply for. For this assignment, you may also choose a vacancy that requires 10+ years of work experience, for example.
   
• View the information about job market prospects on your program page and see what alumni of your program have done through the information on the Career Zone.
• You can also find more information about job market developments and career fields on the Career Zone.
• What appeals to you more or less about the jobs or professions you encounter? Specify this in the sections of the (Career) Profile. For example, you might be attracted to the organisation of one job, the sector of another, and the content of the work of yet another.
• Via information about LinkedIn on the Career Zone you will find more information on how you can easily find alumni of Leiden University and your programme.

We invite you to find 3 people with interesting positions and view their profiles. What exactly do they do and how did they get there? What can you deduce, the common thread, from what appeals to you more or less through the above assignments?

Note: in step 3 you will become further acquainted with LinkedIn.

In assignment 1, you gathered information about what you find interesting, and in this assignment, you're invited to structure it using the (Career) Profile model.

Role

• What activities or/types of work do you find enjoyable or interesting?
• What types of work fields or jobs might be suitable?

Try to be as detailed as possible. So, avoid saying, ‘I'd like to do research,’ but try to write down what this might look like. For example, ‘I'd like to spend most of my job or at least 60% of my tasks doing research, applying research technique X to topic A.’

By forcing yourself to map out the details, you'll discover that you gain a clearer understanding of what you really want. It's also okay if you discover what you don't want.

Organisation

• What can you already describe about a type of organisation that appeals to you?
• Are there any specific organisations that appeal to you? Why? What's the common thread? Is it, for example, related to themes or values?

It's not just about whether an organisation is ‘large’ or ‘informal’ but also try to discover which organisational culture suits you. This is difficult to find on a website, but you can discover it by networking and asking people you speak to.

Note: Are you interested in an organisation and curious about similar ones? On LinkedIn, you can also find related organisations in the right-hand column on the page of a specific organisation.

People

• Describe what you find important in your interactions with other people, your colleagues, or a manager. For example, what's important to you in collaborating with your colleagues?

Note: Don't be afraid to ask yourself what kind of manager you'd prefer. For example, would you be comfortable with direct orders, or would you prefer a mentor as your manager?

Working conditions

• Which working or employment conditions are important to you in your search for a suitable job? What salary would you like to earn, for example, so you can pay the rent? Or what is your ideal commute? The opportunity to pursue further training or develop yourself in other ways may also be important to you.